In the Aleutians: Isles of Enchantment

This is considered part of the Private Snafu series even though he only appears briefly and with no lines. It's an animated short directed by the great Chuck Jones and features Mel Blanc doing the voices of the few characters who speak, including a seal that looks and sounds like Jimmy Durante. The purpose of the short is to inform soldiers about the harsh weather and environment of the Aleutian Islands, which are a chain of islands in the North Pacific between the United States and Russia. During the war, thousands of U.S. soldiers were stationed there. It's not as funny as some of the other Snafu shorts but it has its moments. The black & white animation is very nice and the historical aspects are interesting.

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.

While IMDb lists this as one of these Snafu films, this really a misnomer. First, it's more of a humorous film about the awful duty in the Aleutians. Second, Snafu only appears for a few seconds in the film. While it it funny and worth seeing, it's not all that great and it's quite short---less than three minutes long.

This is one of the best of the wartime 'Private Snafu' films made by Termite Terrace, usually written by Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). Because they were intended only for soldiers, they were usually far more open and frank than movies intended for civilian showings and concerned themselves with humorously designed warnings about how to behave. In this case, the movie is about being stationed in the Aleutians and their strategic importance in the war. It's a fine, light curtain raiser. If you're looking at a deep-dish world War two movie -- or perhaps as a treat before seeing John Ford's masterpiece, SEX HYGIENE (both available on Youtube).

Many of the Private Snafu cartoons are very enjoyable, and while perhaps not one of the best ones 'In the Aleutians' is not an exception.

Even for the Private Snafu series (where all the cartoons were very short and some feeling it), 'In the Aleutians' does feel a little short, while the story is slight and fairly tame. Snafu does make an appearance but in a non-speaking role and it's basically a very short cameo that doesn't do enough with his character that epitomises the world's most inept soldier but you can't help but love him for it.

However, 'In the Aluetians' is very well-animated though with fluid character designs, detailed and not sparse backgrounds and lively colours/shadings. Carl Stalling always did write outstanding music for the many cartoons he scored for and that is true for 'In the Aleutians', the orchestration is very lush and the pacing is characteristically lively.

The history is interesting and the instructional parts make their point without preaching. 'In the Aleutians' is also a humorous cartoon with razor sharp dialogue delivered with typical zany zest by the incomparable Mel Blanc.

In summary, decent cartoon. 7/10 Bethany Cox