After quitting the Warner Bros. cartoon studio in 1941 after a squabble with Leon Schlesinger, director Tex Avery was hired by the MGM Cartoon studio to try and give the studio something to offer that wasn't Harman And Ising's cutesy oneshot short subjects.And to say he succeeded with flying colors would be an understatement.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.
Recurring Characters in Tex Avery's works at MGM include:
Droopy: A tiny, very modest Basset Hound that was apparently a master of Offscreen Teleportation and The Cat Came Back, capable of great strength when roused to anger. Is quite a good samaritan, constantly going good deeds, especially when it comes to catching criminal wolves. His voice sounds similar to that of H. G. Wells of all people. Possibly his best short is Northwest Hounded Police. Droopy cartoons continued to be made after Tex's departure from MGM, with Michael Lah as director.
Screwy Squirrel: An insane squirrel that often picked on his antagonists for no reason other than because it was funny. He met his match with Lonesome Lenny in his final short, though, in which he was presumably 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.
George and Junior: The pair from Of Mice And Men reincarnated as bears. George has a plan, Junior is an idiot, and usually gets a kick in the pants he wasn't wearing for his bungling.
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.
though there is a recurring black cat named Butch in Tom and Jerry
. He would often be the antagonist to Droopy, though he also starred in his own shorts as well. He was often tormented by a Small Annoying Creature with a Screwy Squirrel attitude in his solo shorts. Appearances of note include "Rock-A-Bye Bear," "Magical Maestro," "Millionaire Droopy," and "Cock-a-Doodle Dog."
Senor Droopy: Notable, if just for the Roger Rabbit Effect ending, complete with a cameo of actress Lina Romay!
The House of Tomorrow: The first of Tex's "Tetralogy Of Tomorrow."
Doggone Tired
Wags To Riches
Little Rural Riding Hood: Yet another follow up to Red Hot Riding Hood, although it's more of a rehash of Swing Shift Cinderella, complete with Stock Footage from that cartoon. Nonetheless, it has wound up on The 50 Greatest Cartoons list.
Out-Foxed
The Counterfeit Cat
1950
Ventriloquist Cat
The Cuckoo Clock
Garden Gopher
The Chump Champ
The Peachy Cobbler
1951
Cock-A-Doodle Dog
Daredevil Droopy
Droopy's Good Deed
Symphony in Slang: A short that takes the Hurricane of Puns trope and milks it for all its worth. It's as funny as it sounds.
Car of Tomorrow: The second of Avery's "Tetralogy Of Tomorrow."
Droopy's Double Trouble
1952
Magical Maestro
One Cab's Family: A short that bears a remarkable resemblence to the 30's Friz Freleng Warner Bros. cartoon "Streamlined Greta Green". It also seems to be the design inspiration for Pixar's Cars.
Rock-A-Bye Bear
1953
Little Johnny Jet: A follow-up/rehash of One Cab's Family, but WITH PLANES!
T.V. of Tomorrow: The third of Avery's "Tetralogy Of Tomorrow."
Millionare Droopy: The last of the original Droopy cartoons. A remake of "Wags To Riches."
1957
Cat's Meow: Tex's last MGM short. A remake of "Ventriloquist Cat."
Tropes:
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."
Anachronism Stew: Highly abundant in "Jerky Turkey," which alludes, among other things, to the Navy (1775); the Democrats (1830) and Republicans (1854); and cigarettes (the 1830's).
Any time it involved Spike and a tree, the following dialogue was obligatory:
Spike:TIIIIIIIIM—
Tree: * falls completely the wrong way and smashes down on Spike hard enough for him to go straight through it and not even move*
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.
Ass in a Lion Skin: "Little 'Tinker," near the end when B.O. Skunk tries to woo a female by painting his fur like a fox. The girl fox he meets turns out, after they fall into a creek and their paint washes off, actually to be another skunk in disguise. Cue Crowning Moment of Heartwarming as they kiss.
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.
Born In The Theatre: Definitely a favorite of Tex's, from characters running off of the film they're printed on, to yelling at members of the movie theater audience, to pulling stray hairs out of the theater projectors, to passing the boundary of the Toon universe where Technicolor ends.
Broken Record: While Screwy Squirrel was being chased by Meathead.
By the Lights of Their Eyes: Parodied in "Who Killed Who?" — a pair of eyes peek through a slot on the door, and when spotted, the slot shuts... leaving the eyes on the other side of it. The eyes proceed to bang themselves on the slot to get it reopened.
