Coming!! Snafu (1943) User Reviews

Only an organization counting upon a captive audience . . .

[oscaralbert · 5/10 · 5 November 2016]

. . . would attempt to promote an upcoming series with a trailer as lame as COMING!! SNAFU. Fortunately for the U.S. Army, the Boot Camp Training Manual states that if a Commander (that is, a superior officer) such as Emporer Caligua or President Donald J. Duck, orders the Bottom Rankers (aka, "Cannon Fodder) to march into the sea in full battle gear, then "By Gosh, we'll Darn Well do it, Yes Sir!!" Watching COMING!! SNAFU (and its 25 later installments) probably was on par with quick-stepping into the ocean, but usually soldiers would not get as wet during the former activity. "Patronizing, silly, and counter-productive" are among the more charitable terms one can use in describing the Snafu Series. Though this early promo pulls its sexual punches, only presenting human female lingerie, it does not include full frontal female human cartoon nudity offered by many if not most of the Snafu Sequels. (Since a Boot Camper's life can be a bit tiring, this Bare-Brass Nakedness probably was the best way to insure wakefulness during a Snafu cartoon's three-to-five-minute running time.)

Introduction of the clumsy idiot soldier

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 14 March 2016]

"Coming!! Snafu" is not really a film on its own. It is more of an introduction to the other films starring this character. He is a good guy, but a horribly untalented soldier unfortunately. It's a black-and-white cartoon directed by Chuck Jones starring Mel Blanc and Frank Graham. I guess they thought now that it was war, it's time to entertain the forces with one of them as a character. I hope they weren't offended. This short film here was not particularly entertaining in my opinion and I do not recommend seeing it. Jones and Blanc have done way superior works during that time already. Thumbs down for this Snafu introduction. only good thing, we find out what the name stands for.

"Snafu's a deep thinker..."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 2 September 2015]

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.

The debut of the goofiest soldier in the US Army, aka Private Snafu

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 31 August 2014]

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

Enjoyable but way too short

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 14 May 2009]

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.

Introducing The Phrase And The Man

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 12 November 2007]

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 very first appearance of Private Snafu, the unwitting best weapon-for the enemy.

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 9 December 2003]

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 introduction of Private Snafu

[emasterslake · 8/10 · 29 August 2005]

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.

First in the Snarfu Series

[Michael_Elliott · 4 September 2015]

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.

SNAFU be glad you aren't him!

[dtucker86 · 10/10 · 20 September 2023]

I served in the military for twenty five years and served during two wars and in all of that time I knew quite a few "Snafus" Soldiers that didn't deserve the title that had everythingn wrong with them from poor hygiene to being mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence. These old Army training films from World War II must have given our great grandfathers in service a big horse laugh. Starring the "man of a thousand voices" Mel Blanc snafu is one of those people who makes you feel better about yourself on your worst day because you think that at least I am not as screwed up as him. I am glad I found these little gems and get a good laugh from them.