In the Aleutians: Isles of Enchantment (1945) is an unusual Private Snafu cartoon. For one thing, it's barely three minutes long; most of these cartoons ran closer to five minutes. For another, Pvt. Snafu is barely in it, and the film is less of an instructional morality tale (like the others) and more of an informational piece -- meant to prepare Allied soldiers for their time on the Aleutian islands southwest of Alaska, which was the site of some major World War II battles.

Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Dr. Seuss (it boasts some delightful Seuss-ian imagery), In the Aleutians concerns itself mainly with the weather -- the absolutely terrible weather conditions on those islands. Wind, cold, rain, thunder, snow, storminess: it's all there, changing constantly. But, as we hear from a walrus with the voice of Jimmy Durante: "Nevertheless, that's the conditions that prevail!" In other words, soldiers, yes the weather stinks, but you will just have to deal with it.

The walrus's voice is not actually supplied by Jimmy Durante but by supreme Warner Bros. voice artist Mel Blanc, here doing his best Durante impression. Blanc was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and many other favorite Warner Bros. cartoon characters for decades. During WWII, the studio was asked by the Pentagon to produce a series of cartoons that would entertainingly remind and educate American soldiers around the world about various aspects of the military experience. These shorts were not seen by the general public. Instead, they were inserted into the "Army-Navy Screen Magazine," a biweekly newsreel produced by Leonard Spigelgass specifically for distribution by the U.S. Army Signal Corps to military locations.

"Snafu" is an acronym for "situation normal: all f----d up." Typically, these black-and-white cartoons show Pvt. Snafu doing something -- everything -- the wrong way, with results that are comedic but also profound in the way they endanger himself and his unit. In the end, the stories reinforced training that troops had already received. Decades later, they remain a fascinating glimpse into a specific time as well as funny, entertaining gems created by some of the most talented cartoonists ever to work in Hollywood.

By Jeremy Arnold

SOURCES:
Michael S. Shull and David E. Wilt, Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films 1939-1945
Ethan de Seife, Tashlinesque: The Hollywood Comedies of Frank Tashlin