Tokio Jokio is a 1943 Looney Tunes short directed by Norman McCabe (Cpl. was added after the film finished production, as McCabe was drafted into the Armed Forces before its release). It is a propaganda film made during World War II mocking Japan in the style of a supposed Japanese film journal broadcast. Mel Blanc supplied all the voices.

The cartoon was intended as an American propaganda film against Japan while the two countries were at war. The depiction of the Japanese would generally be considered racist by today’s standards. All the Japanese are shown wearing big glasses, having buck teeth and grinning and rubbing their hands in a very sinister way. Their stereotypical politeness is mocked by their continuous use of the words: “please”, “regrettable” and “honorable”. Also, their language is spoofed by adding many “Ooo’s” at the start of every sentence and replacing the letter “l” with the letter “r” and vice versa.

Furthermore, the Japanese are represented as being incompetent, weak, cowardly, and primitive. Although the jokes are generally aimed at Japan, the cartoon also pokes fun at Lord Haw Haw, Rudolph Hess, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

As with a lot of World War II cartoons in America, this hasn’t aired on any network, syndicated, or cable channel due to its offensive content. However, the Cartoon Network animation history show ToonHeads once showed clips of this cartoon during a special episode about World War II-era cartoons, with a voiceover explaining that the cartoon, like many others at the time, had very cruel depictions of the Japanese.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2K. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com