After World War II, the Marshall Plan transferred over $13 billion of material and technical assistance to 18 European countries. To help explain to citizens how the plan worked, over 260 films were produced by European filmmakers between 1948-1953 at the Paris headquarters. The goal was to paint a convincing picture of a vision of a future in which Europeans could aspire to prosperity, American-style.
Produced and directed by John Halas; written by Joy Batchelor; production consultant: Philip Stapp
Made by the same husband and wife team that later turned Orwell’s “Animal Farm” into a classic of animated storytelling. Two neighbors, a shoemaker and a hatter, argue about how best to recover their livelihoods after the war. The hatter believes in producing few hats at a high profit per hat, protected by tariff. The shoemaker sees the need for lots of shoes and wants to lower cost through mass production and make his profit through export and free trade. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive
Learn more about the Marshall Plan Collection by clicking the following link http://www.oscars.org/film-archive/collections/marshall-plan-collection
