Tex Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor, and director. He became famous for producing animated cartoons during the Golden age of American animation and produced his most significant work while employed by the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.
He created the characters of Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt (1937), in Egghead in Egghead Rides Again (1937), Elmer Fudd in Little Red Walking Hood (1937), Bugs Bunny in A Wild Hare (1940), Cecil Turtle in Tortoise Beats Hare (1941), Droopy in Dumb-Hounded (1943), Screwy Squirrel in Screwball Squirrel (1944), George and Junior in Henpecked Hoboes (1946), Spike/Butch the Bulldog (Tex Avery's version) in Bad Luck Blackie (1949), and Smedley Dog in I'm Cold (1954). He developed the characters of Porky Pig from the Warner Bros. studio and Chilly Willy from the Walter Lantz Studio into the personas for which they are best remembered.
Avery first began his animation career at the Walter Lantz studio in the early 1930s, working on the majority of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from 1931-35. He is listed as "animator" on the original title card credits on the Oswald cartoons. He later claimed to have directed two cartoons during this time. By 1942, Avery was in the employ of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, working in their cartoon division under the supervision of Fred Quimby. At MGM, Avery's creativity reached its peak. A burnt-out Avery left MGM in 1953 to return to the Walter Lantz studio. Avery's return to the Lantz studio did not last long. He directed four cartoons in 1954-1955: the one-shots Crazy Mixed-Up Pup and Shh-h-h-h-h, and I'm Cold and The Legend of Rockabye Point, in which he defined the character of Chilly Willy the penguin.
Films directed or co-directed by Tex Avery
1935: Carl Laemmle/Walter Lantz era
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Towne Hall Follies | 1935 | First cartoon directed by Avery at Lantz and credited as an animator; Co-directed by Walter Lantz | [1] |
The Quail Hunt | 1935 | Co-directed by Walter Lantz | [1] |
1935–1942: Warner Bros. era
No. | Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gold Diggers of '49 | 1935 |
|
[2][3] |
2 | Plane Dippy | 1936 |
|
[4][5] |
3 | Page Miss Glory | 1936 |
|
[6] |
4 | The Blow Out | 1936 |
|
[2][7] |
5 | I'd Love to Take Orders from You | 1936 | ||
6 | I Love to Singa | 1936 | ||
7 | Porky the Rain Maker | 1936 |
|
[2] |
8 | The Village Smithy | 1936 |
|
[8][9] |
9 | Milk and Money | 1936 |
|
[9] |
10 | Don't Look Now | 1936 | [10] | |
11 | Porky the Wrestler | 1937 |
|
|
12 | Picador Porky | 1937 |
|
[11] |
13 | I Only Have Eyes for You | 1937 | ||
14 | Porky's Duck Hunt | 1937 |
|
[8] |
15 | Uncle Tom's Bungalow | 1937 |
|
|
16 | Ain't We Got Fun | 1937 | [12] | |
17 | Egghead Rides Again | 1937 |
|
[13] |
18 | A Sunbonnet Blue | 1937 | ||
19 | Porky's Garden | 1937 |
|
|
20 | I Wanna Be a Sailor | 1937 | ||
21 | Little Red Walking Hood | 1937 |
|
[14] |
22 | Daffy Duck & Egghead | 1938 | [15] | |
23 | The Sneezing Weasel | 1938 | [16] | |
24 | The Penguin Parade | 1938 | ||
25 | The Isle of Pingo Pongo | 1938 |
|
[17][18] |
26 | Cinderella Meets Fella | 1938 | [17][19] | |
27 | A Feud There Was | 1938 |
|
[17][20] |
28 | Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas | 1938 | [17][20] | |
29 | Daffy Duck in Hollywood | 1938 |
|
[20] |
30 | The Mice Will Play | 1938 | [20] | |
31 | Hamateur Night | 1939 | [20] | |
32 | A Day at the Zoo | 1939 | [21] | |
33 | Thugs with Dirty Mugs | 1939 | [15] | |
34 | Believe It or Else | 1939 |
|
[22][23] |
35 | Dangerous Dan McFoo | 1939 | [17][15] | |
36 | Detouring America | 1939 |
|
[24][25] |
37 | Land of the Midnight Fun | 1939 | ||
38 | Fresh Fish | 1939 | [26] | |
39 | Screwball Football | 1939 | [27] | |
40 | The Early Worm Gets the Bird | 1940 | [28] | |
41 | Cross-Country Detours | 1940 | [15] | |
42 | The Bear's Tale | 1940 | [29] | |
43 | A Gander at Mother Goose | 1940 | [29] | |
44 | Circus Today | 1940 | [19] | |
45 | A Wild Hare | 1940 |
|
[8] |
46 | Ceiling Hero | 1940 | [30] | |
47 | Wacky Wild Life | 1940 | [31] | |
48 | Of Fox and Hounds | 1940 | ||
49 | Holiday Highlights | 1940 | ||
50 | The Crackpot Quail | 1941 | [32] | |
51 | The Haunted Mouse | 1941 |
|
[33] |
52 | Tortoise Beats Hare | 1941 |
|
[34] |
53 | Hollywood Steps Out | 1941 | ||
54 | Porky's Preview | 1941 |
|
[35] |
55 | The Heckling Hare | 1941 | [8] | |
56 | Aviation Vacation | 1941 |
|
[36] |
57 | All This and Rabbit Stew | 1941 |
|
[37][38][39] |
58 | The Bug Parade | 1941 |
|
[40] |
59 | The Cagey Canary | 1941 |
|
[1][41] |
60 | Wabbit Twouble | 1941 |
| |
61 | Aloha Hooey | 1942 |
|
[1][39] |
