My aunt was an artist, and had several Jules Feiffer books. That's where I found
"Munro". The story of a 4 year old boy who finds himself accidentally drafted into the Army. The military won't admit its mistake and refuses to discharge him.
Screenwriter Feiffer, who adapted his own story from his book
"Passionella and Other Stories", and provided the storyboards, said the tale was a reaction to his time serving in the US Army.
"I came up with the story of Munro because I understood that if you're really in a rage and really want to attack someone in cartoon form, the least effective way is to jump up and down and scream and yell and to be polemical—something a lot of cartoonists have never learned. The best way is to go in the other direction and feign innocence, and bring the reader along in a quiet way. And so Munro tells this savage story but tells it entertainingly and sweetly and builds it up and gets the reader stressed, and as you read it, and particularly when you see the film, you feel your stomach knot up because of the obvious abuse and ignorance of authority. And people connected to their own situations with authority in or out of the Army when no one listens, no one believes you. They know, you don't, and they may even start to convince you, as they do Munro, that they're right and you're wrong."
Feiffer's
"Passionella" is a story of Cinderella gone Hollywood, a chimney sweep is transformed into a sexpot. Other stories depict a despondent neurotic who solves romantic problems by inventing a compliant robot, a self-absorbed man who has the entire moon to himself, and the world's greatest athlete, scorned for shunning competition...all done in Feiffer's sketchy, economical cartoon style. An illustrated fable about a village jester searching for his serious side and several one-act plays fill out the volume. In these trenchant pieces, the era's anxieties...conformity, male insecurity, troubled relationships...don't seem a half century old.
Of course, as a child, I can't say that I picked up on political or other satire, but I liked the stories and illustrations. I still enjoy Feiffers' work to this day.
"Munro" is a 1960 Czechoslovak-American animated short film directed by Gene Deitch, written by Jules Feiffer, and produced William L. Snyder.
"Munro" won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1961. It was the first short film composed outside of the United States to be so honored. The Academy Film Archive preserved
"Munro" in 2004.
Do my superhero comic books count? Daredevil, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Thor, Silver Surfer, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Justice League, X-Men. What can I say? I like men in tights.
Bella
