Peter's Picture Poems

1917
Silent
1m

A star-spangled sock on the nose for Kaiser Wilhelm, as this wordplay propaganda cartoon meets war crimes with pun-ishment

There's propagandistic punning aplenty in this WWI animated short. Turning "RUSSIA" into "U ASS" might not be the most sophisticated humour, but you can bet it got a laugh out of contemporary cinema audiences tired of three years of war. Director and animator Anson Dyer had moved into film early in 1915 after having trained as a stained glass artist, and would become a leading figure of British animation into the 1940s.

Animated illustration of verses by a poet called Peter including one in which
the Kaiser tries to turn Russia into Prussia - but the US intervenes.

Early Animation

The dawn of a new celluloid art: Britain's animation pioneers at peace and war

When you're creating a new art form, everything is experimental. The pioneers of animation in Britain cast a range of subjects as the stars of their films - the toys of an Edwardian child; insects and animals; Kaiser Bill and John Bull. But even the richest of fantasies on display here offer a window into the turbulent era in which they were made. When the nation went to war, animation was conscripted to meet its propaganda needs. In peacetime, the industry sought success as an entertainer, but found a career in sales.