With America's involvement in World War II came the necessity to educate soldiers, hundreds of thousands at a time, many of whom, thanks to a years-long economic depression that forced many of them out of school as they lived desperate lives living hand to mouth, were illiterate. The Army had to come up with a way to make sure everyone understood the rules of engagement - how to deal with secrets, how to deal with strategic plans, and so on. The way they devised this was through animation: Produce a series of cartoons that the soldiers could enjoy that would also teach them the fundamentals. The cartoons themselves were confidential, not made public until after the war. Frank Capra came up with the lead character, Private Snafu, and now the Army had to find a studio to make the cartoons.
The first studio that was pitched was Disney. It seemed a natural. After all, no one had made more inroads into animation than Disney, having already put into production more than one feature length animated movie and wowing the world with his ingenuity. The snag came when Disney demanded a little too much for the Army's liking and Warner Brothers underbid them, by a whopping two thirds! With Warner in the driver's seat, Frank Tashlin now had a chance to take a hold of the controls.
The character of Private Snafu is that of the perennial goof off, ignoring every directive and warning and threatening the whole operation as a result. Tashlin was given the directing job for more than one of the Private Snafu cartoons but his name didn't appear on the credits. No matter, his modern sensibilities of breakneck editing and ingenious animation were present throughout.
In Censored, a Private Snafu cartoon from 1944, Snafu finds himself constantly thwarted as he attempts to get a letter to his girlfriend, Sally Lou. Of course, in each letter, he includes vital and confidential information that could endanger the missions of his fellow soldiers. Each time he tries to send a letter out, the Army censor finds it and cuts out every offending part. This leads to the recurring joke that all that is left from his letters is Snafu's greeting and sign-off.
The Private Snafu cartoons weren't intended for public consumption and could be a little racier than cartoons playing in the theaters back home but they still maintained the same style and wit as their commercial counterparts. Of course, they were also propaganda apart from being educational meaning that they contain images and references to the Japanese that certainly play off of racial stereotypes and offensive terminology. Years later, the cartoons contain many parts that may be uncomfortable to the modern viewer.
More than anything, watching a Private Snafu cartoon today evokes the classic era of Warner Brothers animation, as the style and talent are all familiar to the seasoned viewer of the best work of Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and, of course, Frank Tashlin. The voice work, done by Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, is also instantly recognizable and excellent. We no longer need the cartoons to instruct soldiers in the field as to the necessity of following orders but they serve as a reminder that Hollywood was willing to do its part, in any way it could, to help the war effort. And in doing that part, many talented people, like Frank Tashlin, produced some of their best work.
By Greg Ferrara
