No Buddy Atoll

Another entry in the Private Snafu series made for use by the US Army during World War II. This one's directed by Chuck Jones and is a bit different from most of the others. This one isn't really an instructional short so much as straightforward entertainment with Snafu and a Japanese soldier stranded on a Pacific island together. The two try to kill each other and one eventually succeeds. That's pretty much it. It immediately brought to my mind Hell in the Pacific, a movie from 1968 starring Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune that had a similar plot. Fine voice work from Mel Blanc and great use of music in this one make it better than average for the series.

The Private Snafu films were clearly made to be seen by soldiers and not by the general public. The dirty jokes, sexual innuendos and language is relatively tame today but never would have been allowed in the regular theaters due to the Production Code. But, such off-color remarks went over very well with the enlisted men and helped to illustrate important information in a humorous and memorable fashion.

This Snafu film is quite different from the rest in style and characterization. Here, Snafu is NOT an idiot and it consists of a more mature Snafu landing on a lonely island in the Pacific. At the same time, a very stereotypical Japanese officer arrives and they fight it out almost like Bugs and Yosimite Sam having a scrap. Very enjoyable but more like a mass-consumption cartoon and with a little less of an edge than usual--though the end is rather dark in spirit. Still, it's quite enjoyable and worth finding.

No Buddy Atoll to me is not quite among the best Private Snafu cartoons like Spies and Booby Traps are, not quite as funny as them and not as daring as a lot of the other cartoons in the series. The cartoon also for my tastes takes a little too long to set up. It is still very interesting however mainly to see a surprisingly mature Snafu and a Looney Tunes-like(the Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam comparison is apt) rapport between him and the Japanese general. It's also still very entertaining, the gags and dialogue still amuse and the chemistry between Snafu and the general is what holds the cartoon together and it's wonderfully witty. Snafu is very funny and endearing if different to how he's usually portrayed, and while the Japanese general is rather stereotypical(not offensively though) it was interesting and amusing to see a character for a change more inept than Snafu. The animation is crisp and smooth, the music rouses the spirits and adds a lot of character to the cartoon- it is Carl Stalling after all- and the story while not the most exceptional of stories moves at a sprightly pace. Mel Blanc does a stellar job with the voices of both Snafu and the general. In conclusion, not one of the best Private Snafu cartoons but still good fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox