Following the strike at Disney in the early 1940s, some of the staff left and formed UPA, later best known for Mr. Magoo. UPA got itself a contract with Columbia and started out. They didn't have the budgets that Disney lavished on his shorts, so they made a virtue of necessity, going for minimalist animation and details.
Here we see, in this Private Snafu short from 1945 -- yes, that's Mel Blanc doing his Private Snafu voice -- the UPA house style emerge: the whole thing starts with silhouette-like animation in a half-reel cartoon about the physiological effects of fear. The effect, for the period, is startling. Although this is not a noteworthy cartoon on its own merits, it is revolutionary in its technique for the period.
Here we see, in this Private Snafu short from 1945 -- yes, that's Mel Blanc doing his Private Snafu voice -- the UPA house style emerge: the whole thing starts with silhouette-like animation in a half-reel cartoon about the physiological effects of fear. The effect, for the period, is startling. Although this is not a noteworthy cartoon on its own merits, it is revolutionary in its technique for the period.