The Legend of Rockabye Point

I don't know why, but I've been watching Chilly Willy cartoons lately. And of course, the best were the two directed by the man who designed his current look, the greatest cartoonist that ever lived, Tex Avery.

I find it odd that not a lot of people mention his post MGM stuff, but maybe that's because he didn't last too long in the business after Walter Lantz's studio. It sucks that he had a crap contract with them, because I could see him make one friggin' awesome Woody Woodpecker cartoon!

Anyway, this is my personal favorite during Tex's short 4-cartoon stay at Lantz's studio. Even though Avery kept saying he felt burnt out by this point, this shows that he still had the magic touch he's had since his early WB days. And goddamn, is it hilarious! 

Insert Penn State joke here.

I feel bad that I can't distinguish who animated what scenes, but it's still well animated. 

The Cuckoo Clock

Another Avery cartoon that gets overlooked a lot, in my opinion. It makes a good Halloween cartoon since it can be interpreted as a psychological horror, like in 1959's The Haunting. (Of course from the cat's point of view. That's a great design, by the way!) There's a lot of neat backgrounds in this one and  some of Grant Simmons' finest animation. I'm pretty sure he did that great scene where the bird shoots himself with a finger-gun. Cracks me up every time. Below are some model sheets from Kevin Langley's great site and a restored version of the cartoon. Happy belated Halloween! 

Tex Avery: Who Killed Who?

Ah, good ol' Tex. Nothing you make ever disappoints me.

Model sheet of Tex.

Now, assuming you didn't know who I'm talking about, Fredric Bean Avery (nicknamed "Tex" by his friends) was an animator from, big surprise here, Texas who completely revolutionized the way we look at cartoons today. To keep it short, here's a passage by Gary Morris who, I think, Best describes Avery's approach:

"Above all, [Avery] steered the Warner Bros. house style away from Disneyesque sentimentality and made cartoons that appealed equally to adults, who appreciated Avery's speed, sarcasm, and irony, and to kids, who liked the nonstop action. Disney's "cute and cuddly" creatures, under Avery's guidance, were transformed into unflappable wits like Bugs Bunny, endearing buffoons like Porky Pig, or dazzling crazies like Daffy Duck. Even the classic fairy tale, a market that Disney had cornered, was appropriated by Avery, who made innocent heroines like Red Riding Hood into sexy jazz babies, more than a match for any Wolf. Avery also endeared himself to intellectuals by constantly breaking through the artifice of the cartoon, having characters leap out of the end credits, loudly object to the plot of the cartoon they were starring in, or speak directly to the audience."

A few examples of what we're talkin' about here. Trust me, there's more. Lots more.  :)

Be sure to find this book! Worth every penny! :D

I think the reason I look up to him is because he and I are actually very similar. Avery was actually a very shy person, but really expressed his true feelings on screen with his films. And while Avery was born in Taylor, I was born in Seabrook (about a 30 min drive from Houston). I think my sense of humor may have come from his cartoons, actually. Tex was wonderful at using sight gags and was just as witty verbally. (See pics above)

If you're interesting in learning more, John Canemaker has written a book all about Avery's best work: at MGM studios. It's a little pricey (from $40 - $130 on Amazon.com), but it's a read that's worth it. It's also chock-fill of model sheets, animation cells and stills, layouts, and more. 

All yours for £ 24.99

It's also a shame that his cartoons aren't restored on a DVD set in America (aside from the Droopy Collection). There's one in France, but I doubt it'sgonna work on a Region 1 DVD player. Oh, and they're censored. I say it's about time those cartoons got the uncensored DVD treatment in the motherland! But if you want it, you can find it here.

Anyway, since it's close to Halloween, I thought I'd post Who Killed Who?, a murder mystery by you-should-know-who-by-now. A great early effort from him, filled with wonderful jokes, fast-pacing, good animation, and Santa!..... Wait, wha?

The Oily Bird

I have mixed feelings on the Harveytoons distributed by Paramount studios. On one side, they do have entertaining animation in them and, to be honest, can be kind of fun to watch. On the other hand, and this was the biggest fault, they weren't that original or novel. They ranged from okay to WTF. I also think they had a lot of trouble finding a target audience. My argument is that most of them (which I think was about 70%. I'm just guessing here.) are mild, child-friendly, and aren't really that funny, like with the Casper and Little Audrey series. Then you have Baby Huey and Herman and Katnip (my personal favorites from this group) that were made for movie-going adults in mind and can be really funny.

Today's short is one of the cartoons from the latter argument from 1954 directed by Izzy Sparber. I do love the music and the animation of the little worm when his eyes open in rhythm to the snake-charming music.

There is one thing that bothers me though... the whole thing is about an earthworm in a derby trying to foil his enemy, a brown early bird.

MGM - The Early Bird Dood It! (1942) by Cartoonzof2006

Gee... sound f'n familiar?

Oh, and as if the bird didn't look familiar!

At least they know how to take influence from the good animators (to be polite). The problem is that Harveytoons like this one didn't do it too well.

