Private Snafu


Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional adult animated shorts, ironic and humorous in tone, that were produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The films were designed to instruct service personnel about security, proper sanitation habits, booby traps and other military subjects, and to improve troop morale. Primarily, they demonstrate the negative consequences of doing things wrong. The main character's name is a play on the military slang acronym SNAFU, "Situation Normal: All Fucked Up."
The series was directed by Chuck Jones and other prominent Hollywood animators, and the voice of Private Snafu was performed by Mel Blanc.

Background

The character was created by director Frank Capra, chairman of the U.S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit, and most were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, Philip D. Eastman, and Munro Leaf. Although the United States Army gave Walt Disney the first crack at creating the cartoons, Leon Schlesinger of the Warner Bros. animation studio underbid Disney by two-thirds and won the contract. Disney had also demanded exclusive ownership of the character, and merchandising rights. The cartoons thus represented a multi-talent collaboration by some of America's best in their respective fields, a common occurrence in the war effort.
The goal was to help enlisted men with weak literacy skills learn through animated cartoons. They featured simple language, racy illustrations, mild profanity, and subtle moralizing. Private Snafu did everything wrong, so that his negative example taught basic lessons about secrecy, disease prevention, and proper military protocols.
Private Snafu cartoons were a military secret—for the armed forces only. Surveys to ascertain the soldiers' film favorites showed that the Snafu cartoons usually rated highest or second highest. Each cartoon was produced in six weeks. The shorts were classified government documents. Martha Sigall, employed at the ink and paint department, recalled the government security measures imposed on the staff working on them. They had to be fingerprinted and given FBI security clearances. They also had to wear identification badges at work. Workers at the ink and paint department were given only ten cels at a time in an effort to prevent them from figuring out the story content.
The name "Private Snafu" comes from the unofficial military acronym SNAFU, with the opening narrator in the first cartoon merely hinting at its usual meaning as "Situation Normal, All... All Fouled Up!"

Content

The shorts did not have to be submitted for approval at the Production Code Administration and so were not subject to the Motion Picture Production Code. Most of the Private Snafu shorts are educational, and although the War Department had to approve the storyboards, the Warner directors were allowed great latitude in order to keep the cartoons entertaining. Through his irresponsible behavior, Snafu demonstrates to soldiers what not to do while at war. In Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike, for example, Snafu neglects to take his malaria medications or to use his repellent, allowing a suave mosquito to get him in the end—literally. In Spies, Snafu leaks classified information a little at a time until the Axis enemies piece it together, ambush his transport ship, and literally blow him to hell. Six of Snafu's shorts actually end with him being killed due to his stupidity: Spies, Booby Traps, The Goldbrick, A Lecture on Camouflage, Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike, and Going Home.
Nine of the Snafu shorts feature a character named Technical Fairy, First Class. The Technical Fairy is a crass, unshaven, cigar-smoking miniature G.I. whose fairy wings bear the insignia of a technical sergeant, and who wears only socks, shorts, and a uniform hat. When he appears, he grants Snafu's wishes, most of which involve skipping protocol or trying to do things the quick and sloppy way. The results typically end in disaster, with the Technical Fairy teaching Snafu a valuable lesson about proper military procedure. For example, in the 1944 cartoon Snafuperman, the Technical Fairy transforms Private Snafu into the superhero Snafuperman, who takes bungling to a super-powered level through his carelessness.
Later in the war, however, Snafu's antics became more like those of fellow Warner character Bugs Bunny, a savvy hero facing the enemy head-on. The cartoons were intended for an audience of soldiers, and so are quite risqué by 1940s standards, with minor cursing, bare-bottomed GIs, and plenty of scantily clad women. The depictions of Japanese and Germans are hostile-comic, par for the course in wartime U.S.

The Snafu shorts are notable because they were produced during the Golden Age of Warner Bros. animation. Directors such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and Frank Tashlin worked on them, and their characteristic styles are in top form. P. D. Eastman was a writer and storyboard artist for the Snafu shorts. Voice characterizations were provided by the celebrated Mel Blanc. Toward the end of the war, other studios began producing Snafu shorts as well, though some of these never made it to celluloid before the war ended. The Snafu films are also partly responsible for keeping the animation studios open during the war—by producing such training films, the studios were declared an essential industry.
The character has since made a couple of brief cameos: the Animaniacs episode "Boot Camping" has a character looking very much like Private Snafu, and the Futurama episode "I Dated a Robot" shows Private Snafu on the building-mounted video screen for a few seconds in the opening credits.
While Private Snafu was never officially a theatrical cartoon character when the series was launched in 1943, a proto-Snafu does appear, unnamed and in color, in Jones' cartoon The Draft Horse, released theatrically one year earlier, on May 9, 1942. This appearance would serve as the basis for Snafu's character in the series.
The 24th film of the series, Going Home, produced in 1945, was never released. The premise is what damage could be done if a soldier on leave talks too much about his unit's military operations. In the film, Snafu discusses a "secret weapon" with his girlfriend which was unnervingly similar to the atomic bombs under development that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In 1946, a series of cartoons for the Navy featuring Private Snafu's brother "Seaman Tarfu" was planned, but the war came to a close and the project never materialized, save for a single cartoon entitled Private Snafu Presents Seaman Tarfu in the Navy. In the cartoon Three Brothers, it is revealed that Snafu has two brothers, a carrier pigeon keeper named Tarfu and a dog trainer named Fubar.

