The Home Front

This is another SNAFU propaganda film. The Private is stationed in an icy clime and is fed up that others in our country don't care that he is doing his duty. Of course, he is shown how people he thinks are worthless are actually assisting the war effort, big time. There are tanks, and destroyers, and food and everything you can imaging because the people are helping out. There was some of that, but we know it's not so simple.

Private Snafu is dealing with the miserable cold and grousing that his family back home is probably living it up without a care in the world. The Technical Fairy, First Class shows up to let Snafu see how wrong he is and we see that his family and girlfriend are working hard contributing to the war effort at home. A fun entry in the Snafu series of shorts made for use by the US Army during WW2. Because they didn't have to pass the Production Code, these shorts often had more racy humor and images than other cartoons from the period. Highlights of this one include Snafu's grandfather watching strippers and a horse making manure jokes. The black & white animation is nice. The voice work from Mel Blanc is wonderful. It's not the best Snafu short but it is very enjoyable.

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.

Whenever I see a WWII-themed cartoon - whether a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoon or a Pvt. Snafu cartoon - it reminds me that the government no longer tells us to actually contribute things to the war effort (except of course to get killed). "The Home Front" portrays Snafu in a miserably cold setting assuming that his friends and family are sitting pretty; specifically that grandpa is watching a striptease! But then, a sort of guardian angel appears and shows Snafu by TV that everyone is contributing to the war effort.

So, it was wartime propaganda, but a clever form thereof. Not to mention that some of the stuff here would have been R-rated for the era (of course, these shorts didn't get shown in theaters). Worth seeing.

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