Rijndri
Load of rubbish!!
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
TheLittleSongbird
Many of the Private Snafu cartoons are very enjoyable, being very well-made, entertaining and educational with good morals and interesting historical and instructional material. Even when inept, Snafu is still very much endearing and fun for a vast majority of his cartoons.To me 'A Lecture on Camouflage' is up there as one of the better Private Snafu cartoons. A great concept, executed in a way that's very funny often (especially in Snafu's complete and utter failure at doing what he's been taught) and also pretty educational. While the ending is shocking and ahead of its time, there is nothing here that's questionable, unintentionally creepy or disturbing.Actually, my only problem with 'A Lecture on Camouflage' is that part of me wanted it to be longer.On the other hand, 'A Lecture on Camouflage' is very well-animated though with fluid character designs, detailed and not sparse backgrounds and lively colours/shadings. Carl Stalling always did write outstanding music for the many cartoons he scored for and that is true for 'In the Aleutians', the orchestration is very lush and the pacing is characteristically lively.Snafu is endearing and amusing, even when so hopelessly inept and Technical Fairy First Class is a great teacher and contrast. The voice work is great, as one would expect from the immortal Mel Blanc.In conclusion, great cartoon and one of Snafu's better ones. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"A Lecture on Camouflage" is another 4-minute black-and-white cartoon from the days of World War II. Director is Chuck Jones, voice acting comes from Mel Blanc as usual. And the narrator is Robert C. Bruce this time. I thought this Snafu film was funnier than most of the others and there were a couple scenes in here where I had to smile. Also the ending makes it very clear with the graphic nudity that this cartoon is not for children, but for people in the forces who may be happy to see something like this again. And Snafu is as clumsy as always, as he is basically the only one on this video who fails to go properly into disguise. Hilarious and I recommend checking this one out.
Robert Reynolds
This is one of a series of training films done by Warner Brothers during World War II under a contract with the US Army. There will be spoilers ahead:The lecture is delivered by Technical Fairy, First Class. As is the norm for the Private Snafu series, Snafu is used as the perfect example of what you SHOULDN'T do! Snafu is first seen in a vehicle equipped like a Good Humor ice cream truck, which naturally draws fire. Then he fails to hide his track in a very funny bit.The fact that the enemy, of course, will also use camouflage is also covered, with Snafu and a Nazi coming into contact. This is also a very interesting and humorous scene which also makes the point that you need to exercise caution and know your surroundings.There's a section on the use of shadows as camouflage, which Snafu fails royally. The end result is what one would expect for Snafu. The short closes on Technical Fairy, First Class imparting one last bit of sage advice before taking advantage of an opportunity to join two mermaids not for younger eyes.This short is available on various DVDs and online and is well worth seeking out.
tavm
Saw this on Mark Evanier's site. In this one, Private Snafu is trying to demonstrate how to effectively hide from the enemy. When he gets told to take cover, he takes cover but then he has to hide his jeep tracks. Then he has to hide his bicycle tracks. And so on. Next, he unwittingly gives a light to a person camouflaging himself as a tree. When he leaves, he gets followed by that tree and others in tree or stump wear. Finally, he gets told to hide in the shadow. Every time he tries, however, the shadow keeps moving. When the shadow finally stops, he goes there but the Nazis have already seen him and aim. At the end, the Technical Fairy First Class who had been narrating all along simply says to "just make youself part of the natural surroundings" before going to the screen and putting himself between two mermaids saying, "See what I mean?"...Pretty funny outing from Chuck Jones and I'm sure a valuable lesson for G.I.s wrapped in entertainment. Worth a look for animation buffs interested in World War II history.