Private Snafu
Private Snafu | |
---|---|
US Army | |
Release date | June 28, 1943 – 1946 |
Running time | 4 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
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 cleaned-up version of that phrase, usually used on radio and in print, was "Situation Normal: All Fouled 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 shorts were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, Philip D. Eastman, and Munro Leaf.[1] 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 goal was to help enlisted men with weak literacy skills learn through animated cartoons (and also supplementary comic books). They featured simple language, racy illustrations, mild profanity, and subtle moralizing. Private Snafu did (almost) everything wrong, so that his negative example taught basic lessons about secrecy, disease prevention, and proper military protocols.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[3]
The name "Private Snafu" comes from the unofficial military acronym SNAFU ("Situation Normal: All Fucked Up"), with the opening narrator in the first cartoon merely hinting at its usual meaning as "Situation Normal, ... All Fouled Up!"[4]
Content
The shorts did not have to be submitted for approval at the
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.[6]
Later in the war, however, Snafu's antics became more like those of fellow Warner character
The Snafu shorts are notable because they were produced during the Golden Age of Warner Bros. animation. Directors such as
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 (with the debut short Coming! Snafu, directed by Chuck Jones), 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 (and unintentionally) similar to the atomic bombs under development.
In 1945, a series of cartoons for the Navy featuring Private Snafu's brother "Seaman Tarfu" (for "Things Are Really Fucked Up") was planned, but only one was produced before the war came to a close: Private Snafu Presents Seaman Tarfu in the Navy.[9]
Availability
As now-declassified
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 (Dr. Seuss), 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 (1957) 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. 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.[1]
Filmography
Private Snafu
Note: All shorts were created by Warner Bros. Cartoons for the
Title | Director | Release date | Video | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Coming!! Snafu | Chuck Jones | June 28, 1943 | Pilot for Private Snafu.[13] Narrated by Frank Graham.[14] | |
Gripes | Friz Freleng | July 5, 1943 | All voices are provided by Mel Blanc.[15] | |
Spies | Chuck Jones | August 9, 1943 | Was seen (with parts cut for content) on the Cartoon Network special ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons. | |
The Goldbrick | Frank Tashlin | September 13, 1943 | ||
The Infantry Blues | Chuck Jones | September 20, 1943 | ||
Fighting Tools | Bob Clampett | October 18, 1943 | Cameo of Daffy Duck as Father Duck. A briefly seen newspaper sub-headline reads "Adolph Hitler Commits Suicide", an event that would not become a reality until 18 months after this short premiered. | |
The Home Front | Frank Tashlin | November 15, 1943 | Some versions of this short exist where the line at the beginning, "It's so cold, it could freeze the nuts off a jeep" was cut. | |
Rumors
|
Friz Freleng | December 13, 1943 | ||
Booby Traps | Bob Clampett | January 10, 1944 | First appearance of the "Endearing Young Charms" musical bomb gag, which would be reused in two Bugs Bunny shorts ("Ballot Box Bunny" and "Show Biz Bugs"), one Wile E.Coyote/Road Runner short ("Rushing Roulette"), and in Animaniacs ("Slappy Goes Walnuts"). | |
Snafuperman | Friz Freleng | March 6, 1944 | ||
Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike | Chuck Jones | March 27, 1944 | ||
A Lecture on Camouflage | Chuck Jones | April 24, 1944 | ||
Gas | Chuck Jones | May 29, 1944 | Bugs Bunny makes a cameo appearance, having been pulled from Snafu's gas mask bag. | |
The Chow Hound | Friz Freleng | June 19, 1944 | ||
Censored | Frank Tashlin | July 17, 1944 | Was seen (with parts cut for content) on an episode of ToonHeads about the Private Snafu cartoons. | |
Outpost | Chuck Jones | August 1, 1944 | ||
Pay Day
|
Friz Freleng | September 25, 1944 | ||
Target: Snafu | Frank Tashlin | October 23, 1944 | ||
Three Brothers | Friz Freleng | December 4, 1944 | Bugs Bunny makes a cameo appearance in the scene where Fubar tries to escape from the dogs. | |
In the Aleutians – Isles of Enchantment | Chuck Jones | February 12, 1945 | ||
It's Murder She Says | Chuck Jones | February 26, 1945 | ||
Hot Spot | Friz Freleng | July 2, 1945 | ||
No Buddy Atoll | Chuck Jones | October 8, 1945 | ||
Operation Snafu | Friz Freleng | December 22, 1945 | In a cartoon with no dialog, Snafu does something right for once as he personally steals Japanese war plans and captures Tojo himself. | |
Private Snafu Presents Seaman Tarfu in the Navy | George Gordon | 1946 | Produced by Harman and Ising. | |
Unreleased shorts | ||||
Going Home | Chuck Jones | Unreleased (planned for 1944)[16] | Was seen uncut on the ToonHeads episode about cartoons that parodied the newsreel. There are various theories as to why the short was never released, among them that the depicted "secret weapon" was too reminiscent of the American nuclear weapons program.[17] | |
Secrets of the Caribbean | Chuck Jones | Unreleased (planned for 1945) | N/A | Master given to the Army.[16] Lost cartoon |
Mop Up | William Hanna Joseph Barbera[18] |
Unreleased (planned for 1945) | N/A | Project was aborted before filming; also known as How to Get a Fat Jap Out of a Cave.[19][20] |
Few Quick Facts
In addition to his own shorts, Snafu made some cameo appearances in the Few Quick Facts series of Army-commissioned training films produced by other studios.
