Rare vintage WW II cartoons showing at nation's only Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library

 --Media Release by Bohlsen Group

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 19, 2013) – These films are intended for mature audiences only – that is, mature audiences who like irreverent humor about Nazis, getting blown to bits (literally) and what happens if you don’t take your malaria medicine.

The rare Private Snafu films – with SNAFU standing for “Situation Normal, All Fouled (or, more commonly, F-d) Up” among the military men of the day – were created to teach World War II soldiers with low literacy skills what happens if you fail to follow military protocol.

The films were never intended to be seen by the general public, and in fact weren’t until they were released on DVD in 2006, more than 60 years after they were created. But on March 1, 2013, you can see them in their original 16mm format at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indianapolis.

Local historian Eric Grayson has won acclaim for his digital restorations of Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances from 1925 and the serial King of the Kongo from 1929. He has provided films, articles and lectures from New York to Finland. Now, he’ll share his Private Snafu films as a tribute to another WW II veteran and humorist, Kurt Vonnegut, who survived the bombing of Dresden -- and turned the experience into the bestselling novel Slaughterhouse-Five. 

The character of Private Snafu was created by director Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc; in fact, Private Snafu sounds suspiciously like Bugs Bunny. Many episodes were written by Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel.