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The Bootleg Files: Tokio Jokio

BOOTLEG FILES 736: “Tokio Jokio” (1943 Looney Tunes cartoon).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain labels.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A lapsed copyright allows anyone to make dupes of this animated short.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: The folks at Warner Bros. aren’t particularly proud of this one!

Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of V-J Day, when Japan’s surrender to the Allied forces brought World War II to a long-overdue close. To help observe this important occasion, we are presenting a short film that generated relatively little attention when it was first released during World War II but has since taken on greater visibility for some of the most impolite examples of political incorrectness captured in an animated short.
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The Bootleg Files: Nimbus Libéré

BOOTLEG FILES 676: “Nimbus Libéré” (1944 propaganda animated short).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: It was included in the 1993 Claude Chabrol documentary “The Eye of Vichy.”

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:
Unauthorized use of copyright-protected animated characters.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It is in “The Eye of Vichy,” but it is also posted online without authorization.

By early 1944, Nazi Germany saw its control over Europe weaken dramatically due to Soviet advances from the East and the arrival of Allied forces into Italy. An invasion of France was expected, and the Germans were not eager to see their brutal control over the French removed.

In one of the weirdest attempts to convince an occupied nation that they should not welcome liberation, the German authorities commissioned an animated short designed to show the stupidity and recklessness of the liberating Allied forces.

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Movies That Age Poorly: Nine Months (1995)

Julianne-Moore-Hugh-Grant_lDirected by Chris Columbus
Written by Chris Columbus

Growing up in an avidly religious household and being basically forced in to committing to ceremonies like Communion and Sunday school, you’re given a lot of different messages that are hardly ever second guessed. When you’re a child you’re fed a lot of crap because often you’re just too young to try to contradict or argue an adult’s lesson. And if you do, you’re often disciplined for doing so, so all attempts are rendered irrelevant. All my childhood, I was told that the true key to happiness is having children and not questioning your beliefs. “Nine Months” is that movie I didn’t realize was a pro life manifesto that passive aggressively pushes religious undertones on its audience. The subtle themes come through loud and clear after watching it for the first time in years, and it’s a shame such a trite commentary was considered prime comedy when released.

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