Coming!! Snafu

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.

The first of a series of black & white cartoon shorts made for use by the U.S. Army during World War II. The shorts all centered on Private Snafu, an incompetent buffoon who shows soldiers what NOT to do in various situations. The shorts did not have to pass the Production Code so they were usually more risqué than what was allowed in theaters at the time. Mel Blanc did the voice for Snafu in all of them and the directing was handled by some of animation's best at the time. This first one was directed by Chuck Jones and is basically just about introducing the character of Private Snafu. We see how he ignores recommended procedures and daydreams of a curvy blonde stripping (my favorite part of the short!). It's a brief cartoon, clocking in at three minutes. But it manages to make an impact with some nice animation and racy humor.

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.

There may be better cartoons in the Private Snafu series(standard considering that this is just the first one) but Coming!! Snafu is still a good start to it. All the Private Snafu cartoons are very short, often clocking at three minutes, a fair few feeling too short and Coming!! Snafu is one of them. The animation is detailed and inventive while never being too complicated or static, the black and white colours are very fluid and not dated-looking, while the music does a great job giving a liveliness to the cartoon and enhancing the action. The dialogue has a sharp wit and the gags are both hilarious and ahead-of-their-time, verbal and visual, who can possibly fail to love how Snafu is introduced here. If there was anything that could have been better on this front, it would be that because the material is as fun as it is there could have been more of it. Snafu is not quite at his funniest, but he is still funny and earns his title as the goofiness and the most inept soldier in the US Army, no matter how many mistakes he makes he's still incredibly endearing. The voice work is top-notch, Mel Blanc could do no wrong. To conclude, Snafu makes his debut in a solid start to the series that paved the way for even better cartoons. 7/10 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.

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.