‘There's a tonne we have never seen’: Tom Hanks on Sky HISTORY’s new WWII documentary
Before the first episode of World War II with Tom Hanks, the Hollywood icon sits down with Sky HISTORY to discuss his unmissable new documentary.
Image: World War II With Tom Hanks
Over the decades, there has been no shortage of documentaries and films made about World War II. From Laurence Olivier’s classic The World At War, to Robert Powell’s World War II in Colour, the war has been used to inspire and educate audiences for generations.
But Hollywood icon Tom Hanks promises that you’ve never seen one like this before. His new series, World War II with Tom Hanks, aims to offer a fresh look and perspective on history’s deadliest conflict.
Ahead of the first episode of Sky HISTORY’s highly anticipated documentary on Tuesday 26th May, the legendary actor sat down to discuss the series and answer a timely question: why now?
Hanks’ personal connection with WWII
It’s no secret that Tom Hanks has a deep and long-lasting interest in World War II. While he’s known to millions as the voice of Woody in Toy Story, Hanks has also screenwritten and starred in numerous war films, including Greyhound and Saving Private Ryan.
As he explains, his interest was first sparked by his unique personal connection to the war. ‘When I was a kid, every single caretaker in my life had a perspective of the war that was reminiscent of them talking about a great plague or a great flood. Their lives were divided into thirds: before the war, after the war and during the war.’
It’s perhaps little surprise that this had a profound effect on a young boy growing up in the early 1960s.
‘To be 5-10 years old, those years that my dad, my teacher, my dad's friends and my friends’ parents talked about, were part and parcel to daily life,’ he continues. ‘There were television shows, there were documentaries, there were movies, there was music that was all about the war. Everybody you saw on TV, who was an established performer, had a history and a participation during those years.’
For Hanks, who quickly developed a keen interest in what he describes as ‘non-fiction entertainment’, it led to a growing fascination and a desire to uncover more stories. He vividly recalls hearing one from his high school trigonometry teacher, who served in the war.
‘He told a story about being on a plane that got lost on the way from San Francisco to Honolulu to Pearl Harbor during the war,’ he explains. ‘It was so fogged there was no way they thought they were going to be able to make the landing. They thought they would run out of gas and land somewhere in the Pacific.’
‘But his navigator on that B-17, was so good that when they came down through, he said, "No, we're on course. We're on course." They’re getting lower and lower and lower; they saw nothing but clouds ahead of them. They had no idea what their altitude was, where they were, what their heading was. When they finally came underneath the ceiling, there the runway was lined up right in front of it.’
He namechecks films such as Kelly’s Heroes and The Great Escape as further fuelling an interest that has continued throughout his acting career. Since 2001, it has led to him producing three major miniseries with Steven Spielberg, focusing on different theatres of the war.
Tom’s background made him the natural choice for narrating Sky HISTORY’s new documentary, and his knowledge and passion are evident throughout the 20-part series. But he’s aware that some many question the timing of a new documentary on a subject that has already been covered so extensively.
‘So then, why now?’
Rather than simply recycling footage that viewers are likely familiar with, World War II with Tom Hanks brings previously unseen moments to life for the very first time. For any World War II aficionado, the documentary is essential viewing for that reason alone.
‘There is a tonne of footage that we have never seen,’ Tom explains. ‘Not only are there new scenes, literally new celluloid, new imagery, they are also wrapped more in the context of the immediate time.’
‘I can't tell you how many times I've seen a clip from a piece of footage or a perspective of a specific moment in history that you thought, “well, this black and white, 16mm, soundless collection of maybe 100 feet of film is pretty much all there is”. No, there's more,’ he enthuses. ‘And with those new shots continuing on, in order to see what happens after the moment, or how it got set up before that, this is, visually, a type of storytelling that is no longer being told. It's being shown what happened, and this is huge.’
Image: World War II With Tom Hanks
But for Hanks, who is joined by experts including Sir Antony Beevor, Dr Tessa Dunlop and Dr Saul David, there’s more justification to it than just new footage.
‘I think why we go back and examine this again is for the example set forward by the people who were alive back then,’ he says. ‘The only yardstick for who we are, are we villains or are we heroes, is in our behaviour, and that's where the example comes in of why World War II is worthy to study.’
As Tom highlights, a significant part of the world could have chosen to ignore the dangers posed by Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire. Yet many Western countries that were governed by a sense of right and wrong intervened to prevent tyrants from enslaving all they conquered.
‘Nazi Germany wanted to enslave everybody that they conquered, and they did for about six years until enough of the Western World, the democracies, said, “No, no, no, no. You do not get to shut down the basic freedoms of what it means to be alive and free.”’
It’s a point that feels particularly pertinent today – at a time of increased conflict and political division across the world, where lessons from the past are increasingly being ignored or forgotten.
Hanks believes the documentary carries an important message and acts as a useful reminder for modern life. ‘Go back and look at examples in the past that can impress upon us today as to how we should live and how we should also gauge between what is right and what is wrong.’
Watch World War II with Tom Hanks on Sky HISTORY
From the very first episode, World War II with Tom Hanks combines rarely seen archival material, evocative storytelling and insights from leading historians to provide a sweeping and fresh retelling of the war. Asked what he hopes viewers will take away from the series, his answer is clear.
‘What I hope that anybody of any generation gets from another examination of this non-fiction entertainment is, “I didn't know that it was as simple as that,”’ he says. ‘Now there's plenty of other details that go in. “I didn't know was this dangerous. How in the world did people do that? What prompted them to go off and even attempt to save the world in the first place?” But also the details of how much it cost and how long it took to get there.’
Even for someone as well-versed in WWII history as Hanks, the documentary sheds light on aspects of the conflict that he was unfamiliar with. He cites the Italian campaign as being just one example.
‘One of the things that I've learned about, particularly from this series, is just how long and miserable the campaign in Italy was. Imagine being wet and muddy and under fire for the better part of a year and a half. Well, that’s what it was.’
And that’s exactly where the series stands out from others – in revealing more about what we thought we already understood. The message, then, is simple: whatever you already know about WWII, prepare to learn something new in this incredible, must-see documentary.
Watch World War II with Tom Hanks, airing exclusively on Sky HISTORY from Tuesday 26th May at 9pm. Want to be the first to hear about future upcoming series? Subscribe to our newsletter today. Every week, you’ll receive the latest news, articles, videos and more from the world of Sky HISTORY.
