''Gas'' is an animated short, directed by Chuck Jones and first released in May 1944. It features

Private Snafu Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional adult animated shorts, ironic and humorous in tone, that were produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The films were designed to instruct servi ...

learning the value of a gas mask in warfare.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 194 The cartoon was produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. 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 Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Munro Leaf Wilbur Monroe Leaf ( Munro Leaf) (December 4, 1905 – December 21, 1976) was an American writer of children's literature who wrote and illustrated nearly 40 books during his 40-year career. He is best known for ''The Story of Ferdinand'' (1936), ...

.Nel (2005), p. 247

Plot

The film is set in a

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...

, with a sign informing viewers that the camp is situated at a distance of 3642.5 miles (5862 kilometers) from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. 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 Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

, and last his mask. His lack of organization skills earns him the attention of the Commanding General. He is singled out for additional drills & exercises with his gas mask by his 1st Sergeant. 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 A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

, at a short distance from the camp. While he rests, a passing airplane sprays

poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal dose) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious or perman ...

. 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. 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.

Analysis

The extensive use of

chemical weapons in World War I The use of toxic chemicals as weapons dates back thousands of years, but the first large scale use of chemical weapons was during World War I. They were primarily used to demoralize, injure, and kill entrenched defenders, against whom the indisc ...

had left a lasting impression. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, 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. 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.

Sources

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References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=0154524, title=Gas 1944 films 1944 animated films 1944 short films 1940s animated short films Private Snafu Short films directed by Chuck Jones Articles containing video clips Films scored by Carl Stalling Films produced by Leon Schlesinger Bugs Bunny films American black-and-white films 1944 comedy films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films