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
edit1935: Carl Laemmle/Walter Lantz era
editTitle | 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
editNo. | Title | Year | Notes | DVD/Blu-Ray Availability | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gold Diggers of '49 | 1935 |
|
[2][3] | |
2 | Plane Dippy | 1936 |
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|
[4][5] |
3 | Page Miss Glory | 1936 |
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[6] | |
4 | The Blow Out | 1936 |
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|
[2][7] |
5 | I'd Love to Take Orders from You | 1936 | |||
6 | I Love to Singa | 1936 | |||
7 | Porky the Rain Maker | 1936 |
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[2] |
8 | The Village Smithy | 1936 |
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[8][9] |
9 | Milk and Money | 1936 |
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[9] | |
10 | Don't Look Now | 1936 | [10] | ||
11 | Porky the Wrestler | 1937 |
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12 | Picador Porky | 1937 |
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[11] | |
13 | I Only Have Eyes for You | 1937 | |||
14 | Porky's Duck Hunt | 1937 |
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[8] |
15 | Uncle Tom's Bungalow | 1937 |
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||
16 | Ain't We Got Fun | 1937 |
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[12] | |
17 | Egghead Rides Again | 1937 |
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[13] | |
18 | A Sunbonnet Blue | 1937 |
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||
19 | Porky's Garden | 1937 |
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|
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20 | I Wanna Be a Sailor | 1937 | |||
21 | Little Red Walking Hood | 1937 |
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[14] | |
22 | Daffy Duck & Egghead | 1938 |
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[15] | |
23 | The Sneezing Weasel | 1938 | [16] | ||
24 | The Penguin Parade | 1938 | |||
25 | The Isle of Pingo Pongo | 1938 |
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[17][18] | |
26 | Cinderella Meets Fella | 1938 |
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[17][19] | |
27 | A Feud There Was | 1938 |
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[17][20] | |
28 | Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas | 1938 |
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[17][20] | |
29 | Daffy Duck in Hollywood | 1938 |
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[20] | |
30 | The Mice Will Play | 1938 |
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[20] | |
31 | Hamateur Night | 1939 |
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[20] | |
32 | A Day at the Zoo | 1939 |
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[21] | |
33 | Thugs with Dirty Mugs | 1939 | [15] | ||
34 | Believe It or Else | 1939 |
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[22][23] | |
35 | Dangerous Dan McFoo | 1939 |
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[17][15] | |
36 | Detouring America | 1939 |
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[24][25] |
37 | Land of the Midnight Fun | 1939 |
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||
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 |
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|
[8] |
46 | Ceiling Hero | 1940 | [30] | ||
47 | Wacky Wild Life | 1940 | [31] | ||
48 | Of Fox and Hounds | 1940 | |||
49 | Holiday Highlights | 1940 |
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||
50 | The Crackpot Quail | 1941 |
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[32] | |
51 | The Haunted Mouse | 1941 |
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[33] | |
52 | Tortoise Beats Hare | 1941 |
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[34] | |
53 | Hollywood Steps Out | 1941 | |||
54 | Porky's Preview | 1941 |
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[35] | |
55 | The Heckling Hare | 1941 |
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[8] | |
56 | Aviation Vacation | 1941 |
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[36] | |
57 | All This and Rabbit Stew | 1941 |
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[37][38][39] | |
58 | The Bug Parade | 1941 |
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[40] | |
59 | The Cagey Canary | 1941 |
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[1][41] | |
60 | Wabbit Twouble | 1941 |
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61 | Aloha Hooey | 1942 |
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[1][39] | |
62 | Crazy Cruise | 1942 |
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[1][32] |
1941: Paramount era
editAll 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
edit# | Title | Year | Notes | DVD & Blu-Ray Availability | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Blitz Wolf | 1942 |
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|
[15][45] |
2 | The Early Bird Dood It! | 1942 | [28][45] | ||
3 | Dumb-Hounded | 1943 |
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[15] |
4 | Red Hot Riding Hood | 1943 |
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[8][15] |
5 | Who Killed Who? | 1943 | [46] | ||
6 | One Ham's Family | 1943 | [47][45] | ||
7 | What's Buzzin' Buzzard | 1943 | [48] | ||
8 | Screwball Squirrel | 1944 |
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[27] |
9 | Batty Baseball | 1944 | [17] | ||
10 | Happy-Go-Nutty | 1944 |
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[45] [15] |
11 | Big Heel-Watha | 1944 |
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[8] | |
12 | The Screwy Truant | 1945 | [8] | ||
13 | The Shooting of Dan McGoo | 1945 |
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[45] |
14 | Jerky Turkey | 1945 |
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[17] | |
15 | Swing Shift Cinderella | 1945 |
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[45][15] |
16 | Wild and Woolfy | 1945 |
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[45] |