Title | Date | Director | Studio | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
AIR&NAVY/China/Safety | 1944 | unknown | MGM | Snafu appears in the third segment. |
US Soldier/Bullet/Diarrhea and Dysentery | 1944 | unknown | MGM and UPA[21] | Snafu appears in the third segment. |
USS Iowa/Brain/Shoes | 1944 | unknown | MGM | Snafu appears in the third segment. |
Chaplin Corps/Accidents/Gas | 1944 | unknown | MGM | Snafu appears in the second act. |
Voting for Servicemen Overseas | 1944 | unknown | Disney | |
Venereal Disease | 1944 | unknown | Disney | Lost cartoon |
Inflation | 1945 | Osmond Evans | UPA | |
About Fear | 1945 | Zack Schwartz | UPA | |
Japan | 1945 | Osmond Evans | UPA | |
Lend/Lease | 1945 | unknown | UPA | |
GI Bill of Rights[22] | 1946 | unknown | Disney |
In addition, Weapons of War (1945) was originally planned to be part of the Few Quick Facts series but was left out,[23] while Another Change (1945) produced by Disney was probably also left out of the Few Quick Facts series.[24]
Similar cartoons
While Private Snafu is well known for educating military soldiers, a few other similar series were produced for slightly different purposes. Produced by
Also around the same time, Hugh Harman Productions created a short series called Commandments for Health, along with a character named Private McGillicuddy.
Warner Bros. also produced a short entitled Dive Bombing Crashes, a cartoon made for a joint-series called Pilot Safety, featuring
Chuck Jones would later direct a 1955 cartoon entitled A Hitch In Time, a short made for the United States Air Force to encourage airmen to re-enlist.[27] The lead character, John McRoger, bears strong resemblance to Snafu, albeit updated to Jones's mid-1950s style, while he encounters Grogan, Technical Gremlin First Class, an updated version of the Technical Fairy from the WWII Snafu shorts.
Sources
- Cohen, Karl F. (2004). "Censorship of Theatrical Animation". Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. ISBN 978-0786420322.
Further reading
- Birdwell, Michael (June 2005). "Technical fairy first class? Is this any way to Run an Army?: Private Snafu and World War II". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 25 (2): 203–212. S2CID 191468765.
- Culbert, David H. (1976). "Walt Disney's Private Snafu: The Use of Humor in World War II Army Film". Prospects: An Annual Journal of American Culture. 1: 81–96. .
- Nel, P. (2007). "Children's Literature Goes to War: Dr. Seuss, P. D. Eastman, Munro Leaf, and the Private SNAFU Films (1943–46)". The Journal of Popular Culture. 40 (3): 468–487. S2CID 162293411.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Nel 2007
- ^ Coons, Robbin (February 15, 1944). "Private Snafu Army Favorite". Prescott Evening Courier. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Cohen (2004), p. 40
- ^ Silvey, Anita. "Fifty Years of 'The Cat in the Hat'". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
- ^ Cohen (2004), p. 41
- ISBN 9780786481699.
- ISBN 9781476607252.
- ISBN 9781477317433.
- ^ "Private Snafu Presents Seaman Tarfu in the Navy (1946)". IMDb. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
- ^ "Announcing: The Private Snafu Sneak Preview Disc for GAC only!" (Forums Archives). Golden age cartoons. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
- ^ Private Snafu Golden Classics: Movies & TV. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
- ^ "Private Snafu Golden Classics Blu-ray".
- ^ "Coming!! Snafu (1943): Trivia". IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ^ "Coming!! Snafu (1943): Cast". IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ^ "Gripes (1943): Cast". IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Misce-Looney-Ous: Situation Normal All Fouled up". Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ISBN 978-0786481699
- ^ "Private Snafu in "Mop-Up" |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ISBN 9780375822483.
- ISBN 9780786481699.
- ^ "UPA Filmography". whenmagooflew.com. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
- ^ "GI Bill Of Rights (1946)". cartoonresearch.com.
- ^ "Snafu Art INDEX". Wilwhimsey.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
- ^ "Rare War Shorts from the Disney Studio |".
- ^ "The Five Commandments". July 21, 2015.
- ^ Beck, Jerry (2011-04-02). "The Lost "Grampaw Pettibone" by Warner Bros. Cartoons". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
- ^ Amidi, Amid (2012-09-30). ""A Hitch in Time" By Chuck Jones". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
External links
- Private Snafu on IMDb
- Private SNAFU cartoons at the Internet Archive
- Bright Lights Film Journal
- Storyboard for Weapon of War presented in iMovie
- Private Snafu on YouTube
- The US National Archives YouTube Channel has some digitalized copies in HD