SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) I have to say in terms of the animation and also the story that these Snafu films are among the worst Warner Bros. had to offer in the 1940s. Of course, it also does not help that they are in black-and-white. So it's a good thing that most of them do not run for the usual 7 minutes, but only for 4-5 like this one here as well. Basically everything we see here is a dream by the main character as we find out at the end. There is as always a rough male fairy-like conscience speaking to him on many occasions and it is very war-related as they all are. I think this is also the only aspect that makes this one here or most of the others worth a watch: the way military- or war-related contents were depicted in cartoons during the days of World War II. Apart from that, a very forgettable little movie despite the inclusion of the legendary Freleng and Blanc. Not recommended.

utgard14 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.

Robert Reynolds This is a short done during World War II for the US Army under a contract with Warner Brothers studio. There will be spoilers ahead:This is the second Private Snafu short (Coming! Snafu is a introduction to the character which doesn't have a specific lesson other than to reveal Snafu as a bad soldier).Snafu is disgruntled at his lot in the army. He's shown on KP, being giving shots by the army doctors and laying in bed sick. While sick, he complains that he could do a better job running the command. At this, we meet Technical Fairy, First Class for the first time and he gives Snafu his opportunity. Be careful what you wish for.Snafu essentially eliminates all discipline by ending drills, requirements to wear uniforms, getting each soldier two girls and in general eliminating anything which even smacked of hard work or rules. The results of this are predictable. Snafu has no command, as his men are no longer soldiers.Then the Nazis attack and Snafu is alone, his men ignoring him and telling him where to go when he tries to get them to fight. Snafu gets it in the end, literally. The end is excellent.This short is available on various DVDs and online and it's well worth watching. Recommended.

TheLittleSongbird 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