It was 1943, the thick of World War II, and the U.S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit needed to lift spirits and shed light on military behavior. So they turned to professionals: It's a Wonderful Life director Frank Capra spearheaded the initiative. He created the cartoon character named "Private Snafu" to teach soldiers everything from security, to proper sanitation habits, to Nazi booby traps. Veteran animator Chuck Jones directed the shorts, with Bugs Bunny voice actor Mel Blanc providing Snafu's vocals. And for dialogue, Capra turned to none other than Army Captain Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.

Snafu was the worst-case solider and Seuss gave his bumbling antics a lyrical twist. After the recent discovery and publication of Seuss' long-lost What Pet Should I Get?, the forgotten Snafu cartoons add another layer to the writers' eclectic career. According to the New York Post, which announced that several of the shorts will air on TCM in September, it was Geisel's work as a political cartoonist for PM, a left-wing New York tabloid newspaper, that attracted Capra's attention, not the author's children's books. Geisel's knack for crude jokes is evident in the cartoons, several of which are available in the National Archives. We don't recall many busty Nazi spies in One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, although our memories may be fuzzy.

Watch two of the shorts below and head to the Post for an in-depth look at the animated artifacts' history.

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