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

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.

Private Snafu wants to tell his sweetheart, Sally Lou, that he thinks his unit will be sent to the South Pacific. But every effort he makes to get his letter through uncensored is thwarted by a resourceful (and unseen) censor with an array of contraptions and booby traps. Not even Snafu's carrier pigeon can avoid the censor - not when he has a hawk for an assistant. Technical Fairy, First Class, comes to the rescue and agrees to deliver the letter - but he has good reason to say that he'll hate himself in the morning.

Snafu learns of the folly of hoarding and wasting military food supplies.

Snafu learns the need of keeping his gas mask at hand when he is attacked by anthropomorphic gas cloud.

Pvt. Snafu's unit suffers the consequences of blabbing military secrets while on leave at home.

Using Snafu as an example, Techanical Fairy First Class teaches the methods of effective camouflage.

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.

Technical Fairy First Class shows Snafu the consequences of frittering away his pay.

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 fairy encourages Snafu to duck out of his training regime for his own reasons.