17 | Lonesome Lenny | 1946 |
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||
18 | The Hick Chick | 1946 | [8] | ||
19 | Northwest Hounded Police | 1946 |
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[8][45] | |
20 | Henpecked Hoboes | 1946 |
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|
[46] |
21 | Hound Hunters | 1947 |
|
[49] | |
22 | Red Hot Rangers | 1947 | [46] | ||
23 | Uncle Tom's Cabaña | 1947 |
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|
[46][50] |
24 | Slap Happy Lion | 1947 |
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[45] | |
25 | King-Size Canary | 1947 |
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[8] | |
26 | What Price Fleadom | 1948 |
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[45] | |
27 | Little 'Tinker | 1948 | [45] | ||
28 | Half-Pint Pygmy | 1948 |
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|
[50] |
29 | Lucky Ducky | 1948 |
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[46] | |
30 | The Cat That Hated People | 1948 | [8][51] | ||
31 | Bad Luck Blackie | 1949 |
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[52] |
32 | Señor Droopy | 1949 |
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[45] |
33 | The House of Tomorrow | 1949 | [15] | ||
34 | Doggone Tired | 1949 |
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[46] | |
35 | Wags to Riches | 1949 |
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[46] |
36 | Little Rural Riding Hood | 1949 |
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[8] | |
37 | Out-Foxed | 1949 |
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[46] | |
38 | The Counterfeit Cat | 1949 | [46] | ||
39 | Ventriloquist Cat | 1950 |
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[46] | |
40 | The Cuckoo Clock | 1950 | [53] | ||
41 | Garden Gopher | 1950 |
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[46] | |
42 | The Chump Champ | 1950 |
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[54] |
43 | The Peachy Cobbler | 1951 |
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44 | Cock-a-Doodle Dog | 1951 | [45] | ||
45 | Daredevil Droopy | 1951 |
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46 | Droopy's Good Deed | 1951 |
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[46] |
47 | Symphony in Slang | 1951 |
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[55] | |
48 | Car of Tomorrow | 1951 |
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||
49 | Droopy's Double Trouble | 1951 |
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50 | Magical Maestro | 1952 |
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[56] |
51 | One Cab's Family | 1952 | |||
52 | Rock-a-Bye Bear | 1952 |
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|
[45] |
53 | Little Johnny Jet | 1953 |
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[45] | |
54 | T.V. of Tomorrow | 1953 | |||
55 | The Three Little Pups | 1953 |
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|
[46] |
56 | Drag-a-Long Droopy | 1954 |
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[57] | |
57 | Billy Boy | 1954 | [57] | ||
58 | Homesteader Droopy | 1954 |
|
[46] | |
59 | The Farm of Tomorrow | 1954 | [46][58] | ||
60 | The Flea Circus | 1954 | [46] | ||
61 | Dixieland Droopy | 1954 |
|
[46] | |
62 | Field and Scream | 1955 | [59] | ||
63 | The First Bad Man | 1955 | [60] | ||
64 | Deputy Droopy | 1955 |
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|
[45] |
65 | Cellbound | 1955 |
|
[45][30] | |
66 | Millionaire Droopy | 1956 |
|
|
[46] |
67 | Cat's Meow | 1957 |
|
[30] |
1954–1955: Universal & Walter Lantz era
edit# | Title | Year | Notes | Availability | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | I'm Cold | 1954 |
|
[61] | |
2 | Crazy Mixed Up Pup | 1955 | [32] | ||
3 | The Legend of Rockabye Point | 1955 |
|
[62] | |
4 | Sh-h-h-h-h-h | 1955 | [63][64] |
1979: Hanna-Barbera era
editTitle | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Casper's First Christmas | 1979 | Credited as Musical Sequence Director | [65] |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Adamson, Joe, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, 1975, Da Capo Press
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Tex Avery was the master of bizarre, groundbreaking animation
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Grant, John (2006). Animated movies : facts, figures and fun. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-904332-52-7.
- ^ Webb 2011, p. 327.
- ^ a b c d e f g Talking About Tex
- ^ The Censored 11: "The Isle Of Pingo Pongo" (1938)
- ^ a b Webb 2011, p. 74.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ a b Webb 2011, p. 315.
- ^ a b Webb 2011, p. 101.
- ^ a b Webb 2011, p. 35.
- ^ a b c Webb 2011, p. 68.
- ^ Webb 2011, p. 377.
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ a b Webb 2011, p. 17.
- ^ Webb 2011, p. 56.
- ^ Webb 2011, p. 61.
- ^ "Speaking of Animals Down on the Farm". IMDb. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "Speaking of Animals in a Pet Shop". IMDb. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "Speaking of Animals in the Zoo". IMDb. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Some Advance Notes on "Tex Avery Screwball Classics" Volume 3
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Lebensold, Peter (December 19, 1970). "TAKE ONE: the film magazine". TAKE ONE. p. 14. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
- ^ 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 |".
- ^ a b "Compleat Tex Avery, The [ML102681]". Laserdisc Database. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
- ^ 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!
- ^ a b 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 February 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Legend of Rockabye Point". IMDb. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "Sh-h-h-h-h-h". IMDb. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Final Needle Drop: "The Okeh Laughing Record"". Cartoon Research. October 24, 2016. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023.
- ^ 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.