Cartoons for the Military: Private Snafu and World War II

Between 1943 and 1945, Warner Bros. produced a total of 26 cartoons for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. This batch of cartoons was known as the “Private Snafu” series, and was presented as part of the Army-Navy Screen Magazine, which was distributed to military bases worldwide. The average cartoon is three minutes in length, and utilises all of the Warner Bros. directors, voice artists, and the music of Carl Stalling. The character of Private Snafu is depicted as the worst soldier in the Armed Forces – essentially portraying what not to do in the army. The name ‘Snafu’ itself was an acronym which stood for ‘Situation Normal – All Fouled Up’. Due to the fact that the intended audience was solely male soldiers, the cartoons were notably more risqué than most of Warner Bros’ general output. Since these were not produced for mass audience consumption, these shorts have rarely been seen since, and only a small number of them are available on home media. A large quantity of these seldom-seen black-and-white cartoons were written by Theodore Geisel, better known today as Dr Seuss, with a number of them written in rhyme. Examples of the cartoons include the following:

Coming!! Snafu (June, 1943; directed by Chuck Jones): The very first Snafu cartoon introduces the inept soldier in the style of a ‘coming attraction’ by a narrator who refers to him as the ‘goofiest soldier in the Army’ (Beck, Friedwald, 1989: 380). Although regarded as a short itself, it is in the style of a trailer or preview.

Spies (August, 1943; directed by Chuck Jones): In this film, an inebriated Snafu inadvertently leaks military secrets to enemy agents, including a beautiful woman who keeps a radio transmitter in her bra. Consequently, Hitler torpedoes Snafu, sending him to Hell, where Hitler reappears in the form of the Devil.

Rumors (December, 1943; directed by Friz Freleng): Snafu instigates a rumour about a bombing he believes is a fact. The rumour is represented by ‘baloney’ gremlins who overrun the base, eventually leading to a quarantine for ‘rumoritis’.

Booby Traps (January, 1944; directed by Bob Clampett): Snafu finds a harem in the desert, and proceeds to serenade the beautiful women within on a piano, little realising it is triggered to explode once a particular key is pressed.

Snafuperman (March, 1944; directed by Friz Freleng): Snafu’s personal ‘Technical Fairy First Class’ transforms Snafu into Snafuperman, granting him superpowers to take out enemy forces. However, in his reluctance to study manuals and maps, he winds up nearly destroying the U.S. military base and its troops.

Although 26 were produced, the final two cartoons (Going Home and Secrets of the Caribbean) were never released. A number of the shorts are available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volumes 3, 4 and 5. For further information on the impact of cartoons during the war, take a look at this earlier post on cartoons produced for general audiences during the war:

http://idonthaveanose.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/this-means-war-world-war-ii-and.html

 

Sources:

Beck, J. Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the Illustrated History of Cartoon, Anime and CGI. (2004) London: Flame Tree Publishing, pp 88-89.

Beck, J. and Friedwald, W. (1989) Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. New York: Owl Books, Donald Hutter Books, Henry Holt and Company, pp 379-380.

Image Sources:

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three. [DVD] (2006) Warner Home Video, Burbank, California.

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Five. [DVD] (2007) Warner Home Video, Burbank, California.