Chekhov's Gunman: Lampshaded in "King Size Canary." The hobo cat is about to eat a mouse (which was in a sealed can of cat food, no less), but the mouse tells him, "I've seen this cartoon before, and brother, believe me if you're smart you won't eat me. 'Cuz before this picture's over, I save your life!" The mouse makes good on his word after all (scaring away a dog as a giant), but how does the cat repay him? By attempting to eat him!
Cloud Cuckoo Land: "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:
Screwy Squirrel: Why, you— (notices audience) Oh, pardon me. (closes door and... blows a raspberry into the speaker.)
This may also have been because at the time the Hays Code prohibited the sound of flatulence in film, even if it was made by blowing a raspberry.
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.
Deranged Animation: Particularly in the cartoon "The Cat That Hated People."
Also, "Half Pint Pygmy"
Disguised in Drag: Spike in "Ventriloquist Cat" (female cat) and "The Garden Gopher" (female gopher).
Disproportionate Retribution: "Magic Maestro" is one big case of this. Presto sabotages the Great Poochini's opera performance solely because he wasn't hired as an opening act — not that opera is well known for opening with a magic show in the first place, mind you.
Downer Ending: Though all of his cartoons are Played for Laughs, he wasn't afraid to end on something of a downer every once in a while. Lampshaded in at least three cartoons where the protagonist meets with a terrible fate ("Batty Baseball," "The Early Bird Dood It," and Screwy Squirrel's last short "Lonesome Lenny"), when a character holds up a sign that says "Sad ending, isn't it?"
"QUIET! SHUDDUP! QUIET!! I HATE NOISE!! I CAN'T STANDS NOISE!! WHAT THE MATTA? YOU DEEF OR SOMETHIN'??"
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 Hitler-type wolf ends up in after being killed in "Blitz Wolf".
Wolf: Where am I? Have I been blown to...
A bunch of devils: (in unison) Eh... it's a possibility.
Gross-Up Close-Up: A possible Ur Example occurs in "Cock-A-Doodle Dog", where the camera does a close up on the sleep-deprived Butch's bloodshot eyes (which are made to look like a road map).
Hospital Hottie: The chicken nurse from the end of "The Hick Chick". Really, she's basically Red if she was a chicken.
Hurricane of Puns: While the average Avery cartoon has a bunch of this trope, "Symphony in Slang" in particular is practically nothing but this trope.
Incredibly Lame Pun: Lampshaded with the "reject" crossed animals at the end of "The Farm of Tomorrow". For example, crossing a goat with an owl — a hootennanny.
In "The Car of Tomorrow", the narrator groans at a pun about "seal-beam headlights".
The Insomniac: Butch in "Cock-A-Doodle Dog", because he's being kept awake by a noisy rooster.
Instant Waking Skills: In "Rock-a-Bye Bear," a dog is house-sitting for a bear that's going into hibernation; but this bear will instantly wake up at the sound of a pin drop and pummel the dog yelling "QUIET!! SHADDUP! QUIET!!"Hilarity Ensues as a rival dog attempts to wake the bear up and steal the watchdog's job.
Interactive Narrator: "Red Hot Riding Hood" begins this way, with the Wolf, Red Riding Hood and Granny complaining about doing the same story the same way every time.
Iris Out: Meathead concedes defeat and asks for "Screwball Squirrel" to end, but Screwy holds back the iris and convinces him to go for one last shot a la hide-and-seek.
Just Whistle: In Bad Luck Blackie a kitten being bullied by a dog makes a deal with a black cat that whenever he blows on a whistle the black cat will come and cross the dog's path, causing bad luck.
Karma Houdini: Screwy Squirrel, who had seemingly no motivation besides meanness for torturing the dog and who never got his comeuppance. Except, in his final cartoon, the ending suggests the dog killed him - see Downer Ending.
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 landing on the pavement, which he does very lightly.
Screwy Squirrel: Uh, you people want in on a little secret? You wanna know how I tricked that guy all through the picture? (a second Screwy Squirrel appears) Both Screwy Squirrels: We was switched all the time! (they both laugh, but then two identical Meatheads walk over and pick them up) Both Meatheads: So was we! (they laugh ā la Screwy Squirrel)
Also Droopy's modus operandi.
Panty Shot: The girl flea in "What Price Fleadom," Red at the end of "Wild And Wolfy."
Sexophone: Whenever an attractive woman struts onto the scene. Always the same riff too.
Shot for Shot Remake: His last two shorts ("Millionaire Droopy" and "Cat's Meow") were remakes of earlier shorts ("Wags to Riches" and "Ventriloquist Cat", respectively) done for Cinemascope.
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.
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