A racy WWII-era cartoon written by Dr. Seuss, The Homefront starring Private Snafu, has been remastered in 4K. The Private Snafu shorts were commissioned by the US military as educational entertainment for soldiers. Snafu, whose name is derived from the military acronym for "Situation Normal: All F-cked Up," would demonstrate improper practices as a cautionary example. Produced by Warner Bros., directed by the likes of Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones, written by Seuss, Phillip D. Eastman, and Munro Leaf, and starring Mel Blanc as the titular soldier, the cartoons featured some of the best talent in America and kept the studio running as an essential industry. The shorts did not have to be approved by the Production Code Administration and so got away with raunchier humor and occasional foul language alongside the typical anti-Japanese and anti-German racism prevalent in propagandistic cartoons of the era.
Seuss's work during the war is quite well-known. Many are familiar with his political cartoons, some of which have not aged well due to apparent racism. These overtones leaked into a few of the famous children's books published later on in his career. Dr. Seuss Enterprises recently pulled six such books from publication citing "hurtful and wrong" depictions. The move prompted a cultural debate regarding the removal of racist and uninclusive stories from children's bookshelves as well as censorship and preservation of works from a different era.
The Homefront is available on YouTube in 4K thanks to the restoration efforts of one Adam Maciaszek. The short sees Private Snafu alone on the front, bemoaning how cushy everyone must be at home. He imagines his father playing pool, his mother playing bridge, his grandfather attending a burlesque show, and his sweetheart out with another man. The wise Technical Fairy, First Class (wearing nothing but his undergarments and cap) magically shows Snafu that they are all actually pulling their weight, providing labor, supplies, and support for the troops. Watch the cartoon in 4K below:
By today's standards, the short is positively tame. There are no racist depictions, and it's clear that the only reason it was ever banned or kept away from the public is due to the prudish standards of the 1940s. A few semi-nude women and racy jokes, such as a reference to it being cold enough to "freeze the nuts off a jeep," are all that stand out as raunchy. All in all, The Homefront is a harmless window into the era and one of few Snafu cartoons that could slip by without a content warning at the head.
As we are currently in a cultural moment of progressive change, it's important to reevaluate what we regularly consume and celebrate. Dr. Seuss is still a large part of pop culture, and that will likely never change, but Dr. Seuss Enterprises surely made the right call in retiring his offensive work, especially as it is primarily read to children. Preserve these books and cartoons so that we may study them and never forget the thinking of the time they represented, but present them as pieces of intellectual interest when we can understand them and not as lauded foundational stories we consume as children. Many of Private Snafu's adventures are fodder for discussions on propaganda in high school classrooms, but The Homefront gets a pass.
Source: Adam Maciaszek via YouTube