Booby Traps

Apparently the Private Snafu was a regular when it came to films warning soldiers of danger. The goofy Private can't quite get the message that when he lets his emotions and hormones take over, his next act may be his last. He is tempted by hidden land mines, exploding pianos, nubile women, on and on. Of course, he is an absolute idiot because he is warned frequently and can't wait to get himself done in. Some of my Vietnam War friends told of unique types of traps positioned by the enemy, most of which worked on the kindness and compassion of some of the American soldiers. I may check another of these Snafu things out at a later time.

Another episode in the saga of Private Snafu-the dimmest bulb in the Army. This Rhodes scholar is more dangerous to his own unit than he is to the enemy! Entertaining series of training films done during World War II. Here Snafu comes agonizingly close repeatedly to well-deserved destruction, only to be saved by the good fortune the universe seems to extend all too often to idiots. Hilarious ending which is quite apropos. The sad thing is there probably were Private Snafus in real life. I know people who make Snafu seem like Einstein! Well worth watching. Most recommended.

Very politically incorrect by today's standards, this animated romp concerning the perils with which our boys contend OVER THERE (in the Arabian deserts of good ol' WWII) is a total riot. The harem of 1940's beauties (possibly the sexiest cartoon characters ever put to the screen), an over-sized mouse-trap, a rigged up-right piano, a potentially explosive hooka, a triangle-playing mechanical Hitler and, best of all, a talking camel with a bomb attached to it, are some of the highlights of this brilliant short work. Only two Private Snafu shorts I've seen to date (8-12-2003), the other being Spies, which is just as offensively uproarious and side-splitting. In light of not too long ago world events, it's Middle Eastern setting is all too eerie.

Booby Traps (1944)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This entry into the series has Pvt. Snafu out in the field where he's being warned that there are many enemy booby traps but he believes he's too smart to fall for any of them. We then see several examples including a woman with some big boobs that are actually bombs and another piece with a horse. BOOBY TRAPS is another decent entry in the series, which was used to train U.S. military members and do so with some humor. Snafu is voiced by Mel Blanc and you can easily hear some Bugs Bunny in the character. For the most part his was entertaining but at just around four minutes there's certainly nothing too deep here. The adult themed humor was certainly a plus.

Of the mostly thoroughly enjoyable Private Snafu cartoons two have stood out as being particularly great, one was Spies and the other was this. Booby Traps, like a lot of Private Snafu cartoons, could have benefited from a longer length, but really there was next to nothing wrong here even if there are a few parts that are not for the easily offended(ie. the mechanical Hitler). Booby Traps is beautifully and inventively animated, and has a music score bursting with energy and colour(it never trivialises the action, instead it enhances it, then again what do you expect from Carl Stalling?). The dialogue is a chock-full of razor-sharp wit, especially the sparring between Snafu and the narrator, and there are some great gags if very adult and quite daring for back then(not a criticism, just to let viewers know what to expect). Especially funny were the camel with the attached bomb and the scantily clad ladies, the ending's hilarious too. The narration is brilliantly sardonic and Snafu, for a character so inept, is truly endearing, the joke that he does simple things so wrong never wearing thin. The voice acting from Mel Blanc doesn't disappoint and Robert C. Bruce is a witty narrator. Overall, a great cartoon and one of the best Private Snafu cartoons. 9/10 Bethany Cox