AllMovie

In America's all-out effort to win World War II, even cartoons were pressed into service as propaganda instruments. This collection features pro-American and pro-Allies propaganda, as well as educational warnings from Hollywood's premiere animation studios, including Disney and Warner Bros. This documentary video features clips from a number of propaganda cartoons, as well as interviews with people involved in their making. Many of the cartoons were intended primarily for military personnel and not originally shown to the general public. Highlights include clips from rare cartoons featuring the characters Private Snafu and Mr. Hook. The term "SNAFU" originated as a military acronym for "Situation Normal All Fouled Up," with a harsher F-word used in regular parlance. Private Snafu was a Warner Bros. character used to illustrate how not to behave. His cartoons were directed by Chuck Jones and featured Mel Blanc recycling his Bugs Bunny voice for Private Snafu's. Even more rare are the clips from cartoons featuring Mr. Hook, a character created by Dennis the Menace cartoonist Hank Ketcham. Produced for the U.S. Navy, these cartoons featured the voice of Arthur Lake, known to audiences of the day as Dagwood Bumstead in movies and radio.