This Oscar-winning 8-minute effort from the animator (Deitch) and writer (Jules Feiffer) who would put the lid on the Tom & Jerry and Popeye figures respectively(!) details the vicissitudes of a 4 year-old boy who is unaccountably drafted and drilled into combat duty – in spite of his genuine protestations to the anomaly of the situation! While the style is typically crude, the short gets ample mileage out of its one joke (especially whenever the D.I., with his increasingly unintelligible marching orders, is involved); eventually, the mistake is acknowledged by the army and the child is let go, being accorded hero status upon his homecoming. The character recalls the gibberish-speaking Dr. Seuss creation Gerald McBoing Boing (the first 'vehicle' of which was itself an Oscar winner) – while his vain attempts at making his elders listen to him looks forward to a famous 'episode' in Luis Bunuel's delightful THE PHANTOM OF LIBERTY (1974).
Review of Munro
