7 Racist World War II Cartoons (Produced By Major Studios) You Won't Believe

4. You€™re A Sap, Mr Jap €“ Paramount, 1942

It makes sense that Popeye would be a prime candidate for some good old fashioned American propaganda during the war. Being that he was a Navy man, and being that he was stoic, strong, and always crushing his enemies with superior strength, he was a perfect match for kicking some Axis arse during the war, and giving people a laugh at the same time. This cartoon takes it to pretty extreme lengths though and is so focused on the kicking Japanese arse in the most racist way possible, that it was actually the first Popeye cartoon to not feature any of the other supporting characters (as assumedly they€™d just be a distraction). This one really plays up the idea that the Japanese are sneaky cowards. In the first three minutes we get to see the Japanese present a false peace treaty while hitting him in the head; place a piece of dynamite sneakily in Popeye€™s shoe and light it; give him flowers that have a lobster in them; and then launch an enormously oversized war ship that they were hiding in the ocean under the rickety wooden boat they were fishing from. Oh and it should also be pointed out that later in the cartoon Popeye accidentally destroys the ship by leaning on one pole and having it break, which in turn brings the whole ship down around him (because it€™s made in Japan). The €˜Japs€™ throughout the short are depicted as being tiny little cowards also, who are very monkey like in appearance and are constantly running away from Popeye and hiding so they don€™t have to face him head on, and Popeye also is calling them €˜Japansies€™ in the film (so it€™s both racist and homophobic to boot). Understandably after the war, this cartoon was often missing from most collections of Popeye€™s cartoons and has only surfaced in the past decade or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p_SABG3SPk