In 1917 the United States entered the First World War, a decision which was not met with universal support at home. An all-American branding campaign was the obvious solution, and patriotic and pro-war messages began to pop up across all kinds of media in all kinds of forms – not least, at the movies, where a lot of the propaganda was served up in the form of animation. Our fragment Oncle Sam is a classic of the genre, artfully combining hand-drawn elements with sculpted clay to work its mind-altering magic.

Karl Wratschko