tavm Review of Good Will to Men

Good Will to Men (1955)

Good Will to Men is Hanna-Barbera's fine remake of Harmon-Ising's Peace on Earth

[10/10 · 1 February 2007]

When one thinks of Hanna-Barbera, one usually thinks of the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons made in the '40s and '50s or of the low-budget TV shows like Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, and Scooby Doo. This remake of Harmon-Ising's 1939 Peace on Earth, expands on the "War destroys everything" theme explored in that previous entry by including two scenes of nuclear explosion that probably scared many children in wide-screen theatres then and possibly contributed to their anti-war protesting from the late '60s on. Very effective message made partly palatable by having a cute mice children choir sing, "Hark the Herald Angel Sing" at the beginning and end with one of them asking the mouse preacher, "What are men?" before the preacher tells the very sad story that is visualized in stark realism. I think one of the women mice in the audience at the end sounds like June Foray. Unusualy serious outing from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera that should be marked as one of their most compelling achievements. Should you seek out this Oscar-nominated short, it is available on YouTube.