Munro (film)

1960 Czechoslovak-American animated short film

Munro

Directed by| Gene Deitch
Story by| Jules Feiffer
Produced by| William L. Snyder
Zdenka Najmanova
Starring| Howard Morris
Seth Deitch
Marie Deitch
Jules Feiffer
Narrated by| Howard Morris
Edited by| Zdenka Navratilova
Music by| Štěpán Koníček

Production
companies

Film Representations
Rembrandt Films

Distributed by| Paramount Pictures (United States)

Release dates

* September 1960 (1960-09) (Czechoslovakia)
* October 5, 1961 (1961-10-05) (U.S.)

Running time

| 8 minutes 20 seconds
Countries| Czechoslovakia
United States

Munro is a 1960 Czechoslovak-American animated short film directed by Gene Deitch, written by Jules Feiffer, and produced by William L. Snyder. Munro won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1961.[1][2] It was the first short composed outside of the United States to be so honored.[3] The Academy Film Archive preserved Munro in 2004.[4]

## Plot

[edit]

The title character is a rebellious little boy who is accidentally drafted into the United States Army. No matter which adult he tells, "I'm only four", they all fail to notice his age. Eventually, the harshness of army life makes Munro cry, which causes the general to realize that he really is a little boy. He is discharged and becomes a hero...and whenever he misbehaves, Munro is reminded of his stint in the army.

## Production

[edit]

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 U.S. 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.[5]

Munro's voice is provided by Gene Deitch's young son Seth Deitch (later a writer and artist in his own right), while Deitch's wife Marie Deitch does the female voices.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1960 (33rd)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2014-06-09. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
2. ^ "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award – 1960 -". cartoonresearch.com.
3. ^ Munro: Animating an Oscar Winner (Secretly) Behind the Iron Curtain|Animation Obsessive
4. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
5. ^ Transcript of March 24, 2010, Feiffer interview at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, published as "Backing into Jules Feiffer: An Exclusive Q&A", p. 2, FilmFestivalTraveler.com, April 18, 2010

## External links

[edit]

* Munro at Internet Archive
* Munro at IMDb
* Munro at Rotten Tomatoes
* Entire short on Rembrant Films' official YouTube channel

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

1932–1950|

* Flowers and Trees (1932)
* Three Little Pigs (1933)
* The Tortoise and the Hare (1934)
* Three Orphan Kittens (1935)
* The Country Cousin (1936)
* The Old Mill (1937)
* Ferdinand the Bull (1938)
* The Ugly Duckling (1939)
* The Milky Way (1940)
* Lend a Paw (1941)
* Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)
* The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943)
* Mouse Trouble (1944)
* Quiet Please! (1945)
* The Cat Concerto (1946)
* Tweetie Pie (1947)
* The Little Orphan (1948)
* For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)
* Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950)

1951–1975|

* The Two Mouseketeers (1951)
* Johann Mouse (1952)
* Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
* When Magoo Flew (1954)
* Speedy Gonzales (1955)
* Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956)
* Birds Anonymous (1957)
* Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)
* Moonbird (1959)
* Munro (1960)
* Ersatz (The Substitute) (1961)
* The Hole (1962)
* The Critic (1963)
* The Pink Phink (1964)
* The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965)
* A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1966)
* The Box (1967)
* Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
* It's Tough to Be a Bird (1969)
* Is It Always Right to Be Right? (1970)
* The Crunch Bird (1971)
* A Christmas Carol (1972)
* Frank Film (1973)
* Closed Mondays (1974)
* Great (1975)

1976–2000|

* Leisure (1976)
* The Sand Castle (1977)
* Special Delivery (1978)
* Every Child (1979)
* The Fly (1980)
* Crac (1981)
* Tango (1982)
* Sundae in New York (1983)
* Charade (1984)
* Anna & Bella (1985)
* A Greek Tragedy (1986)
* The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
* Tin Toy (1988)
* Balance (1989)
* Creature Comforts (1990)
* Manipulation (1991)
* Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992)
* The Wrong Trousers (1993)
* Bob's Birthday (1994)
* A Close Shave (1995)
* Quest (1996)
* Geri's Game (1997)
* Bunny (1998)
* The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
* Father and Daughter (2000)

2001–2025|

* For the Birds (2001)
* The ChubbChubbs! (2002)
* Harvie Krumpet (2003)
* Ryan (2004)
* The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation (2005)
* The Danish Poet (2006)
* Peter & the Wolf (2007)
* La Maison en Petits Cubes (2008)
* Logorama (2009)
* The Lost Thing (2010)
* The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011)
* Paperman (2012)
* Mr Hublot (2013)
* Feast (2014)
* Bear Story (2015)
* Piper (2016)
* Dear Basketball (2017)
* Bao (2018)
* Hair Love (2019)
* If Anything Happens I Love You (2020)
* The Windshield Wiper (2021)
* The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
* War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (2023)

* Submissions for Best Animated Short Academy Award

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