FIRST OFF . . .

Six rare anti-Nazi films made in 1942 and 1943 by Walt Disney Studios were screened for the first time in more than 40 years Wednesday during an international animated film festival in Annecy, France. The six clips, starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other Disney characters, have been locked up at the Disney studios since World War II. The 1943 short “Victory Through Air Power,” based on a book by Maj. Alexander de Seversky, depicts the importance of strategic air bombing to Allied victory. Another cartoon shows Donald Duck dreaming he is condemned to live in Nazi Germany, while in “Donald Gets Drafted,” the famous duck and his friend, Pete, join the U.S. Army. The clips will be shown again at a retrospective in London in November before they are returned to the studios. Disney executives are aware of the nationalistic content of the clips and their use of stereotypes. “It is absolutely acceptable to present these films from the war period to professionals, to people able to appreciate this type of animation in its context, but it wouldn’t be right to reproduce them on cassettes or to edit them for the public,” Disney Studios senior vice president Peter Schneider told the Associated Press. “One must situate these clips in their right context, which is during a wartime period.” About 1,000 people were able to see the French screening of the six cartoons. Festival officials received more than 3,000 requests, mostly from professionals, to attend. The festival ends today.