62 | Crazy Cruise | 1942 |
|
[1][32] |
1941: Paramount era
All shorts are in live action and in black and white.
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Down on the Farm | 1941 | [42] | |
In a Pet Shop | 1941 | [43] | |
In the Zoo | 1941 | [44] |
1942–1957: MGM era
Title | Producer | Year | Notes | DVD - Availability | Blu-ray - Availability | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blitz Wolf | Fred Quimby | 1942 | Rarely airs on Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to Nazi Imagery. First appearance of the Wolf. | WB Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection | Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 |
[15][45] |
The Early Bird Dood It! | 1942 | Girl Crazy | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [28][45] | ||
Dumb-Hounded | 1943 | First appearance of Droopy | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [15] | |
Red Hot Riding Hood | 1943 | Originally withheld from broadcast during the television restrictions code for its suggestive material. First appearance of Red. | Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 |
[8][15] | ||
Who Killed Who? | 1943 | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [46] | |||
One Ham's Family | 1943 | Best Foot Forward | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [47][45] | ||
What's Buzzin' Buzzard | 1943 | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [48] | |||
Screwball Squirrel | 1944 | First appearance of the character Screwy Squirrel. | The Thin Man Goes Home | Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 |
[27] | |
Batty Baseball | 1944 | The Stratton Story | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [17] | ||
Happy-Go-Nutty | 1944 | Blackface gag present which is cut from television airings. | Dragon Seed | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] [15] | |
Big Heel-Watha | 1944 | Rarely airs on Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to negative stereotypes of Native Americans. | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [8] | ||
The Screwy Truant | 1945 | The Clock | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [8] | ||
The Shooting of Dan McGoo | 1945 | Original print found by Mark Kausler. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | |
Jerky Turkey | 1945 | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [17] | |||
Swing Shift Cinderella | 1945 | Originally withheld from broadcast during the television restrictions code for its suggestive material. Working title was Red Hot Cindy during production | Without Love | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45][15] | |
Wild and Woolfy | 1945 | Originally withheld from broadcast during the television restrictions code for its suggestive material. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | |
Lonesome Lenny | 1946 | Undercurrent | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | |||
The Hick Chick | 1946 | Ziegfeld Follies | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [8] | ||
Northwest Hounded Police | 1946 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [8][45] | ||
Henpecked Hoboes | 1946 | First appearance of the characters George and Junior. Blackface gag present which is cut from television airings. | Till the Clouds Roll By | [46] | ||
Hound Hunters | 1947 | Originally titled What Price Fleadom during production, named used for another Avery cartoon the following year. | Fiesta | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [49] | |
Red Hot Rangers | 1947 | Tycoon | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [46] | ||
Uncle Tom's Cabaña | 1947 | Banned from television due to racial stereotypes. | [46] | |||
Slap Happy Lion | 1947 | Song of the Thin Man | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | ||
King-Size Canary | 1947 | Command Decision | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [8] | ||
What Price Fleadom | 1948 | The Three Musketeers | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | ||
Little 'Tinker | 1948 | The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | ||
Half-Pint Pygmy | 1948 | |||||
Lucky Ducky | 1948 | Blackface gag cut from television airings. | [46] | |||
The Cat That Hated People | 1948 | Words and Music | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [8][50] | ||
Bad Luck Blackie | 1949 | First appearance of the character Spike/Butch the bulldog (Tex Avery's version). | Kitty Foyle | Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 |
[51] | |
Señor Droopy | 1949 | First cartoon in which the character is named onscreen. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | |
The House of Tomorrow | 1949 | Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [15] | ||
