Spies

The flow of the story and gags work perfectly in this one.

All has to do with Snafu trying not to reveal a secret to the spies that are following him.

This was made back when Germany and Japan was the enemy of America. So allot of the spies are mostly German, Japanese or just some sneaky looking fellas.

what also cool is it's the only Snafu cartoon with a cartoon version of Hitler himself.

Please note that this film is banned along with other Snafu shorts due to it having racist stuff on the Japanese.

So I won't recommend showing this to anyone who is Japanese or German to prevent any offending.

besides that it is a great WW2 short.

This film must be understood in the context for which it was made. While this is a film made by talent from Warner Brothers (with voice work by Mel Blanc and production by the folks at Looney Toons), it was NOT intended for general release--but was meant to be shown to soldiers to illustrate the importance of keeping troop activities secret. You can tell this is the case for several reasons--the cartoon is black and white (when Looney Toons had just recently switched to color), the guy at the newspaper stand is reading a magazine entitled "SEX" and the female Nazi spy has a radio hidden in her boobs. This was certainly NOT intended to be seen by the kids! So, with it's more adult humor designed to appeal to those in combat, the movie did a wonderful job of conveying its central message in a cute way--using great animation and a crazy rhyming style that is very, very catchy. Even today, this film is worth seeing--not just by history teachers but by anyone wanting a good laugh or wanting to see what life was like during the war.

I have no idea if this is typical of the Snafu series, many directed by Jones and written by Dr. Seuss, but I certainly want to see more even if this does not show either master at his very best. Here our private in question blabs his orders to anybody and everybody after vowing to keep it all secret, and of course all the voluptuous babes, bartenders, and even a little guy inside the telephone box end up being broadly caricatured Japanese, German and Italian spies. It all ends quite literally with a big bang and a trip to Hell. Propaganda at it's finest, if awfully frenetic and short.

The copy I watched was from "Treasures of American Cinema", volume I, a four-disc set of mostly early shorts and features, all beautifully restored and remastered, with excellent notes and music - an essential set for anyone who wants to better know the history of the American film.

The Private Snafu cartoons generally are a lot of fun, and Spies is no exception. In fact, I do consider Spies one of the best Snafu cartoons despite that it does feel a little too short, being only about 3 minutes long, and there will be people who'll take offence at the caricatures of the Germans and Japanese(considering though that Spies was made during the war where the Germans and the Japanese were the enemy it was somewhat inevitable that they would be targeted). The animation is very beautifully done, with the drawing far from scrappy, the backgrounds show lots of detail and for black and white the colours are fluid and have atmosphere and warmth. The music is characterful and dynamically orchestrated in a way that is unmistakable of Carl Stalling, it accompanies the action brilliantly, matches the expressions and gestures equally as well and the use of pre-existing tunes are fun to spot. As well as one of the best of the Private Snafu cartoons Spies is also one of the funniest and cleverest. The horse's ass joke and the wonderfully devilish ending fare the best of the gags(which like all the cartoons revolves around how not to do things and their consequences but never does it feel predictable) but the joy is the cracking script that style and structure-wise has Dr.Seuss' style written all over it. A lot of the Private Snafu cartoons are risqué and quite ahead of their time and Spies is among the most daring. Snafu is an endearing and hilarious character, and the rest of the characters are just as colourful, yes including in a way the caricatures. Mel Blanc's- as usual in multiple roles- voice work typically is faultless. Overall, while it is easy for people to be offended by it Spies is a clever and extremely cartoon that is among the best of the series. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This was my first look at a "Private Snafu" cartoon. All I know is I first see some nerdy- looking private walking around the Army camp and saying in rhyme, "I just a learned a secret; it's a honey, it's a pip, but the enemy is listening so I won't let it slip."

After that I thought this was going to be very corny and stupid, but it was anything but. Afterward, when I saw Theodore Geisel, a.k.a. "Dr. Seuss" wrote it and Mel Blanc did the voicing, I wasn't surprised it was entertaining.

Spies are everywhere, following Pvt. Snafu, even to the telephone in the town drugstore where our hero goes to call him mom. The German and Japanese stereotypes were typical of the day, so anyone who is offended watching today should not be. The Allies were not exactly fond of Germans and Japanese in 1943!

It wasn't just verses that were clever. If you look close, you see some quick sight gags like two moose heads on the wall crossing antlers making the Nazi insignia. There's also a good message about how liquor loosens up our "zipped" lips. The main message was for everyone watching this in the theaters during a very tense time in the world's history: be careful what you say, that one careless word could leave to many people getting killed.

This was a "From The Vaults" feature on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Three.