''Going Home'' is part of the

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 ...

series of animated shorts produced by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

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 ...

. Made in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, the 4 minute cartoon features the vocal talents of Mel Blanc and was directed by Chuck Jones. The screenwriters for the Snafu cartoons were typically uncredited, though some animation historians believe that the writer of this short was

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Nel (2005), p. 247

Plot

returns from the "global grind" of

to the United States home front, on

leave Leave may refer to: * Permission (disambiguation) ** Permitted absence from work *** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee *** Annual leave, allowance of time away ...

from the military. His ship passes the Statue of Liberty to enter the New York Harbor, then he makes his way to his hometown of

Podunk The terms ''podunk'' and ''Podunk Hollow'' in American English denote or describe an insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town.Nick Bacon. "Podunk After Pratt: Place and Placelessness in East Hartford, CT." In ''Confrontin ...

.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 194-195 The narrator explains that Snafu, the town's "returning hero", feels "safe at home, away from battle". He also feels safe in discussing military matters with civilians, including restricted information. He starts by talking to his family and

girlfriend A girlfriend is a female friend, acquaintance or partner, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed relationship where the in ...

(a blonde) over dinner. Describing the recent activities of his unit, the 999th

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

, and their co-operation with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He keeps offering information to others while wandering around town. He describes to a police officer the construction details of a secret base and its

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

. A crowd gathers round to listen to him. While at a

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Ga ...

, Snafu tries to impress the female attendant by sharing information on the new Japanese tanks. At a movie theater, a

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

reports that one of the

Japanese islands The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chin ...

was obliterated, that the event is attributed to an American secret weapon, and that

Hideki Tojo Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...

doesn't know what hit him. Among the audience of the movie theater is Snafu, seated next to an attractive brunette. Trying to impress the lady, he shares information on said secret weapon: a flying

bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was among the ...

. His detailed information is featured as a

schematic A schematic, or schematic diagram, is a designed representation of the elements of a system using abstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures. A schematic usually omits all details that are not relevant to the key information the ...

diagram. While drinking at a bar, Snafu reveals information concerning the next planned move against the enemy forces. A

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the proc ...

is depicted printing said information. In a park, Snafu is

making out Making out is a term of American origin dating back to at least 1949, and is used to refer to kissing, including extended French kissing or heavy kissing of the neck (called ''necking''), or to acts of non-penetrative sex such as heavy pett ...

with a young woman behind a bush. He takes the time to describe operations of the Pacific War. The "confidential" information makes it to an electric billboard. At a

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

shop, Snafu receives a haircut and a

manicure A manicure is a mostly cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands performed at home or in a nail salon. A manicure usually consists of filing and shaping the ''free edge'' of nails, pushing and clipping (with a cuticle pusher ...

. He can not resist sharing military information with the barber and the manicurist. The narrator makes the point that

skywriting Skywriting is the process of using one or more small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns that create writing readable from the ground. These messages can be advertisements, general messages of celebrat ...

the information would be no more effective in making it public. The final scene starts at Snafu's home, where he and his girlfriend dance the

jitterbug Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances. Swing danc ...

. A radio announcement informs them of the latest news from the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

. The entire 999th division has been annihilated by enemy forces, and the military disaster is blamed on "recent leaks in restricted military information". Snafu is enraged that some jerk "shot his mouth off" and now his division is gone. He wishes for the unknown jerk to be run over by a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

. In response, a tram passes through the

living room In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment. Su ...

and runs over Snafu, ending the short.

Release

Completed by May or June 1944, ''Going Home'' was never released. The rationale behind the decision is unknown, though there are several theories on the subject: * The scene depicting Snafu and the girl laying (and presumably

) in the bushes was deemed too sexually suggestive by the standards of the time; a later scene shows the pair dancing, and a flash of the girl's panties can be seen.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 82 * The Snafu series was in a transition phase and that the short was too reminiscent of earlier entries. Originally the intended audience of the series consisted of raw recruits which required training in the basics of military life. By the summer of 1944, the target audience had changed, as the military personnel of the United States included millions of combat veterans. To better reflect this audience, the characterization of Snafu changed from an incompetent soldier to one more experienced and efficient.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 88 * The portrayal of the United States home front was too negative. In other entries of the series, leaked information reaches the enemy through the services of spies; here, this information somehow reaches the enemy when released to American

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

s. In other words, the civilians are the conduit which transmits the information and undermines the military effort. * The finale featured a joke about the annihilation of a military unit, which was hardly likely to entertain a military audience. * The secret weapon, able to obliterate entire islands, was deemed a bit too close in nature to an actual military secret: the atomic bomb.

Sources

* Friedwald, Will and Jerry Beck. "The Warner Brothers Cartoons". Scarecrow Press Inc., Metuchen, N.J., 1981. . * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Going Home (1944 Film) 1944 films 1944 animated films Short films directed by Chuck Jones Films set in a movie theatre Films set in the United States Articles containing video clips Private Snafu Cultural depictions of Hideki Tojo Films scored by Carl Stalling Films produced by Leon Schlesinger American black-and-white films 1944 comedy films 1940s Warner Bros. animated short films 1940s American films