Snafuperman

Snafuperman is a 1944 animated short comedy produced by

Synopsis

Snafu annoys his fellow soldiers by listening to loud

His first task is to transport a bomb to Berlin and bomb it. He refuses to read a map and ends up in Washington, D.C. He drops the bomb over the United States Capitol. The Fairy stops the bomb and informs Snafu that the Americans are on their side, and Snafu melts into a puddle in the air in embarrassment over his near blunder.^[1] His next task involves stopping a "lumbering Japanese tank". He has actually misidentified an American tank and angers its commander, an American general. He nervously salutes the officer.^[1]

He next spots "a mess of Messerschmitts" about to bomb an American port. He successfully intercepts their aerial bombs and piles them up on a pier. As he proudly sits upon the pile, while claiming that they're harmless as a burned out match, he fails to recognize the delay-action bombs among them. They explode beneath him. As a result of his own ignorance, Snafu ends up hospitalized. The Fairy visits him, asking if there is anything he could do. Snafu angrily demands a field manual, ending the short.^[1]

Analysis

The short is one of several satirical takes on Superman produced during World War II. The purpose of the short was to entertain and educate low-literacy enlisted men.^[2] Snafu ends up doing the wrong thing because of his refusal to read his field manual.^[2]

The short uses a segment of Sammy Timberg's theme for Superman, which was previously heard in the Superman shorts by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios. Stalling was able to use the song without any legal issues since the Private Snafu shorts were meant exclusively to educate US soldiers and not for public viewing.

Availability

The "Private Snafu" cartoons have fallen into the public domain and are widely available in free downloads and on unofficial VHS and DVD releases. Many have also been released officially. Snafuperman is a bonus feature on

• List of Private Snafu shorts
• Sponsored film
• List of films in the public domain in the United States

Sources

• Shull, Michael S.; Wilt, David E. (2004), "Private Snafu Cartoons", Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945,
  ISBN 978-0786481699
• ISBN 978-1118483787

References

• Leonard Maltin, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, NY, 1987, p. 254

External links

• Snafuperman at
  IMDb
• The short film Snafuperman is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.