Gripes

Not among the best of the Private Snafu cartoons like Spies and Booby Traps are but Gripes, the second cartoon in the series, while very predictable and slightly slow-starting is a solid early effort. The backgrounds are very crisply drawn, the black and white holds up well and the character animation is expressive enough, overall Gripes is very nicely animated. Gripes also has a highly characterful and energetic music score in unmistakable Carl Stalling fashion, the use of pre-existing tunes was well-done, and while predictable and with one of the most bizarre concepts of any Private Snafu cartoon the story is not once dull and does a good job sustaining the very short length of the cartoon(only 4 minutes), the message is not much different from other Private Snafu cartoons but makes its point effectively and in a way that's not heavy-handed. Gripes scores highly in the humour and writing department too, there are wittier and more daring Private Snafu cartoons but the often rhyming dialogue is very smart and even hearing it you'll have no trouble figuring out that it's Dr Seuss behind it. And the cartoon is full of gags that are very odd but in an endearing way and not only are a lot of them ahead of their time- though the series has had even more daring material than this- but they're funny too(if admittedly more so from an adult perspective), the best of which relating to bottoms. Snafu while very inept, which is basically what the Private Snafu cartoons are about, is still a very likable protagonist and the Technical Fairy is hilariously witty, both of which wonderfully voiced by Mel Blanc. Overall, not one of the best of the series but still solid stuff and makes for 4 entertaining minutes. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Gripes (1943)

*** (out of 4)

The second film in the series has Private Snafu complaining about having to sweep, cut potatoes and other chores. He's then granted a wish on how he believes the soldiers should be treated each day. This here was the second film in the War Department's series, which was basically meant to educate soldiers during WWII. The title pretty much tells you everything you need to know as Snafu is griping about chores and then we see why everyone has to have a strict routine. The animation is certainly good and Mel Blanc does a fine job with the vocals. I personally thought this second episode was a lot better than the first and there's some adult content here that certainly wasn't normal for the time but since the film didn't have to go thru the Hayes Office it was allowed in.

Another fun entry in the Private Snafu series of shorts made for the U.S. Army during WWII. The purpose of these shorts was to instruct soldiers on the dos & don'ts of various subjects by using comedy. Because they were not made for public viewing, they did not have to pass the Production Code, which means they could often use humor and images that were more risqué than what was allowed in theaters at the time. This particular short tackles complaining. Snafu gripes about having to do things like peel potatoes when he signed up to fight, so he's shown what it would be like if things were the way he wanted. Suffice it to say, an army run the way Snafu would like is not any army we would want protecting us! It's an amusing short with nice black & white animation and plenty of funny moments. It's directed by Friz Freleng with, according to IMDb, a script co-written by Dr. Seuss. I can kind of see that as the rhyming dialogue throughout the short is very Seussian.

The message here to soldiers is that griping about their predicament all the time is not a productive way to spend their years in service in World War II. "Pvt. Snafu" is seen early on complaining about having KP and wondering why he's not out there killing Germans and Japanese like other guys.

When he's lying in his bunk later still griping about how he would runs things differently if he were in charge, a "Technical Fairy, First Class" materializes out of nowhere (a pretty funny looking guy, by the way!) and instantly makes him a bigwig with tons of stripes on his uniform.

The other main message of this cartoon - that discipline is essential - is then shown thrown through Snafu's ultra-liberal techniques in which the men under him can relax, have fun and not worry about doing anything they don't like.....which is shown NOT to be the way to the run the Army.

Notes: I think this was the second "Pvt. Snafu" animated short, the first being an introduction of him. It is four minutes long, not three as listed here.

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.

In this film, Snafu spends too much time griping about life in the military--in particular all the discipline. So, in an odd twist, his fairy godfather (of sorts) shows him what life would be like if Snafu was in charge. Next, you see the soldiers running amok and all discipline is out the window...with very predictable results.

This film manages to convey the message to troops in a very funny yet effective way. However, it is still great viewing today--even if you aren't a soldier.