Tex Avery MGM Cartoons: Difference between revisions

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''(cue [[Big Ball of Violence]])''|The ending of ''Screwball Squirrel''}}

 

Free of the budget and creative constraints he faced at Warner Bros., and with a staff of skilled animators at his side (some of whom were even ex-Disney employees), Tex Avery went on to make some of the best cartoons of [[The Golden Age of Animation]], or in some cases, some of the most acclaimed cartoons of all time. From 1942 to 1957, he cranked out dozens of classics, many of which would go on to codify the [[Zany Cartoon]] and thus serve as an influence to many animators, including master animator [[Richard Williams]]. The fact that they were constantly reaired in the early years of [[Cartoon Network]] only contributed to making him a legend in animation pop culture.

 

* '''[[Screwy Squirrel]]''': An insane squirrel that often picked on his antagonists for no reason other than [[Rule of Funny|because it was funny.]] He met his match with Lonesome Lenny in his final short, though, in which he was presumably [[And Call Him George|crushed to death]] by the ''Of Mice And Men''-inspired dog. His series was short lived because Avery never cared for the character much. There are stories of Tex's automatically throwing fan letters depicting Screwy Squirrel into the trash.

* '''Red and Wolfie''': Wolfie made his debut in "Blitz Wolf" as an [[Adolf Hitler]] caricature, but it was in "[[Red Hot Riding Hood]]" that he became the womanizer with off-the-wall wild takes he was famous for being. Red herself was based on pin-up girls of the 1940's, and often would sing and perform in her appearances. Both characters frequently co-starred in cartoons with Droopy, Wolfie usually being the antagonist.

 

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* ''[[Blitz Wolf]]'': [[Academy Award]] nominee, runner-up on ''[[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]]'' list.

* ''[[Red Hot Riding Hood]]'': No. 7 on ''[[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]]'' list.

* ''Señor Droopy'': Runner-up on ''[[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]]''.

* ''[[Swing Shift Cinderella]]'': Runner-up on ''The 50 Gre''--oh, you get the idea.

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== Filmography ==

 

== 1947 ==

 

* Slap Happy Lion

* [[King Size Canary]]: Another one of his most known cartoons.

* Little 'Tinker

* Half-Pint Pygmy: Another one of Tex's more politically incorrect cartoons. Also the last appearance of George and Junior.

* The Cat That Hated People

 

 

* Drag-A-Long Droopy

* Homesteader Droopy

* The Farm of Tomorrow: Fourth and last of the "Tetralogy Of Tomorrow."

 

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* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: Red's grandmother in "Red Hot Riding Hood," and her fairy godmother in "Swing Shift Cinderella," just to name a couple.

* [[Accordion Man]]: Plenty of times. A literal one that hasn't been flattened appears in "The Cat That Hated People."

* [[And Call Him George]]: MGM loved ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'' even more than Warner Bros.

* [[Annoying Laugh]]: Screwy Squirrel.

** Any time it involved Spike and a tree, the following dialogue was obligatory:

'''Spike:''' --BER. }}

* [[Art Evolution]]: Believe it or not, over time Droopy's face becomes less...droopy. Also, MGM cartoons as a whole leaned more and more towards [[Limited Animation]] as time went on.

** George and Junior try this trick in their shorts many times, though it always backfires on them, usually either due to Junior becoming confused and forgetting that George is the one in disguise, or for example in the case of "Hound Hunters" in which they are dog catchers trying to attract dogs by dressing in a cat suit, the scheme works ''too'' well.

* [[Author Appeal]]: Avery ''really'' enjoyed the idea of torturing mothers-in-law, if his "Series of Tomorrow" is to be believed.

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Whatever you do to Droopy, don't ever, ''EVER'' deface a picture of the girl he loves...or take away his son's milk.

* [[Big "Shut Up!"]]: Joe Bear shouts this a lot in "Rock-a-Bye Bear".

* [[Bloodless Carnage]]

* [[Broken Record]]: While Screwy Squirrel was being chased by Meathead.

* [[Butter Face]]: Several cartoons use this gag.

* [[Cloudcuckooland]]: "The Cat Who Hated People" is this especially but as "Half Pint Pygmy" goes on, the jungle animals become more and more surreal (like two giraffes connected by their necks ''with no head between them''.

* [[Cluster F-Bomb]]: Played with in "Screwball Squirrel," when Screwy is provoking Meathead into chasing him by insulting him through a payphone:

* [[Cock-a-Doodle Dawn]]: In "Cock-a-Doodle Dog", though instead of just crowing at dawn the pesky rooster crows all day long after Butch had no sleep the previous night.

