Der Fuehrer’s Face

The movie opens with a whimsical, caricatured German town where everything, including trees, windmill blades, fences, and clouds, is shaped like swastikas. Houses resemble Adolf Hitler's face, setting a satirical and exaggerated tone for the film. An oom-pah band composed of Axis leaders marches through the town, singing praises of Nazi doctrine.

Donald Duck, portrayed as a German citizen, is awakened at 4 a.m. by his alarm clock wearing a pickelhaube helmet. He reacts violently by smashing the clock, and the scene includes a cuckoo clock with a Hitler-esque bird and a rooster performing a Nazi salute, emphasizing the satirical tone.

caricatured band members with bayonets wake Donald, escorting him out of bed and greeting him with propaganda posters of Hitler, Hirohito, and Mussolini. Donald attempts to return to sleep but is splashed with water and yelled at in German, highlighting the oppressive atmosphere.

Donald tries to make breakfast with limited rations, including stale bread, brewed coffee from a single bean, and breath spray flavored like bacon and eggs. The band forcibly hands him a copy of Mein Kampf, underscoring the wartime propaganda control.

Donald is marched at bayonet point to a factory, carrying a bass drum as the band leads the way. The scene depicts strict militaristic discipline and propaganda, with Donald being pushed along by Göring kicking him as they arrive.

Donald begins a grueling 48-hour shift screwing caps onto artillery shells on an assembly line. Each shell features a portrait of Hitler, requiring him to perform the Nazi salute repeatedly, illustrating the oppressive wartime labor conditions.

The pace of work accelerates as Donald struggles with shells of varying sizes, from bullets to massive artillery. The propaganda song becomes more cynical, criticizing Hitler and the citizens’ suffering, while guards threaten Donald when he murmurs his frustrations.

Donald is forced into quick, repetitive Nazi salutes and contortions as part of compulsory exercise routines. The voice announces he must work overtime, and his mental state begins to deteriorate with hallucinations of shells and marching band motifs.

Overwhelmed by exhaustion, Donald experiences hallucinations involving snake-shaped shells and marching band shells that hiss music. He has a nervous breakdown, illustrating the intense and absurd conditions of wartime labor as recycled animation emphasizes his mental distress.

Donald wakes up in a bed dressed in stars-and-stripes pajamas, initially perceiving a Nazi salute but then realizing it's the shadow of the Statue of Liberty outside his window. He feels relief and joy, expressing pride in his American citizenship.

Donald embraces the Statue of Liberty and exclaims his happiness to be an American, symbolizing a return to normalcy and national pride after the harrowing wartime sequence. The scene shifts from satire to a patriotic conclusion.

The film concludes with a caricature of Hitler's angry face, which is abruptly splattered with a tomato, creating the words 'The End'. This final gag emphasizes the satirical and irreverent tone of the short film.