Process & Production: 1930′s wartime Japanese cartoon

 
Having throughly enjoying Kenzō Masaoka's 'Spider and Tulip', I decided to keep having a look what other classic Japanese animations were suggested. This one in particular drew me to it straight away, purely for the title. 
With the, what I assumed, unofficial title 'Evil Mickey attacks Japan' and its 1936 release year, I was intrigued to see what kind of wartime propaganda it was trying to portray. 
From what I found out, it was released as propaganda to manipulate the Japanese public to be motivate the military forces to invade America and it's official title is "Toybox Series #3: Picture Book 1936" (a.k.a. Momotaro vs Mickey Mouse).
Mickey Mouse, a much famous and loved children's character from Disney, was used to portray the US army. This was clearly shown with him being accompanied by an army of crocodiles, snakes ect all having sharp, jagged teeth and sinister facial expressions - suggesting that they are the root of all evil, invading the peaceful island folk. 
The islanders (represented by cats and dolls, for some reason) were attacked by Mickey's army until the hero Momotaro jumps out of a picture book, repels the Americans, and cherry trees blossom throughout the island as the grateful natives sing "Tokyo Chorus."
It's a really surreal animation, and I wish I could find out more about it. 
From an animation point of view, it looks as though the animator Yoshitsugu Tanaka has used traditional style and pose to pose to create the characters movement.