The Home Front

After thinking about things I have watched recently, I realized I haven't been paying as much attention to World War II related content as I probably should. I decided to solve two issues at once and made sure the ww2 thing I saw was a cartoon as well, since those rarely get a review from me. The cartoon is part of the series of ever-evertaining Private SNAFU short films, which focuses on the eponymous US soldier as he informs real servicemen about security, various military subjects, and tries to improve morale. His name is a commonly used military acronym, but I cannot say what it means here for a specific reason (it's easily acquired information anyway). As for this short itself, it stars Snafu (voiced by Mel Blanc) and shows that he is stuck in a miserable, bitterly cold barracks with pictures of pinup girls as well as a record player. The song currently playing has a few lyrics of how nice it is to be at home, and this really gets on Snafu's nerves. He obliterates the turntable with a mallet. He then turns to the viewers and expresses his frustration; the people in his hometown probably don't even know America is at war right now, and the rest of his family members are comfortably living out their lives just as they always have. We're then shown Snafu's thoughts pertaining to what he believes his relatives to be doing as he is busy risking his life overseas for his country: his father is probably still playing pool at a pool hall he frequents while smoking cigars. His mother is most likely busy having all her friends over, talking to them while playing cards and not accomplishing anything else. And as for his grandfather, let's just say he brought his binoculars to a burlesque show for a reason. Worst of all, Snafu's fiancee Sally is free to go out with any guy she pleases in his absence, while he's stuck in Europe with nothing but all the time in the world to think about it. After griping about his current situation, Snafu says aloud that he just wishes he could see the people he knows back home to make sure they're also doing their parts to achieve victory. Hearing his wish, Snafu is visited by "Technical Fairy First Class," (also voiced by Blanc), who proceeds to summon a television screen with his magic wand. Using this, Snafu is able to see that his assumptions weren't so correct as he thought: his father is busy assembling tanks in a factory, his mother grows crops for the war effort, his grandpa rivets the bows of naval vessels, and Sally has joined the Women's Auxiliary Corps. Now feeling much more confident and reassured, Snafu extends his face forward to kiss Sally, who is somehow able to beckon to him through a tv screen. At the last moment, she morphs into the fairy, who remarks he didn't think Snafu cared so much as he flies off. This short was decent. I don't think I've ever actually seen a Private Snafu film before, and this seemed good a place as any to begin, but I was disappointed to learn Chuck Jones didn't direct it (he did quite a lot of them). The character himself was created by none other than Frank Capra. I believe his role in film history needs no introduction, but his great contributions to ww2 related subjects are much more unknown today. Joining the military just after Pearl Harbor, the 44 year old Frank was not eligible to be drafted, as he was above conscription age. However, he wanted to be in the action anyway. During the war, he produced a number of films intended for soldiers, known as the "Why We Fight" series, which are all still excellent today. Given the task of working under George Marshall (one of the only men in ww2 to achieve the rank of 5 star general), Capra spent the rest of the war producing these films and was eventually promoted to colonel. Overall, this Snafu short was entertaining, but anyone who knows anything about the war should already be aware of the homefront contributions americans made. Still, anything that combines a script by Dr. Seuss and Mel Blanc's voice is sure to be fun at least.

The Home Front (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Another fun entry in the Private Snafu series has him complaining thinking that everyone in his hometown are having fun while he's preparing for battle. He thinks his mom is just gossiping while grandpa is watching dirty ladies and his girlfriend is out with other men. We then see what they're actually doing back at home. This series from the War Department was created to train soldiers and it's obvious that the main lesson to take away from this entry is that soldiers shouldn't always think the worst because there are many avenues for "help" during war time. This entry is certainly an entertaining one as the animation is top-notch and once again Mel Blanc is good with his vocal work. I really liked the sequences showing what grandpa was supposed to be doing as they've got some adult nature to them.

The Home Front is worth seeing definitely, but Frank Tashlin has done better and there are better Private Snafu cartoons around. That the cartoon is very risqué and daring for the time is very admirable and definitely one of The Home Front's interest points. Those elements are a little over-used though and can get in the way of the gags. The World War 2 references and the depiction of what was happening during the time are also of great interest, but it's also very firmly rooted in that time in history and people will find it somewhat irrelevant now. The Home Front is a long way from a bad cartoon however. It is very well animated in all respects. The music is characterful and lively as you'd expect and synchronises with what's happening on-screen really well. Having the use of Beethoven is a bonus and having it as kind of a code theme is clever, though once or twice is probably enough for the use of the opening bars of the 5th symphony in one cartoon, a great piece of music and surely everybody is familiar with(regardless of whether they like classical music or not) but when used several times it's a little overkill. The gags are well-timed and are at least amusing, the best of them are very funny. The story is nothing special structurally but crisply paced and not attention-wavering-inducing. And Snafu even when being the worst ever soldier/private is a very likable character, while having Mel Blanc on board for the voices is always going to bring a cartoon up a notch or two. On the whole, a good but not great Private Snafu cartoon, it's of good interest value too although the risqué elements are a little too heavily laid on and some may question its relevance now. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Frank Tashlin's 'The Home Front' is one of the more lifeless Private Snafu shorts, a series of cartoons made as instructional films for the military. Rather than have Snafu take some inadvisable actions leading to disaster, 'The Home Front' instead focuses on his loved ones back home and how much they have to offer to the war effort too. Snafu realises he was wrong when he thought they had it easy. It's a concept with few possibilities for good gags and instead Tashlin plays the risqué card more heavily, extended jokes involving strippers and scantily clad dancing girls in place of much effective comic relief. The result is a well-meaning short which has little relevance or entertainment value today other than as an historical artefact.

I love the old Pvt. Snafu cartoons, as they are so very subversive yet entertaining and important to the war effort. These films were made by Warner Brothers but were NOT meant to be seen by the general public, but by soldiers and sailors. Because of this, the language was often quite colorful--with swearing and sexual innuendos sprinkled liberally throughout.

This Snafu cartoon was not nearly as exciting as his other toons about booby traps and spies, but it was still pretty entertaining. Snafu starts off the film serving some place like Alaska. He's whining about how tough it is and how easy all the family has it back at home. The rest of the film is all about what he thinks they are are doing AND what they actually are doing to help the war effort. My favorite of these was when he imagined his grandpa at the strip show--pretty hot stuff for 1943! By the way, "Snafu" is taken from a very crude military acronym. I really don't need to explain it further.