Censored is an animated short, directed by Frank Tashlin, produced by Leon Schlesinger and first released in July 1944. It is part of the Private Snafu series.
Plot
The film opens at nighttime with Snafu attempting to send a message to his girlfriend Sally Lou. He is certain that his unit is going to be sent to the South Pacific Ocean. While attempting to crawl past the censor's office, Snafu triggers an electric eye. He is detected and his message is censored. He later attempts to send a second message in the form of a paper airplane, and a third through a carrier pigeon. In each case the message is intercepted by the ever-vigilant censors.
Finally, the Technical Fairy 1st Class turns up and agrees to pass a coded message to Sally Lou. It contains the exact location of the next big operation, the island of Bingo Bango, and Sally Lou decides to pass the information on to her mother. From there the information spreads through gossip until it reaches the Japanese lines. A buck-toothed and bespectacled soldier notifies Tokyo. The island receives massive reinforcements and camouflaged fortifications.
By the time Snafu and his unit do arrive, a trap is set for them. The entire invasion force is trapped—then Snafu wakes up from a nightmare. The Fairy hands him back his letter and Snafu personally censors the letter to Sally Lou, preventing the disaster.
Censorship
Ironically, a topless image of Sally Lou was censored and edited out.
Sources
- Cohen, Karl F. (2004), "Censorship of Theatrical Animation", Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0786420322
- Shull, Michael S.; Wilt, David E. (2004), "Private Snafu Cartoons", Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945, McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0786481699
References
External links
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- 1944 films
- Private Snafu
- Short films directed by Frank Tashlin
- Films set in Japan
- Anti-Japanese sentiment
- Pacific War films
- Films scored by Carl Stalling
- Films produced by Leon Schlesinger
- 1944 comedy films
- 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films
- 1940s American films
- Films about censorship
- American animated black-and-white films
- 1944 animated short films
- Short animated film stubs