Apparently the Private Snafu was a regular when it came to films warning soldiers of danger. The goofy Private can't quite get the message that when he lets his emotions and hormones take over, his next act may be his last. He is tempted by hidden land mines, exploding pianos, nubile women, on and on. Of course, he is an absolute idiot because he is warned frequently and can't wait to get himself done in. Some of my Vietnam War friends told of unique types of traps positioned by the enemy, most of which worked on the kindness and compassion of some of the American soldiers. I may check another of these Snafu things out at a later time.

Another Private Snafu short made for use by the U.S. Army during World War II. As always, Snafu is refusing to follow proper procedures and thinks he's smarter than he actually is. This time he's in the North African desert, where he's warned about booby traps but does what he wants anyway. He comes across a series of traps that are obviously unrealistic but the point was to instruct the soldiers on how to be more careful by using humor rather than making them sit through a dry educational film. Mel Blanc provides the voice for Snafu and has some funny lines that were racy for the time. The runtime is brief (four minutes) but it packs a lot in there. The animation is nice and the gags are funny. The best part is the harem. Really puts the 'boob' in booby trap.

Of the mostly thoroughly enjoyable Private Snafu cartoons two have stood out as being particularly great, one was Spies and the other was this. Booby Traps, like a lot of Private Snafu cartoons, could have benefited from a longer length, but really there was next to nothing wrong here even if there are a few parts that are not for the easily offended(ie. the mechanical Hitler). Booby Traps is beautifully and inventively animated, and has a music score bursting with energy and colour(it never trivialises the action, instead it enhances it, then again what do you expect from Carl Stalling?). The dialogue is a chock-full of razor-sharp wit, especially the sparring between Snafu and the narrator, and there are some great gags if very adult and quite daring for back then(not a criticism, just to let viewers know what to expect). Especially funny were the camel with the attached bomb and the scantily clad ladies, the ending's hilarious too. The narration is brilliantly sardonic and Snafu, for a character so inept, is truly endearing, the joke that he does simple things so wrong never wearing thin. The voice acting from Mel Blanc doesn't disappoint and Robert C. Bruce is a witty narrator. Overall, a great cartoon and one of the best Private Snafu cartoons. 9/10 Bethany Cox

During WWII, Hollywood made a wide variety of training films meant to be shown only to the troops. Because of this, the jokes were often sexual and the language was distinctly "non-Hollywood" for the era. Some of the films are a bit dull, but the ones I enjoy seeing the most are the clever Pvt. Snafu films. They have a distinctly Warner Brothers flare--the artwork and voice characterizations are pure Looney Toons. The only obvious differences (apart from the adult content) is that they were made in black and white.This time, the idiot, Pvt. Snafu is learning about the danger of booby traps. And, as usual, he gets himself killed as an object lesson to the soldiers! My favorite gags involved Snafu trying to milk a camel and when he went in to a tent filled with what appeared to be gorgeous women (all he wanted to do was smoke and play the piano). A cute film that is almost as funny as the earlier Snafu film about spies.