Censored
About Censored
At night Private Snafu tries to tell his girlfriend Sally Lou that his unit is bound for the South Pacific. An electric eye catches him outside the censor's office. A paper airplane and a carrier pigeon are stopped too. The Technical Fairy, First Class, agrees to carry a coded note that names the island Bingo Bango. Sally Lou tells her mother. Gossip carries the name to a Japanese soldier, who wires Tokyo. The island is reinforced and camouflaged. Snafu's landing force walks into the trap. He wakes up. The Fairy gives the letter back, and Snafu censors it himself.
Cast & crew
More about Censored
Frank Tashlin directed this Private Snafu short. Leon Schlesinger produced. Carl W. Stalling wrote the music. Mel Blanc voices Snafu. Warner Bros. released it in July 1944 for Army showings. A topless drawing of Sally Lou was cut from the cartoon.
Themes
Background
Warner Bros. and the Signal Corps released it in July 1944, while U.S. units were still moving across the Pacific. The gag is loose talk about a landing beach.
Making
The short was made for soldiers, not for a theater bill. The lesson is written as a dream that ends when Snafu blacks out his own letter.
Music
Carl W. Stalling composed the music. Mel Blanc voices Private Snafu.
Preservation
The short survives and is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Snafu tries three routes before the Fairy: crawling past the office, a paper airplane, and a pigeon.
- The pigeon is stopped by a hawk working for the censor.
- Bingo Bango is the island named in the coded letter.
- Karl Cohen records that a topless image of Sally Lou was removed.
- Bea Benaderet and Sara Berner are credited on some voice lists.
- A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Scenes
- An electric eye catches Snafu crawling past the censor.
- Sally Lou tells her mother, and the island's name reaches Tokyo.
- Snafu wakes from the ambush and inks out his own letter.