Doggone Tired | 1949 | In the public domain | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | ||
Wags to Riches | 1949 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [46] | ||
Little Rural Riding Hood | 1949 | Originally withheld from broadcast during the television restrictions code for its suggestive material. Last appearance of Red. | Battleground | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [8] | |
Out-Foxed | 1949 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | ||
The Counterfeit Cat | 1949 | East Side, West Side | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | ||
Ventriloquist Cat | 1950 | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | |||
The Cuckoo Clock | 1950 | Summer Stock | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [52] | ||
Garden Gopher | 1950 | Blackface gag airs uncut on MeTV. | Two Weeks With Love | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [46] | |
The Chump Champ | 1950 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [53] | ||
The Peachy Cobbler | 1951 | Photo backgrounds | Nancy Goes to Rio | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | ||
Cock-a-Doodle Dog | 1951 | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | |||
Daredevil Droopy | 1951 | Blackface gag cut from television airings. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | ||
Droopy's Good Deed | 1951 | Blackface gag and stereotypes cut from television airings. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | [46] | ||
Symphony in Slang | 1951 | An American in Paris | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 1 | [54] | ||
Car of Tomorrow | 1951 | Royal Wedding | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | |||
Droopy's Double Trouble | 1951 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | |||
Magical Maestro | 1952 | The Belle of New York | Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 |
[55] | ||
One Cab's Family | 1952 | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | ||||
Rock-a-Bye Bear | 1952 | Final cartoon directed by Avery before year-long sabbatical. | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | ||
Little Johnny Jet | 1953 | First cartoon directed by Avery after return from sabbatical. | The Naked Spur WB Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection |
Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | |
T.V. of Tomorrow | 1953 | Torch Song | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | |||
The Three Little Pups | 1953 | Final live-action/animated cartoon. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | |
Drag-a-Long Droopy | 1954 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [56] | ||
Billy Boy | 1954 | Executive Suite | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [56] | ||
Homesteader Droopy | 1954 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | ||
The Farm of Tomorrow | 1954 | Deep in My Heart | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46][57] | ||
The Flea Circus | 1954 | Les Girls | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | ||
Dixieland Droopy | 1954 | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [46] | ||
Field and Scream | 1955 | Hit the Deck | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [58] | ||
The First Bad Man | 1955 | Kismet | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 | [59] | ||
Deputy Droopy | 1955 | Directed by Tex Avery and Michael Lah. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45] | |
Cellbound | 1955 | Directed by Tex Avery and Michael Lah. Last MGM cartoon actually directed by Tex Avery. He would go on to do TV commercials for most of his remaining years before passing away during early pre-production of The Kwicky Koala Show in 1980 of which Tex Avery created. |
Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 3 | [45][30] | ||
Millionaire Droopy | William Hanna and Joseph Barbera | 1956 | Cinemascope remake of Wags to Riches (1949) by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after Avery left. Credits mention « directed by Tex Avery » though. | Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection | [46] | |
Cat's Meow | William Hanna and Joseph Barbera | 1957 | Cinemascope remake of Ventriloquist Cat (1950) by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after Avery left. Credits mention « directed by Tex Avery » though. | [30] |
1954–1955: Universal & Walter Lantz era
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
I'm Cold | 1954 | Chilly Willy cartoon. First appearance of the character Smedley Dog | [60] |
Crazy Mixed Up Pup | 1955 | [32] | |
The Legend of Rockabye Point | 1955 | Chilly Willy cartoon. | [61] |
Sh-h-h-h-h-h | 1955 | [62][63] |
1979: Hanna-Barbera era
