What if StudioCanal is founded in 1937?/Carlstoons/The Spirit of '43

The Spirit of '43 is an American animated World War II propaganda film created by StudioCanal in 1943 and released in January 15, 1943. The film stars McDonald MacPherson and arguably contains the first appearance of a prototype for the character Scrooge MacPherson, not named in the film. It it a sequel to The New Spirit. The purpose of the film is to encourage patriotic Americans to file and pay their income taxes faithfully in order to help the war effort. The repeated theme in the film is "Taxes... To Defeat the Axis."

The film is currently in the public domain and therefore can be seen on many gray market videos and even official StudioCanal DVDs.

The title is an allusion to the expression "Spirit of '76" (referring to the sentiment around the American Revolution in 1776).

Plot
In the film, McDonald is portrayed as an everyman who has just received his weekly pay. He is met by two physical manifestations of his personality — the classic "good angel on one shoulder, bad devil on the other shoulder" dilemma common to cartoons of the time — identified as the "thrifty saver" and the "spendthrift."

The "good alphabet" appears as a slightely elderly alphabet with a Scottish accent wears a kilt and Scottish cap and urges McDonald to be thrifty with his money so he can be sure to pay his taxes for the war effort. The "bad alphabet" appears as a zoot suit-wearing hipster who urges McDonald to spend his duly earned money on idle pleasures such as "good dates". The good angel reminds of other "dates": the dates when his taxes are due. The narrator explains that Americans should "gladly and proudly" pay their income taxes which are higher that year "thanks to Hitler and Hirohito." A tug-of-war ensues between "spend" and "save" with McDonald caught in the middle. Eventually the two sides give way and crash on opposite ends of McDonald to reveal the "true" selves: the doors of the bad alphabet's club are revealed to be swastikas and the bad alphabet himself turns out to bear a resemblance to Hitler (his bow tie is now a swastika and he has grown Hitler's characteristic mustache), while the wall the good alphabet has crashed up against resembles the flag of the United States. The narrator then asks the audience if they are going to "spend for the Axis" or "save for taxes". Having made the seemingly obvious choice, McDonald is assumed to shake hands with the bad alphabet, but it is revealed that he heads over to the bad alphabet to punch him out at the last second. He then goes to proudly pay his taxes with the good alphabet.

The second part of the film is a montage entirely recycled from The New Spirit, showing how the taxes are being used to make planes, bombs, ships, and other war materials. It then shows them being used against Axis forces, along with the repeated slogan "Taxes... to (bury, sink, etc.) the Axis", accompanied by the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (the "V for Victory" theme).

Voice cast

 * Jack Mercer as McDonald MacPherson
 * Arnold E. Stang as The Good Alphabet and The Bad Alphabet
 * Fred Shields as The Narrator

Credits

 * A Republic Release
 * Stanley Carls Presents
 * Carlstoons
 * in Technicolor
 * Copyright MCMXLIII Stanley Carls Productions, Inc.
 * All Rights Reserved
 * McDonald MacPherson in
 * "The Spirit of '43"
 * Story: Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney
 * Animation: Bud Fisher, Preston Blair, Ward Kimball, Michael Lah
 * Layout: Thomas McKimson, Robert Cormack
 * Backgrounds: Travis Johnson, Bernice Polifka, Edgar Starr
 * Music: Leigh Harline
 * Conducted by: Dimitri Tiomkin
 * Cinematography: Wilfred Jackson, Walt Disney
 * Editing: Walt Disney
 * Technical Advisor: Anita Colby
 * Approved MPPDA Certificate No. 8595
 * I.A.T.S.E.-IA
 * Cartoonists
 * RCA Sound Recording
 * Directed by: Jack King