User reviews

Another in the series of black & white cartoon shorts made for the U.S Army during World War II about moronic Private Snafu, a soldier who never does what he's supposed to and suffers the consequences. This one is about educating soldiers on malaria and how best to protect themselves from it. An evil mosquito named Malaria Mike gets a sight of Snafu washing his bare butt in the swamp and decides he likes what he sees. In an amusing gag, he pulls out a chart that shows the different places on a soldier's body that are "choice cuts." The rest of the cartoon is the mosquito trying to attack Snafu, who manages to avoid being bitten...for a little while. This time around it's Snafu's failure to properly protect himself that leads to his inevitable demise. In that sense, it's different from many of the other shorts where he caused problems through action not inaction. It's also different in that the star of the short is really the mosquito. It's directed by Chuck Jones with Billy Bletcher providing the voice of Malaria Mike and Mel Blanc as Snafu. There are a lot of shots of Snafu's naked rear, which is sort of risqué for the time. The animation is good, despite the lack of color. It's a funny cartoon but not my favorite of the Snafu shorts I've seen.

What's cool about this one is, it's done by Chuck Jones himself.

Even has the same style as other Chuck Jones Animated shorts from the 40s.

Introduces Malaria Mike a mosquito who gives out Malaria once he stings someone.

Throughout the short he tries to sting snafu with his needle.

Has a few gags to it as well.

a good lesson in knowing why it's important to protect yourself from Mosquitoes.

Another good Snafu Cartoon.

Those who are offended by the sight of a guy's but might not like this one.

Cause Snafu's but is shown a lot in this one.

Another thoroughly entertaining cartoon in the very interesting Private Snafu series, and one of the better ones too. Maybe it could have been a touch longer(the Private Snafu are very short and some of them feel it) but there is very little actually to complain about Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike. The animation is smooth and clean with the black and white still having a lot of warmth and the characters are well drawn. Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike is vibrantly scored and does a great enhancing each action, expression and gesture, and has some very funny writing, most of it coming from Malaria Mike though Snafu's last lines are just as priceless. The visual gags are even better, yes with as usual showing the consequences of Snafu's ineptness even over simple things, they are well-timed and raise a good laugh, again mostly revolving around Snafu's ineptness. Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike is one of the more accessible Private Snafu cartoons and not as daring for its time than others in the series(which was in a way is part of the series' charm) but there is nothing to be offended by here. The cartoon is also very educational and makes its point without preaching, whether you've heard of malaria or not. Snafu is very endearing and Malaria Mike the mosquito is a riot, you cannot go wrong with the terrific vocal talents of Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher, two of the best and prolific voice actors of their day. To conclude, thoroughly entertaining with something to learn too and deserving of a higher rating. 9/10 Bethany Cox