Educational Films

A Few Quick Facts About Fear is a 1945 animated short from the "A Few Quick Facts" series, produced by UPA (United Productions of America) for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Directed by Zack Schwartz, it features Private Snafu in knight's armor encountering a fire-breathing dragon, using the allegory to examine the emotion of fear and its influence on human nature. The screenplay was written by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), who contributed to many of the Snafu shorts. As a U.S. government work, the film is in the public domain.

Animation · War · Educational

A Few Quick Facts About Inflation is a 1944 animated short from the "A Few Quick Facts" series, produced by UPA for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Directed by Osmond Evans, it features Private Snafu learning about inflation and its effects on the wartime economy. The short is one of a series of brief educational cartoons commissioned by the Army to explain complex topics to servicemen in an accessible, humorous way. As a U.S. government work, the film is in the public domain.

Animation · War · Educational

A Is for Atom is a 1953 animated educational short directed by Carl Urbano for John Sutherland Productions, sponsored by General Electric. The film explains what an atom is, how nuclear energy is released from certain kinds of atoms, the peacetime uses of nuclear power, and the by-products of nuclear fission. The periodic table is represented as "Element Town," with each element depicted in a distinctive shape. The short ends with a majestic atomic giant straddling the earth as the narrator declares that our future "depends on man's wisdom, on his firmness in the use of that power." The film won the Second Grand Award for science films at the Venice Film Festival in 1954 and was seen by more than twelve million people in its first three years. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Educational

A Lecture on Camouflage is a 1944 Private Snafu cartoon directed by Chuck Jones for Leon Schlesinger Productions, written by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel). Using Snafu as an example, Technical Fairy First Class teaches the methods of effective camouflage in a typically irreverent Snafu short, building to a famously shocking ending. As a U.S. government work produced for the Army Signal Corps, the film is in the public domain.

Animation · War · Educational

An educational Walt Disney short produced for the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, contrasting two families to teach children in the Americas the importance of personal hygiene and sanitation. The film entered the public domain as a U.S. government work.

Animation · Educational · Family

So Much for So Little is a 1949 educational animated short directed by Chuck Jones for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Produced for the Federal Security Agency Public Health Service, the cartoon advocates for public health spending, arguing that a few cents per person per year can prevent disease and save lives. The short was theatrically screened and won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. As a U.S. government work, the film is in the public domain.

Animation · Educational

An educational health film produced by Salem, Oregon dentist and filmmaker David Bennett Hill. The film advocates leading a healthy, productive life through good mental and physical habits: proper nutrition, exercise, fresh air, bodily cleanliness, dental care, and spiritual guidance through church attendance. Children are shown playing sports, swimming, and practicing good posture. The film also covers immunization, traffic safety, and the duties of the health department. Distributed through the Bell & Howell Filmosound Library, it is part of the Prelinger Archives at the Internet Archive.

Educational · Documentary

What Makes Us Tick is a 1952 animated educational short produced by John Sutherland Productions for the New York Stock Exchange. Through the everyman figure of John Q. Public, the cartoon explains how corporations raise capital by selling shares, how stocks are bought and sold on the exchange, and why ordinary Americans might choose to invest. It is a polished example of the sponsored "fun and facts about business" films Sutherland's studio made for corporate clients in the postwar years — the same shop that produced A Is for Atom for General Electric. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Educational