Back when training films were entertaining...

... the Department of Defense produced a series of animated shorts starring Private Snafu, a character who did everything wrong so the enlisted men would not as World War II raged. These were created by top-notch talent who were established writers and artists and filmmakers and animators who had been drafted and then assigned to positions where their talents could do the most good for training and/or propaganda purposes.

The main talents behind the "Private SNAFU" series were director Chuck Jones (with animators he'd worked with at Warner Bros.), voice artist Mel Blanc (another Warner Bros. animation regular), and writer Theodor Geisel, (an old hand at political cartoons and propaganda who is better known under his pen name Dr. Seuss), and it's another series of 1940s-era training films that makes me wish the things I've had to sit through over the years were half as entertaining.

This is the first of several "Private SNAFU" we'll be bringing you over the next many months. We're not leading with the best of them--today's featured cartoon is amusing, but there are far wilder entries in the series--but this one seemed perfect for our Mermay celebration (which the still above probably already clued you into).

Private SNAFU: A Lecture on Camoflage

Starring: Mel Blanc

Director: Chuck Jones

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Flapper Fanny on the Fifth!

 It's Cinco de Mayo, and Flapper Fanny is here!

Magicians and Mermaids and Babes--Oh My!

The Mermaid (1904)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A magician (Méliès) uses water from an empty fish tank to summon fish, a mermaid, and sirines. Along the way, he performs a variety of other summonings, as well as transformations of both himself and the mermaid.

This is one of the more impressive performance videos that Méliès produced. The transitions that create the in-camera effects are generally so smooth that they rival effects you see made today, 120 years and technology that Méliès couldn't have dreamed of later.

The only weakness of this film arises because of circumstances beyond Méliès' control, such as the wind blowing the hammock and the positions of the fish swimming around in the aquarium. Most viewers--especially back in 1904 when this film premiered--will have their attention focused on the main action, though, so the weird little disruptions in motion and teleporting fish escapes notice... just like they would during a live magic show where keeping the audience focused on a specific thing is important to maintaining an illusion. Since I, as a reviewer, am looking for flaws, I pointing out some very nitpicky weaknesses in this otherwise excellent effort from a trailblazing special effects artist.

But you shouldn't take my word for it. Take a minute out of your busy day to watch a little old-time movie magic by clicking below!

It's Mermay!

For several years, artists have been posting pictures of mermaids every day in the month of May in observance of MerMay. This tradition was originated by veteran animator and illustrator Tom Bancroft to encourage young artists to hone their skills and share their work.

We're going to kinda-sorta take part in MerMay this year, with each Picture Perfect Wednesday this month spotlighting Chicks of the Sea!

We're kicking things off with Ann Blyth in a couple of promotional photos for "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid". (We may even get around to posting a review of that film later this month.)

 

 
Here's a vaguely sea-related song to get the month started right. (Maybe we'll post a song every Wednesday, too, if we find ones that are appropriate!)

It's a Mohammed Monday!

 
THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

 

The Day of Rest

Everyone's needing to recover and regain some strength after the massive party that is International Dance Day!

 

 
 
 
 

International Dance Day with Leslie Caron

Born in 1931 to a chemist father and a retired ballerina mother, Leslie Caron began taking dance lessons at the age of 11. Dedication to the craft and natural ability caused her to be counted among the best ballerinas in France by the time she was 16. When she was 18, she was "drafted" into films by Gene Kelly, who wanted a top-notch co-star for the musical/dance extravaganza "An American in Paris" (1951). 

Caron's screen presence and acting abilities were as remarkable as her dancing, and she soon became as big a star in Hollywood musicals as she had been on the stages of Paris. She spent the 1950s and 1960s in big-budget musicals. As the 1970s dawned, she made a successful transition into dramatic roles and was among the few musical stars who kept her career growing after that film genre fell out of favor.

For more than eight decades, Caron has graced us with her poise and beauty and talent on the big screen, on television, and on stage (with her most recent role being in the Swedish made-for-TV movie "Written on Water" (2020).

We're present this small gallery of images in celebration of Caron, as well as International Dance Day.

It's International Dance Day AND Arbor Day!

This year, International Dance Day coincides with Arbor Day, so some of the ballerinas who ran off to dance their way through the wide world are spending it with the trees that have become their friends.

Others are dancing with or for their mighty friends...
 

 

... and some, like Irena, are communing with the spirits of trees long gone.

A few of them did return to Shades of Gray HQ for some slightly more traditional International Dance Day activities...

 

 

 

But the question now is... how long will they stay?

It's Fanny Friday

You can review these posts here at Shades of Gray to see if our dancers are covered or not.

About that banana...

This is a fun student film by Madison Barlow that's well-worth a couple minutes of your time. (BTW, I think there IS a good way to eat a banana, but the point of this film is still dead-on.

 

There's No Right Way to Eat a Banana (2023)
Starring: Grace Moloy, Peyton Biddle, Morgan Landry, Aniyah Faisal, and Arin Hincer
Director: Madison Barlow

Rating: Six of Ten Stars