Good Will to Men

Good Will To Men is a 1955 cartoon short directed by  and, about a post-apocalyptic world populated only by animals. It is a remake of an earlier 1939 cartoon, Peace on Earth.

Synopsis
A group of young mice is in the ruins of a church, practicing singing for an upcoming service. After singing an adulterated version of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," the mice wonder about the last line, "Good will to men." One of them asks the chorus master, an old mouse, "What are men?"

The old mouse explains that they all killed each other off by building bigger and more destructive weapons, first guns, then missiles, then bombs. At the end of the fighting, clouds are seen, implying that nuclear weapons were used by each side.

The old mouse shows the boys some rules to live by that men seem to have forgotten. He is reading from a Bible.

Production
, and  remade the cartoon in  in 1955. This post- version of the film, entitled Good Will to Men, featured updated and even more destructive forms of warfare technology such as s, s, and s. This version used a of mice as the main characters including a  mouse who tell the story to his charges (voiced by -uncredited), and also had more direct religious references (though the Bible is simply referred to as the book of humans' rules in both, Good Will to Men includes a reference to the New Testament, while Peace on Earth only includes verses from the Old Testament). This new version was also nominated for the Best Animated Short Subject Oscar.

Availability
This cartoon is available on disc 3 of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection.