Income Tax: Donald Duck Convinces Americans To Pay (VIDEO)

At a time when politicians are fighting over the mere suggestion that Americans might have to pay higher taxes, it's pretty fun to watch Donald Duck scaring the pants off everyone in an effort to get folks filing.

In 1943, the Treasury Department turned to the Donald -- in technicolor! -- to help communicate the importance of the income tax to the American people, most of whom had never paid income tax before (only the wealthy paid income taxes pre-World War II).

Entitled "The New Spirit," in the video Donald Duck is brainwashed, er convinced, by the voice inside of a radio that it is his patriotic duty to pay an income tax.

"Your country is at war," the voice inside of the radio beckons. "Your country needs taxes for guns! Taxes for ships! Taxes for democracy!"

The message gets a little scary, frankly.

"It's your taxes, my taxes, our taxes that run the factories -- American factories -- working day and night. Factories making guns, machine guns, anti-tank guns, long range guns. Guns! Guns! All kinds of guns! Blast the aggressors from the seas!"

But that's enough from us. Watch the video for yourself and let us know what you think. (Hat tip to NPR for flagging the video.)

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Comments

[lofttypeofaview]

07:01 PM on 03/24/2012

Even adults commenting here love reminiscing about their favorite childhood cartoons, so this was an excellent yet simplistic explanation as to why taxation is necessary; that appealed to the child in the adult. However even though this cartoon was directed toward adults, since mostly adults are taxpayers; children do watch Disney and I don't believe that overly violent theme of it was appropriate for a child to watch.

[Paul Houston]

02:51 PM on 03/23/2012

I wonder how much tax the Disney Corporation pays now?

[wtf is this]

11:57 PM on 03/22/2012

What? it takes taxes to pay for war?
Pubs must have heart attacks when they see this
Except, Scrooge isn't seen in the video so the rich don't have to be involved.
& its taxes for war. They're happy with that.
But how can they reconcile the no-pants thing?

[MAH999]

03:03 AM on 03/23/2012

Not to mention that ambiguous relationship he had with Daisy.

[Wayne T]

09:48 PM on 03/22/2012

$13 taxes for $1700 taxable income? 0.76% taxes? And a famous actor who earned $2,500 annual income? Wow things really were simpler then.

[Peanut Santiago]

09:23 PM on 03/22/2012

They were smart enough back then to realize they needed (higher) taxes to PAY for war.

Too bad too many politicians today don't get it.

[gravit8]

09:13 PM on 03/22/2012

Everything else aside, this is a cool little short. I always dug on the styling of early Donald and non-Mickey Disney characters.

Back in a time when everyone didn't know everything instantly.

[anfractuous]

09:11 PM on 03/22/2012

If you want to see how a real "patriotic" duck from WWII behaves,
watch:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miETffqrcQI

[Independentview1]

08:57 PM on 03/22/2012

If the individual income tax percentage were the same as in this video, less than 1% of income, people would gladly pay them. Well except for the 45% of adults who pay 0%, they would be rioting over having to pay $1

The problem is with a 1% income tax rate the Democrats would not have any money in the budget to buy votes

[wcb59]

09:24 PM on 03/22/2012

I believe that during WWII the top marginal rate was 94%.

[Independentview1]

11:34 PM on 03/22/2012

Ok

What does that have to do with people being glad to pay if the tax rates were not 94%

[Peanut Santiago]

09:26 PM on 03/22/2012

Remember, people who NEVER paid income taxes were asked to START paying.....

That is not much different than asking somebody paying 15% to pay a bit more......

And taxes ARE the price for a civilized society.....roads, military, education, libraries, police, fire protection, food inspection, clean water.......

Like it or not, things the people want and need MUST be paid for somehow.

[Tom Servo]

08:55 PM on 03/22/2012

Taxes to beat the Axis ! Imagine that....a wartime government who thinks war has a cost and someone has to pay. Wait says Bush, get China on the phone, I have an idea......

[ArnoldHorshack]

08:46 PM on 03/22/2012

Non-pants-wearing socialist hippie

[Paul Houston]

08:45 PM on 03/22/2012

A very nice idea when people can see the direct results, however the US history has been built on the myth of the "Boston Tea Party" the myth goes that us nasty British were taxing the American colonies out of all their money. The truth is somewhat the other way around. The ship which sailed into Boston had an exemption from being charged duties for shipping tea. This was seriously bad news for the local merchants who were smuggling tea into the colonies as the legally imported tea would have been cheaper than what the "patriots" had been importing. So yet another piece of history repeats itself, most of America gets ripped off, while the people who do it wrap them up in a flag of patriotism.

[MAH999]

03:15 AM on 03/23/2012

Don't confuse those teapartiers with the facts. Their heads will explode.

[ilearnyou]

08:40 PM on 03/22/2012

Bravo...I grew up watching Donald Duck and other's and just never realized that it was all indoctrination until now.
Wow... entertaiment industry has been complicit with propanganda machine since 1940's?
It reminds of one of Norman Rockwell's paintings where a child is standing astonished and bewildered in front of an opened cabinet drawer with Santa's suit exposed.

[Peanut Santiago]

09:27 PM on 03/22/2012

We are exposed to propaganda from birth until death......
**shrug**

[ilearnyou]

08:33 PM on 03/22/2012

I did not see anything except to pay taxes to create war and more wars to keep MIC in business!
Our defense budget is three time more that the whole world's combined.
What do you see?

[ClassicLeft]

08:30 PM on 03/22/2012

paying taxes is patriotic, who knew?

[mflorian]

01:50 AM on 03/23/2012

Everybody who isn't a selfish, amoral libertarian.

[rufnnuts]

08:23 PM on 03/22/2012

Donald Duck is a Hollywood liberal and a socialist!