Munro (1961)

A four-year-old boy is drafted into the army.

Director:

Gene Deitch

Writer:

Jules Feiffer (story)

Stars:

Howard Morris, Seth Deitch, Marie Deitch

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview:
Howard Morris	...	Narrator / General / Soldiers (voice)
Seth Deitch	...	Munro (voice)

Storyline

A four-year-old boy is drafted into the army.

---

Plot Keywords:

army | draft | independent film

---

Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Short | Family

---

Details

Country:

USA Czechoslovakia

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 October 1961 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Representations, Rembrandt Films (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

9 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Munro: I'm only four!

---

Connections

Featured in Animated Century (2003)

User Reviews

Gene Deitch's adaptation of Jules Feiffer's Munro was a deserving Oscar-winner for animated short

Just rewatched this Gene Deitch-Jules Feiffer animated short that won the Oscar on YouTube. Deitch was the former UPA-Terrytoons director/supervisor who at this time formed his own company, Rembrandt Films, in order to have more creative control over his work. For one of his initial ventures, he turned to a book by New York cartoonist Feiffer to adapt to film. That book, Munro, told of a 4-year old boy who accidentally gets drafted into the Army! How this results in some basic training and other activities without anyone for the longest time realizing what a mistake this is provides much of the humor, thanks to the way Feiffer's illustrations are animated by Deitch, as well as the voices provided such as Howard Morris' narration and portrayal of the sergeant, Gene's wife Marie doing the female ones, and especially their actual toddler at the time Seth saying over and over again, "I'm only 4 years old!" to constant indifferent response. Don't worry, though, all ends happily though some kind of a lesson is learned. So on that note, Munro comes highly recommended.