Fighting Tools

Fighting Tools (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Fun entry in the War Department series has Private Snafu reading a headline explaining that U.S. soldiers have the best equipment in the world....as long as you actually take care of it. We see Snafu in the war zone when he comes up on a German solder who he goes to shoot before realizing that his poor care for his rifle has led to a problem. As with earlier films in the series, this one here certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's highly entertaining for a number of reasons. For starters, the animation is extremely good and especially some of the stuff with Snafu getting ready to shoot the German soldier. Another major plus is some "adult" type of humor including some nudity, which shows that this was meant for soldiers and not the general public. Finally, Mel Blanc is just delightful in his vocal work. This here is certainly one of the better entries in the series.

Another fun Private Snafu short made for use by the U.S. Army during World War II. One of the purposes of these shorts was to instruct soldiers on the dos & don'ts of various subjects. The hope was that by using comedy it would help the men better understand what they were being told, as many of them were not well-educated. The subject of this short is proper vehicle and weapon maintenance. Snafu spots a Nazi but can't shoot him as his gun is full of sand. Repeatedly Snafu gets the drop on the Nazi but his weapons and jeep malfunction due to the fact that lazy Snafu didn't take care of them properly. It's a fun cartoon, directed by Bob Clampett, that uses the word 'damn' a lot. They got away with this at the time because the shorts did not have to pass the Production Code since they weren't meant for public viewing. Nice black & white animation. Wonderful voice work from Mel Blanc. Keep your eyes peeled for a duck that looks quite a bit like Daffy.

This one is has to do with War Weapons for the US.

Snafu is all singing and saying with all these good weapons to use he'll be a hero by defeating any German soldier who comes near him.

And with out notice one German soldier comes near him but Snafu uses one of his weapons to surprise him.

This one has singing in it through out the whole short.

Has plenty of gags.

Good stuff and Humor.

Just as good as the "spies" short. Those who like Snafu will like this one.

There is always something to enjoy in the Private Snafu cartoons and Fighting Tools is one of the most enjoyable ones. It's not as great as Spies, Booby Traps and The Goldbrick but, other than feeling a little too short and having an ending that can be smelt a mile off, it's very good. The animation never tries to do anything too complicated yet there is enough detail, nice use of black and white colours and smooth drawings to ensure that it doesn't look simplistic. There's plenty of music and singing in Fighting Tools and the good news is that not only is it energetically sung, lively in rhythm beautifully orchestrated but it is also memorable. Fighting Tools is very clever and funny, both Snafu and the Nazi soldier have fun material, and there's even a daring, risqué element to the cartoon that made the series interesting in the first place. The gags are just as funny, especially Snafu mistaking the Nazi soldier's bottom for his head while the cartoon never comes across as heavy-handed and doesn't try to make fun of a serious situation(none of the Snafu cartoons did). Snafu as ever is endearing, he is incredibly inept- the running joke of the series is that he is the worst soldier in the army- but means well, while the Nazi soldier manages not to be too much of a crude stereotype. Mel Blanc does a terrific job with the voice acting, which didn't come as a surprise as Blanc is one of the best voice actors of all time who rarely put a foot wrong. Overall, very enjoyable stuff if not the Snafu series at its best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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.

Here, Snafu is illustrating through his own ineptitude that it is important for a soldier to keep his weapons in good condition. Snafu, as usual, is an idiot and when a lone German soldier attacks, his weapons are in such lousy condition that the last laugh is on a naked and stupid Snafu by the end of the film. Clever, a bit risqué and very watchable.