A Wild Hare

Bug's first cartoon and Oscar nod. It's a great, funny short with beautiful animation done by Virgil Ross and Rod Scribner. The backgrounds are just as lovely. I wanted to post this one because today is actually Tex Avery's birthday! If he was still around he'd be 103 today. So happy birthday to the funniest cartoonist ever.

As a bonus, enjoy my favorite Tex Avery cartoon as well.

The Bear's Tale

An early Tex Avery fairy-tale cartoon. I find this cartoon a good attempt at having most of the story's jokes based on narrative break-downs. The papa bear, of course, was my favorite. That hearty laugh (supplied by Avery himself) really knows how to make me laugh, as well as the line, "I know there's no robber! There's just a little girl asleep up there. I read this story last week in Reader's Digest!" The below gag, I heard, has been used in a lot of Benny Hill episodes.
So what does Red Riding Hood have that Goldilocks hasn't?
Well...

Merrie Melodies - The Bear's Tale (1940)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006 - Check out other Film & TV videos.

Jerky Turkey

Another funny Tex 'toon.

This is one of the few cartoons that Tex directed that wound up in the public domain, and I thought it was wonderful to see I found a high-quality video of the whole thing in English!! A good one to watch on Thanksgiving, don't ya think?

Aside from that, there's still wonderful animation done by Preston Blair and many others as well as the story being done by Heck Allen.

MGM - Jerky Turkey (1945)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Slap Happy Lion

One of the best from Tex Avery. I think this is the one short with the most gags thrown into it, making it one of the most outrageous shorts Tex and his crew ever did. After all, what's more silly than a lion being afraid of a little mouse?

MGM - Slap Happy Lion (1947)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Tortoise Beats Hare

Ah yes. This one was posted on request, but I actually meant to post this one anyway. This was Tex Avery's 2nd Bugs Bunny cartoon after his sucessful "A Wild Hare". Now it's here where an extra dimension of Bug's personality unfolds: if you put the heckling hare into a situation that he isn't in control of, like here, then Bugs will turn into the heckled and in the end, tries to figure out just how and why he lost.

Now here's a model sheet from Tex's department by Bob Givens (I think).


Here's the cartoon.

Merrie Melodies - Tortoise Beats Hare (1941)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

The Adventures of Daff-bot and Pork-stello

Sorry for that incredibily lame pun.

Aside from that, this post is about the partnership between Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. It almost seems like they were MADE just to be partners. Perhaps it's just because thier personalities are so diffreent from each other that they go well together. After all, opposites attract! :)

It all started in 1937 with Tex Avery's film, Porky's Duck Hunt. This film was one of Tex's gems when he worked at Warner Bros. This was the first time Porky and Daffy had been together as well as Daffy's first cartoon.

Porky's Duck Hunt (1937)
Uploaded by voiceman91

(Yeah, I didn't post this, but I'm just using it as an example.)

After Tex, Bob Clampett was the next director to try out this odd couple. The relationship between duck and pig always changed with directors. In the case of Bob Clampett, they're acquantances or good friends. Here to represent this are two Clampett toons, The Daffy Doc and Tick Tock Tuckered.

Looney Tunes - The Daffy Doc (1938)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Merrie Melodies - Tick Tock Tuckered (1944)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Even though Robert McKimson had alot of Clampett's ideas when he became a director, his ideas with Porky and Daffy's partnership was far diffrent. The two are usually casted as enemies or they just don't like each other. Daffy Doodles, McKimson's first cartoon he directed, is a good example of this rivalry.

Merrie Melodies - Daffy Doodles (1946)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Finally there's Chuck Jones. Jones usually casted them as friendly partners, but he usually made Daffy the star of these cartoons instead of Porky. Daffy still retains a little daffiness for these shorts while Porky was downgraded to an eager sidekick or just a calm sarcastic one. They also parodied a lot of movie genres with Jones, form westerns to science fiction. Here are a couple of these cartoons, Deduce, You Say, Rocket Squad, and Duck Dodgers.

Looney Tunes - Deduce You Say (1956)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Merrie Melodies - Rocket Squad (1956)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Duck Dodgers In The 24th1/2 Century
Uploaded by Renaki

Tex Avery: Father of National Geographic

When Tex Avery worked for Warner Bros., he often did cartoons that involved poking fun at travelouge and nature films with sight jokes and puns galore. Here are some examples of what I'm talking about.

Merrie Melodies - Detouring America (1939)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Merrie Melodies - Cross Country Detours (1940)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Tex Avery filmfest

Tex Avery is definitly my favortite cartoon director, reaching the peak of his career while working for MGM studios. He did many one-shot shorts for MGM, doing very few shorts with star characters since he felt what you do with the character was more important. Anyway, here are some shorts he did while at MGM. You may learn a thing or two from him.

MGM - The Early Bird Dood It! (1942)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

MGM - One Ham's Family (1943)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

MGM - Batty Baseball (1944)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

MGM - Hound Hunters (1947)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

MGM - King-Size Canary (1947)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Droopy - Wags to Riches (1949)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

MGM - Magical Maestro (1952)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

MGM - The Flea Circus (1954)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006