THE MOUSE MACHINE

THE MOUSE MACHINE
4K Experimental Video | 20:00 m:s | 2025

Artist Statement: During World War II, the U.S. government strongly encouraged the Walt Disney Studios to produce films that supported the war effort. The studio’s trademark whimsy took a sharp turn—Donald Duck traded tantrums for army boots, Fantasia transformed into military field guides, and cartoons became vehicles for promoting war bonds, rationing oil, and stirring patriotic fervor. While these films played a significant role in rallying support, a deeper question emerges: should they have been made at all?

In this piece, I rewind and examine those reels. The images flicker, glitch, and come apart. The propaganda fractures. What’s left is raw—memory, myth, and a smile that doesn’t quite reach the eyes. This is what happens when whimsy is weaponized—when playful ideology becomes a tool of war, and the impact it leaves on those who watch it.