Looney Tunes Wiki
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 8: Line 8:
 
|Voice = [[Mel Blanc]]<br>[[Billy Bletcher]]
 
|Voice = [[Mel Blanc]]<br>[[Billy Bletcher]]
 
|Starring = [[Private Snafu]]<br>Snafu's girlfriend
 
|Starring = [[Private Snafu]]<br>Snafu's girlfriend
|previous = [[A Lecture on Camouflage]] (released)
+
|previous = [[A Lecture on Camouflage]]
|next = [[Going Home]] (unreleased)<br>[[Censored]] (released)
+
|next = [[Going Home]]
 
|video = [[File:1944 PRIVATE SNAFU CARTOON - "Gas" - Directed by Chuck Jones|thumb|center|280px]]
 
|video = [[File:1944 PRIVATE SNAFU CARTOON - "Gas" - Directed by Chuck Jones|thumb|center|280px]]
 
|Writer = [[Dr. Seuss]]
 
|Writer = [[Dr. Seuss]]
Line 18: Line 18:
 
|Musician = [[Carl W. Stalling]]
 
|Musician = [[Carl W. Stalling]]
 
}}
 
}}
'''Gas''' is a 1944 ''[[Private Snafu]]'' short directed by [[Chuck Jones]].<ref name="Shull">Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 194</ref>
+
'''Gas''' is a 1944 ''[[Private Snafu]]'' short directed by [[Chuck Jones]].<ref name="Shull">Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 194</ref>
   
 
==Plot==
 
==Plot==
Line 30: Line 30:
 
* The extensive use of chemical weapons in World War I had left a lasting impression. During World War II, there were fears that chemical warfare would again be used against both military targets and civilians. In practice, all major combatants of the War stockpiled chemical weapons, but these weapons were rarely used and played a minimal role in the conflict.<ref name="Shull"/>
 
* The extensive use of chemical weapons in World War I had left a lasting impression. During World War II, there were fears that chemical warfare would again be used against both military targets and civilians. In practice, all major combatants of the War stockpiled chemical weapons, but these weapons were rarely used and played a minimal role in the conflict.<ref name="Shull"/>
 
* The short was part of the ongoing efforts of the military to convince soldiers that their gas masks were more than "dead weight". As the war progressed and the expected chemical warfare did not occur, soldiers were increasingly likely to view both the masks and their training in using them as essentially useless.<ref name="Shull"/>
 
* The short was part of the ongoing efforts of the military to convince soldiers that their gas masks were more than "dead weight". As the war progressed and the expected chemical warfare did not occur, soldiers were increasingly likely to view both the masks and their training in using them as essentially useless.<ref name="Shull"/>
* The script writers for the Snafu cartoons were typically uncredited, though animation historians consider that several of them were written or co-written by [[Dr. Seuss]] and [[Munro Leaf]].<ref name="Nel">Nel (2005), p. 247</ref>
+
* The script writers for the Snafu cartoons were typically uncredited, though animation historians consider that several of them were written or co-written by [[Dr. Seuss]] and [[Munro Leaf]].<ref name="Nel">Nel (2005), p. 247</ref>
   
 
==Gallery==
 
==Gallery==

Revision as of 10:22, 28 January 2018

Deprecated

We have moved to portable infoboxes using the new Template:Shorts

Please do not use this template anymore. It is left here for reference purposes.

Gas
Gas-title
Directed By: Chuck Jones
Produced By: Leon Schlesinger (uncredited)
Dr. Seuss (uncredited)
Released: May 1944
Series: Private Snafu
Story: Dr. Seuss
Animation: Robert Cannon
Ken Harris
Phil Monroe
Ben Washam
Layouts: Maurice Noble
Backgrounds:
Film Editor: Treg Brown (uncredited)
Voiced By: Mel Blanc
Billy Bletcher
Music: Carl W. Stalling
Starring: Private Snafu
Snafu's girlfriend
Preceded By: A Lecture on Camouflage
Succeeded By: Going Home
1944_PRIVATE_SNAFU_CARTOON_-_"Gas"_-_Directed_by_Chuck_Jones

1944 PRIVATE SNAFU CARTOON - "Gas" - Directed by Chuck Jones

Gas is a 1944 Private Snafu short directed by Chuck Jones.[1]

Plot

In a military camp, a sign informs viewers that the camp is situated at a distance of 3642,5 miles (5862 kilometers) from Brooklyn.[1] An alarm alerts the soldiers to wear their gas masks and assemble at a predetermined area of the camp. Every soldier rushes to complete the task, except for Snafu who has trouble locating his gas mask case. He is the last soldier to arrive to the assembly grounds, and has yet to actually wear his mask. When Snafu opens the case, he reaches in and retrieves first a sheer bra, then Bugs Bunny, and last his mask. His lack of organization skills earns him the attention of the officers. He is singled out for additional drill exercises with his gas mask.[1]

Following his training, an exhausted Snafu discards his gas mask and leaves it with the trash waiting to be collected. He proceeds to rest under a tree in an idyllic meadow, at a short distance from the camp. While he rests, a passing airplane sprays poison gas. The gas takes the form of an anthropomorphic gas cloud and parachutes its way to the ground. Spotting Snafu as the easiest target around, it begins surrounding him.[1] As Snafu relaxes under the tree, he comments on "the smell of new-mown hay, apple blossoms, flypaper..." whereupon he finally realizes that he is in danger of being gassed.

Snafu barely manages to escape breathing the gas and "frantically chases the trash truck" to retrieve his gas mask. While the gas cloud seems to sweep over both the soldier and the truck, Snafu emerges triumphant. He had managed to wear the mask before breathing the poison. Night finds Snafu sleeping with his gas mask at hand, "in a lover's embrace". In a flirtatious manner, the mask comments "I didn't know you cared" and the short ends.[1]

Notes

  • The extensive use of chemical weapons in World War I had left a lasting impression. During World War II, there were fears that chemical warfare would again be used against both military targets and civilians. In practice, all major combatants of the War stockpiled chemical weapons, but these weapons were rarely used and played a minimal role in the conflict.[1]
  • The short was part of the ongoing efforts of the military to convince soldiers that their gas masks were more than "dead weight". As the war progressed and the expected chemical warfare did not occur, soldiers were increasingly likely to view both the masks and their training in using them as essentially useless.[1]
  • The script writers for the Snafu cartoons were typically uncredited, though animation historians consider that several of them were written or co-written by Dr. Seuss and Munro Leaf.[2]

Gallery

Sources

  • Nel, Philip

(2005), "Animated Short Films", 'Dr. Seuss: American Icon', Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0826417084

  • Shull, Michael S. & David E. Wilt

(2004), "Private Snafu Cartoons", 'Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945', McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0786481699

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 194
  2. Nel (2005), p. 247