Behind the Tunes: Real American Zero - The Adventures of Private Snafu

Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional cartoon shorts produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The character was created by director Frank Capra, chairman of the U.S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit, and most were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, Philip D. Eastman, and Munro Leaf.[1]

Introducing Private Snafu, the nation's worst soldier and his various versions in different branches of the armed forces. The cartoon, ironic and humorous in tone, was created during World War II and it was designed to instruct service personnel about security, proper sanitation habits, booby traps and other military subjects, and also to improve troop morale. The main character's name is a play on the military slang acronym SNAFU, "Situation Normal: All Fouled Up."

Pvt. Snafu suffers the consequences of not keeping his equipment and weapons properly maintained.

A homesick Pvt. Snafu learns that his family are almost as committed to the war efforts as himself.

As the Devil watches Pvt. Snafu and his unit stationed in Iran, he talks about the hazards of working in the heat.

A humourous look at the Aleutian Islands and their strategic value.

Snafu has an object lesson on the value of complete and accurate regular reports when he discovers and reports evidence of the enemy's presence at his assigned area.

Snafu learns hard way the consequences of not protecting himself from malaria infection.

Pvt. Snafu becomes a superhero, only for him to become the world's dumbest one because he won't study his field manuals.

Dissatisfied with being assigned to shoe consignment detail, Snafu learns about the true value of his responsibilities

Pvt. Snafu thinks he's too smart to get caught by an enemy booby trap, but he soon finds that the traps are alluring and that he is every bit the booby.