Availability

As now-declassified work of the United States government, Private Snafu shorts are in the public domain and are thus freely available in numerous places, including on YouTube and Internet Archive.
Also, Warner Home Video has begun including Private Snafu shorts as bonus material on their Looney Tunes Golden Collection. Other commercial DVDs are available from Thunderbean Animation, who released a DVD containing all the Snafu cartoons entitled Private Snafu Golden Classics, and Bosko Video.
At least one of the Private Snafu shorts was used as an exhibit piece: The short Spies was used for the World War II exhibit at the International Spy Museum.

Impact on children's literature

According to a postwar study of the Snafu cartoons, the wartime experiences of authors Theodor Geisel, Philip D. Eastman, and Munro Leaf shaped their successful postwar children's books, especially the use of simple language, and some of the themes. Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat because Geisel believed the widely used Dick and Jane primers were too boring to encourage children to read. Geisel, Eastman, and Leaf authored books designed to promote personal responsibility, conservation, and respect for multiculturalism, while teaching and accepting the reality of sex differences. Some racial characterisations are considered questionable today. Geisel's characters were often portrayed as rebels who displayed independence of mind. Eastman's characters, on the other hand, typically embraced the wisdom of authority figures. Leaf's heroes were in between, and seemed more ambiguous toward independence and authority.

Filmography

Private Snafu

Note: All shorts were created for the U.S. War Department and were created by Warner Bros. Cartoons unless otherwise noted. The films, being produced for the U.S. government, are in the public domain.
TitleDirectorRelease dateNoteVideo
Coming!! SnafuChuck JonesPilot for Private Snafu
GripesFriz FrelengJuly 5, 1943
SpiesChuck JonesAugust 9, 1943
The GoldbrickFrank TashlinSeptember 13, 1943
The Infantry BluesChuck JonesSeptember 20, 1943
Fighting ToolsBob ClampettOctober 18, 1943Cameo of Daffy Duck as Father Duck.
A briefly seen newspaper sub-headline reads "Adolph Hitler Commits Suicide"; this would not actually happen for another 18 months.
The Home FrontFrank TashlinNovember 15, 1943
RumorsFriz FrelengDecember 13, 1943
Booby TrapsBob ClampettJanuary 10, 1944First appearance of the 'Endearing Young Charms' musical bomb gag, which would be reused in two Bugs Bunny shorts, and two Wile E.Coyote/Road Runner shorts
SnafupermanFriz FrelengMarch 6, 1944
Private Snafu vs. Malaria MikeChuck JonesMarch 27, 1944
A Lecture on CamouflageChuck JonesApril 24, 1944
GasChuck JonesMay 29, 1944Bugs Bunny makes a cameo appearance, having been pulled from Snafu's gas mask bag.
Going HomeChuck JonesJune 5, 1944The often-quoted "Coming Home" is a non-existent title. It refers to "Going Home"—"Coming Home" was a result of an old typo.
The Chow HoundFrank TashlinJune 19, 1944
CensoredFrank TashlinJuly 17, 1944
OutpostChuck JonesAugust 28, 1944
PaydayFriz FrelengSeptember 25, 1944
Friz FrelengOctober 23, 1944
Three BrothersFriz FrelengDecember 4, 1944Bugs Bunny makes a cameo appearance in the scene where Fubar tries to escape from the dogs.
In the Aleutians – Isles of EnchantmentChuck JonesFebruary 12, 1945
It's Murder She SaysChuck JonesFebruary 26, 1945
Hot SpotFriz FrelengJuly 2, 1945
No Buddy AtollChuck JonesOctober 8, 1945
Operation SnafuFriz FrelengDecember 22, 1945
Secrets of the CaribbeanChuck JonesUnreleased
Master given to the Army
Lost cartoon
Private Snafu Presents Seaman Tarfu in the NavyHugh Harman1946
A Hitch in TimeChuck JonesJanuary 1, 1955Produced in color; uses redesigned and renamed Snafu as "John McRogers" and Technical Fairy First Class as "Grogan, Technical Gremlin First Class"

''Few Quick Facts''

Released:
TitleDateDirectorStudioNotes
AIR&NAVY/China/Safety1944unknownMGMSnafu appears in the third act.
US Soldier/Bullet/Diarrhea and Dysentery1944unknownMGM and UPASnafu appears in the third act.
USS Iowa/Brain/Shoes1944unknownMGMSnafu appears in the third act.
Chaplin Corps/Accidents/Gas1944unknownMGMSnafu appears in the second act.
Voting for Servicemen Overseas1944unknownDisney Studio
Venereal Disease1944unknownDisney StudioLost cartoon
Inflation1945Osmond EvansUPA
About Fear1945Osmond EvansUPA
Japan1945Osmond EvansUPA
Lend/Lease1945unknownUPA
GI Bill of Rights1946unknownDisney Studio

In addition, Weapons of War was originally planned to be part of the Few Quick Facts series but was left out. Additionally Another Change produced by Disney was probably also left out of the Few Quick Series.
Unproduced:
TitleDateDirectorStudio
Mop Up Planned for 1946Tex AveryMGM
TuscaroraPlanned for 1946Hugh HarmanHarman-Ising