Good Will to Men

This cartoon is the result of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera deciding to revisit the theme explored in another cartoon, Peace on Earth, done in 1939. Both cartoons are excellent ststements and are still all-too relevant today. Exploring weighty concepts-war, hatred and destruction-both are equally effective in each its own right, although Good Will to Men is seen all too rarely. An excellent effort that is sadly out-of-print. Well worth the effort to track down. Most highly recommended.

Hanna and Barbera would strike out there own making decent, but cheap cartoons-mostly for children. This one is an unnecessary remake of the far superior "Peace on Earth," which was released just before World War 2. This remake is a bit updated, with nuclear weapons as the big bad of humankind. Some reviewers have complained that this shows all humans as evil-ever think from an animals point of view-we are? Look at the wanton, thoughtless destruction we've laid upon the earth. Still, the original is far superior.

This animated film is proof that the team of Hanna-Barbera could produce films with decent frame-rates and nice animation. This is because before they left MGM, the team was responsible for some wonderfully animated Tom & Jerry cartoons. Then, when the studio shut down its animation department (farming the work out to, of all places, Czechoslovakia), the two needed work and could not afford to make better cartoons. So, instead of the usual 24 frames per second, they produced what looked like slide-shots because so few cells were used and many were repeated. So, animation quality-wise, "Good Will to Men" was nice--not as nice as the best of Hanna-Barbera from the late 40s--but close.

As for the story, well, that's a different story. Some may love its risky anti-nuclear message--as the animals recount how mankind wiped itself out with all of their wars. And, for historical reasons, it is an interesting curio from the Cold War. But, it's also INCREDIBLY preachy. On a preachiness scale from 1 to 10, I'd give this one a 47. It is SO preachy about world peace that it actually made me cringe. Nicely animated but awful.

Please note that most reviewers adored it--one calling it 'the Citizen Kane of cartoon shorts', though at least bigtommyboy agreed with me...for what it's worth. It could just be that I am just too cynical for my own good.

I watched this cartoon when I was 10 years old. I would rate this film as one of the greatest short cartoons ever made. It was the only animated short ever nominated for the Nobel Peace prize.

Originally it was titled "Good Will to Men". Probably one of the most effective pieces of cartoon ever made. Since it was created in 1939, it is a nice contrast to the Pro-War propaganda films of the same era.

I would rate this "short" as being on par with such classics as "one froggy evening" for its historical significance.

This newer version was released in 1955 and was nominated for the Best Short Subjects Oscar.

Hugh Harman's quintessential masterpiece, Peace on Earth, this is not, but Good Will To Men still marks a fascinating contrast from all of the Tom & Jerry cartoons that Bill Hanna & Joe Barbera were making at the time. As this short is set up in a church with a choir director mouse recapping the downfall of mankind to his singers, much of the similar thrilling hooks are retold but with higher production qualities and bigger effects work. Sometimes, the flashbacks can go a bit all over the place, but the resolution of animals rebuilding civilization after all the destruction remains intact nonetheless.

Really, the cartoon's biggest issue is that it doesn't offer much that the original short already didn't do better, and the ending feels too wrapped up in pro American jingoism when the church setting becomes more prominent than you'd think. That all being said, it's admirable that Hanna & Barbera tackled this remake in general since they were the only ones who could do so with the amount of respect and sincerity needed for a project like this. For what it's worth, it's a decent enough retelling of a great short film that might have benefited from a followup instead of a general remake. Check it out if you're interested this Christmas.