The Smithsonian Channel is launching a new eight-part series called "The Pacific War in Color" that chronicles the conflict with rare and never-before-seen color visuals. It premieres Sunday, June 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
There have been "color" programs about World War II before but almost all of those documentaries relied on computer-colorized images to lure in viewers who won't watch black-and-white movies. The Smithsonian Channel has tracked down footage shot on color film and the difference is startling. There's not nearly as much color film as there is black-and-white, so crafting the documentary had to be a challenge for the filmmakers.
Episode One ("An Ocean Apart") shows amazing footage of the Pacific territories before the war and builds up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. We've got a clip that features footage of Hawaii shot before December 7, 1941.
