Coming!! Snafu

The Private Snafu films were clearly made to be seen by soldiers and not by the general public. The dirty jokes, sexual innuendos and language is relatively tame today but never would have been allowed in the regular theaters due to the Production Code. But, such off-color remarks went over very well with the enlisted men and helped to illustrate important information in a humorous and memorable fashion.

This is the very first Snafu cartoon and it is very short--almost like a teaser film. It introduces the character, gives the audience a few jokes AND explains what S.N.A.F.U. stands for--though the word "fouled" is substituted for the actual F-word! As I said above, this is definitely an adult cartoon compared to the standard films made by Warner Brothers. If there was any problem with COMING!! SNAFU is that it's just too short, though it definitely gets the viewer interested in seeing more.

Coming!! Snarfu (1943)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This was the first film in a series of shorts that deals with Private Snafu, a rather dumb man who finds himself getting into various bad places in a variety of military branches. At less than three minutes there's really not too much to this film. It's serves as a good introduction to the character as we're basically just told that he's a member of the military who can't do anything right. From here we see a few examples. With such a short running time the film is certainly entertaining in its own way. The animation is good and there's some fun charm to be had including one wink/censor moment. Still, there's really no plot and nothing major here but we shall see what future entries have to offer.

This is the first appearance of WB's anti-war hero, Private Snafu.

It's only 3 minutes long.

So it's a little short for an actual Looney Tune short.

It's more of an advertisement/comical of the cartoon.

He's known as the worst solider of the US Army.

Snafu stands for "Situation Normal All Fowled Up" which fits perfectly in this character.

It also lists the names of the shorts that he's in as well.

I recommend this to those who want to know who Snafu is.

It's one of the best WW2 cartoons there was.

You KNOW this animated short was made for the military guys, not for kids, when they tell you right in the beginning was SNAFU stands for.....well, almost. They hesitate of the f-word, shake the camera...and then say "fouled" up instead of what it really stands for, but you get the message. The explanation was there because this was the first of the "Pvt. Snafu" cartoons which had the purpose of giving a common-sense message to soldiers on how to behave during a tense war situation.

"Pvt. Snafu" is introduced as "the goofiest solider in the U.S. Army." Actually, as they explain here, he represents dumb soldiers, guys who mean well but "foul up" all the time. He used as an example of how NOT to do things. Mainly, he just dreams about naked women. (Well, I can't blame him on that one.)

There aren't really humorous, at least today, but they served a good purpose and they part of World War II history, even if in a very small way.

The Private Snafu series was composed of training films made by various animators, directors and writers working for the Warner Brothers animation department (I think MGM did a couple, but mostly it was the boys from Termite Terrace) and they revolved around the worst soldier in the Army. The name Snafu is derived from an acronym of the phrase, "Situation Normal-All Fouled Up" (this is the more socially acceptable variant) and quite aptly describes our "hero". This short serves as an introduction to the series, which was shown solely to the troops and is thus more risqué and the content quite often coarser and more colorful, like the standard version of the above-mentioned acronym. Excellent series well worth watching. Most recommended.