* [[Country Mouse]] / [[City Mouse]]: The premise of "Little Rural Riding Hood."

* [[Curse Cut Short]]: At the end of "Blitz Wolf."

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Droopy to the Wolf in "Shooting of Dan McGoo", after the wolf claims his drink was watered down.

* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: Michael Lah is credited in "Cellbound" as both animator and director.

* [[Deranged Animation]]: Particularly in the cartoon "The Cat That Hated People."

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Though sometimes [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|shocking to modern audiences]], some of Avery's cartoons ended with the main character shooting themselves, such as "Red Hot Riding Hood".

* [[Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels]]: The Screwy Squirrel cartoons.

* [[The Faceless]]: Meathead the dog after Screwy Squirrel pulls his face off with flypaper.

* [[Fake Rabies]]: In the Droopy short "Wags to Riches," Spike puts shaving cream on a sleeping Droopy and phones in a report of a mad dog, but a fan blows the foam onto Spike's face just as the dog catcher arrives.

* [[Finger Gun]]: Dinosaur Dan in "The First Bad Man" uses his own finger as a gun when his real gun runs out of bullets. Also used by Spike/Butch in "Wags to Riches" (but not in "Millionaire Droopy") after attempting to shoot Droopy.

* [[Fire and Brimstone Hell]]: Where the [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]-type wolf ends up in after getting killed in "Blitz Wolf".

'''A bunch of devils:''' (in unison) Eh... it's a possibility. }}

* [[Flat Joy]]: Droopy is [[Trope Codifier]].

* [[Killed Off for Real]]: Screwy Squirrel in "Lonesome Lenny."

* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]: Droopy, when someone has a laugh at his expense for any reason and is about to be severely punished by him for it.

* [[Literal Ass-Kicking]]

* [[Medium Awareness]]: Many times the cartoons characters in Avery's shorts knew they were in a cartoon.

** This exchange from "The Early Bird Dood It," as the worm and bird pass by a movie billboard with the lobby card of the very cartoon they're in:

'''Worm:''' Well, I sure hope it's funnier than ''this'' one! }}

** The book the old coot is reading in ''[[Who Killed Who]]'' is titled "Who Killed Who (From the cartoon of the same name)."

* [[Mime-and-Music-Only Cartoon]]: "Lucky Ducky." No spoken dialogue, a few sound effects, a disclaimer at the beginning. And that's it.

* [[Napoleon Delusion]]: Screwy Squirrel had one, and then gave it to his unfortunate antagonist Meathead.

* [[No Indoor Voice]]: The bear in "Rock-a-Bye Bear," who ironically hates noise despite the fact that he's always shouting.

* [[Not the Fall That Kills You]]: The killer in "Dumb-Hounded" jumps off a tall building to his supposed death, but he has "good brakes" that he uses to screech himself to a halt just before hitting the pavement, on which he lands as gentle as a feather.

* [[Offscreen Teleportation]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in "Screwball Squirrel":

'''Both Meatheads''': So was we! ''(they laugh ''à la'' Screwy Squirrel)'' }}

* [[Panty Shot]]: The girl flea in "What Price Fleadom," Red at the end of "Wild And Wolfy."

* [[Scooby-Dooby Doors]]: Many cartoons, making Tex the [[Ur Example]] if not the [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Smelly Skunk]]: "Little 'Tinker"

* [[Something Else Also Rises]]: Just watch any of Wolfie's wild takes.

* [[Talking Animal]]

* [[Take That]]: Tex loved making fun of Disney, as well as [[Harman and Ising]]'s own "cutesy cartoons" they made for MGM. Just watch the opening of "Screwball Squirrel" for example.

* [[That Makes Me Feel Angry]]: Droppy used to say this, almost word for word. Of course, he had to, due to his monotone way of speaking, you couldn't tell how he was feeling.

** [[Beware the Nice Ones|Up until he soundly kicked the villain's ass for making him mad.]]

* [[Unlikely Hero]]: Droopy

* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: When Droopy says he's mad, somebody's in for a world of hurt.

* [[Vagabond Buddies]]: George and Junior

* [[Wartime Cartoon]]: Many of his WWII-era cartoons qualify, "Blitz Wolf" being the one that dealt with WWII directly.

* [[Wild Take]]: [[Trope Codifier]]

* [[Woodland Creatures]]: Played with and parodied in "Screwball Squirrel" and "Little 'Tinker".

* [[Zany Cartoon]]

[[Category:The Golden Age of Animation]]

[[Category:The Forties]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]