Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike

Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike is a 1944 Private Snafu short directed by Chuck Jones and first released in Issue 23 of the Army-Navy Screen Magazine.Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 193
== Plot ==
A wanted poster of Malaria Mike, the mosquito, hangs on a tree. The surrounding area is a swamp. Mike himself admires his image in the poster, though he is not satisfied with the depiction of his nose. A splash of water alerts Mike to the presence of a potential target for him: the naked backside of Snafu. The soldier is currently bathing in a stream. Mike consults a chart detailing the choice parts of an American soldier. The buttocks are identified as filet mignon in the chart. Examining the buttocks of Snafu, Mike recognizes the man. Claiming to never forget a face. Mike reads the dog tags of Snafu and is enthusiastic to learn that the soldier is blood type A, his favorite type.
As Snafu dresses, Mike follows Snafu around and attempts to assault him. Various movements and clothing protect Snafu as time passes. In one occasion, Mike misses his target and infects a nearby tree with malaria. It promptly shrivels up and dies. Finally, Snafu makes a mistake by rising from his camp bed with his backside nude. While kissing a photo of his girlfriend, his nude rear is offered as a target to Mike. The snout of the mosquito finally hits the mark.
Some time later, Mike is sitting at an easy chair with a son sitting on his knee. The inquisitive boy asks what his father did in the "great war". Mounted above his fireplace is the trophy head of Snafu. In a postscript, Snafu thanks his sponsors, the United States Army. He credits them as providers of insect repellent, mosquito nets, atabrine tablets, and horse sense. He wishes he had actually used them.
== Context ==
In the Pacific War, the lack of mosquito control measures had caused malaria to reach epidemic status. Entire infected units had to be evacuated before actually experiencing combat. Early in the War, it was estimated that malaria caused eight to ten times as many casualties than the battlefield. In 1943, James C. Magee, Surgeon General of the United States Army, created special units to plan and carry out malaria control.Russell (2001), p. 112-114 The same year, Douglas MacArthur issued orders concerning malaria control measures. Among them was raising the shipping priority of anti-malaria supplies, providing troops with prophylactic drugs (quinine and atabrine) and mosquito repellents, and training troops in the importance of malaria.
Also in 1943, the United States Army started issuing educational propaganda about malaria. The educational campaign included films, radio broadcasts, posters, pinup calendars, signs, manuals, matchbooks, ration containers, and maps, all warning soldiers to protect themselves from malaria infection. This animated short film was part of the wider campaign.
== Notes ==
* Some of the Private Snafu films reused animation from mainstream films of Warner Bros. Cartoons. The air raid-like climax of the film derives from "The Fighting 69½th" (1941).Ericson (2012), p. 374
* Technically, Malaria Mike should have been female instead of male, since the females bite and draw blood, not the males.
* This is the first Warner Bros. cartoon to have Maurice Noble as layouts, though he is not credited.
*Malaria Mike resembles certain creatures that appear in several Dr. Seuss books. Seuss worked on this short as a writer, and he may have contributed this design.
*This short is in the public domain, since the cartoon, as well as other Private Snafu cartoons, are made by the U.S. government, then declassified some years later.
== Gallery ==
Malariamike.jpg
Fasgdhjkfhgd.jpg|Animation drawing
== Sources ==
* 
* 
* 
== References ==
 
Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones
Category:Private Snafu Cartoons
Category:Shorts
Category:1944
Category:Black-and-white cartoons
Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling
Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown
Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn
Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Public domain films