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Casper's First Christmas | 1979 | Credited as Musical Sequence Director | [64] |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Adamson, Joe, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, 1975, Da Capo Press
- 1 2 3 Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood cartoons : American animation in its golden age. Oxford University Press. pp. 330–331. ISBN 978-0195167290.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 138.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 276.
- ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 44. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 259.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 46.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tex Avery was the master of bizarre, groundbreaking animation
- 1 2 Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood cartoons : American animation in its golden age. Oxford University Press. p. 332. ISBN 978-0195167290.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 95.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 270.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 6.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 102.
- ↑ Michael Barrier, J.; Elliott, Duong Van Mai; Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood cartoons : American animation in its golden age. ISBN 978-0-19-503759-3.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Grant, John (2006). Animated movies : facts, figures and fun. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-904332-52-7.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 327.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Talking About Tex
- ↑ The Censored 11: "The Isle Of Pingo Pongo" (1938)
- 1 2 Webb 2011, p. 74.
- 1 2 3 4 5 1938-39 Merrie Melodies: The People's Choice (Pt. 1)
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 86.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 39.
- ↑ The CENSORED Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Guide: B
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 88.
- ↑ The CENSORED Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Guide: D
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 129.
- 1 2 Webb 2011, p. 315.
- 1 2 Webb 2011, p. 101.
- 1 2 Webb 2011, p. 35.
- 1 2 3 Webb 2011, p. 68.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 377.
- 1 2 3 Webb 2011, p. 82.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 152.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 360.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 285.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 26.
- ↑ The Censored 11: "All This and Rabbit Stew (1941)"
- ↑ Check Out These 1965 Tex Avery Directed Kool-Aid Commercials
- 1 2 Webb 2011, p. 17.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 56.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 61.
- ↑ "Speaking of Animals Down on the Farm". IMDb. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ↑ "Speaking of Animals in a Pet Shop". IMDb. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ↑ "Speaking of Animals in the Zoo". IMDb. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Some Advance Notes on "Tex Avery Screwball Classics" Volume 3
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Lebensold, Peter (1970-12-19). "TAKE ONE: the film magazine". TAKE ONE. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
- ↑ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 229–230. ISBN 9781476672939.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 382.
- ↑ "Irv Spence and Rod Scribner, One-Shot Moonlighters |".
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 67.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 28.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 84.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 73.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 346.
- ↑ The Song Begins…It's Magic!
- 1 2 Fitness vs. Fatness (Part 6): I Was a (??)-Pound Weakling
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 110.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 119.
- ↑ Webb 2011, p. 120.
- ↑ "I'm Cold". IMDb. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ↑ "The Legend of Rockabye Point". IMDb. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ↑ "Sh-h-h-h-h-h". IMDb. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ↑ The Final Needle Drop: "The Okeh Laughing Record"
- ↑ Sánchez, Cruz (2014). Tex Avery (in Spanish). ISBN 9788437632292.
- Webb, Graham (2011). The animated film encyclopedia : a complete guide to American shorts, features and sequences, 1900-1999 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4985-9.