Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is a short in a series of training films done by the Warner Brothers animation studio during World War II for the US Army. There will be spoilers ahead:Private Snafu is the worst soldier in thee army. He was developed as a method of helping train soldiers to avoid the mistakes a poor soldier might make by showing the consequences of poor habits and actions (or inactions, as seen here).Private Snafu doesn't want to train, work or make any real effort, character traits encouraged by Goldie the Goldbrick fairy. As Snafu undertakes certain tasks, he's encouraged to take the easy way out over and over, with negative results, until he reaches combat in the Pacific theater out of shape and absolutely incapable of anything worthwhile.The consequences are spelled out rather starkly and grimly in the end of the short, when Snafu is a casualty and Goldie the Goldbrick is revealed to be Japanese, in an unflattering caricature. Which, given that this is propaganda, is pretty much to be expected.These shorts are available on various DVDs and online. Recommended.

The Private Snafu films were clearly made to be seen by soldiers and not by the general public. The dirty jokes, sexual innuendos and language is relatively tame today but never would have been allowed in the regular theaters due to the Production Code. But, such off-color remarks went over very well with the enlisted men and helped to illustrate important information in a humorous and memorable fashion.In this cartoon, instead of Technical Fairy First Class, you see a new but fatter character. And, instead of teaching him a good lesson, this fairy encourages Snafu to take the easy way out again and again. By the end of the film, Snafu is in deep trouble and you discover the truth about this new fairy.Overall, a rather sub-par Snafu cartoon, though for fans of the series, it's still worth seeing. The biggest problem with it is that it's just less funny than the typical film and seemed a bit preachy.

Frank Tashlin's 'The Goldbrick' is a great Private Snafu cartoon designed to discourage "goldbricking" (slacking off) in soldiers. One of a handful of shorts in which Snafu actually dies at the end, 'The Goldbrick' has at its core an infectiously lazy song which is so laid-back that it's virtually a poem but is impossible to get out of your head afterwards. Convinced by Goldie the Goldbrick fairy that he should fake an illness to get out of duty, Snafu slowly begins to learn all the tricks of goldbricking until he is singing along with the film's theme tune. These scenes are cleverly set-up with a couple of nice laughs but 'The Goldbrick' really makes its mark with the grim turn it takes at the end. The final scenes are genuinely troubling (and not just for the racist caricature) and the message is delivered forcefully without having to make any sacrifices in terms of entertainment. There are many Private Snafu shorts which more than justify the redistribution of the series and 'The Goldbrick' is amongst the very best.

Snafu is tired of not getting any rest.That's when Goldie the GoldBrick(who's fatter than Technical Fairy First Class) comes along.He gives out tips on how to skip his duties and rest more.Snafu takes every one of these tips.But when he goes out into battle that can be a problem when he's all pooped out. And Goldie the Goldbrick isn't as trustworthy as he seems.This is another fine Private Snafu Cartoon with plenty of Dr. Suess like rhythms.It's a good lesson in not being a Goldbrick yourself when you're in the war.