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.
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] |
No. | Title | Year | Notes | DVD/Blu-Ray Availability | 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] |
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] |
# | Title | Year | Notes | DVD & Blu-Ray Availability | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Blitz Wolf | 1942 |
|
| [15] [45] |
2 | The Early Bird Dood It! | 1942 | [28] [45] | ||
3 | Dumb-Hounded | 1943 |
|
| [15] |
4 | Red Hot Riding Hood | 1943 |
|
| [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 |
|
| [27] |
9 | Batty Baseball | 1944 | [17] | ||
10 | Happy-Go-Nutty | 1944 |
|
| [45] [15] |
11 | Big Heel-Watha | 1944 |
| [8] | |
12 | The Screwy Truant | 1945 | [8] | ||
13 | The Shooting of Dan McGoo | 1945 |
|
| [45] |
14 | Jerky Turkey | 1945 |
| [17] | |
15 | Swing Shift Cinderella | 1945 |
|
| [45] [15] |
16 | Wild and Woolfy | 1945 |
|
| [45] |
17 | Lonesome Lenny | 1946 |
| ||
18 | The Hick Chick | 1946 | [8] | ||
19 | Northwest Hounded Police | 1946 |
| [8] [45] | |
20 | Henpecked Hoboes | 1946 |
|
| [46] |
21 | Hound Hunters | 1947 |
| [49] | |
22 | Red Hot Rangers | 1947 | [46] | ||
23 | Uncle Tom's Cabaña | 1947 |
|
| [46] [50] |
24 | Slap Happy Lion | 1947 |
| [45] | |
25 | King-Size Canary | 1947 |
| [8] | |
26 | What Price Fleadom | 1948 |
| [45] | |
27 | Little 'Tinker | 1948 | [45] | ||
28 | Half-Pint Pygmy | 1948 |
|
| [50] |
29 | Lucky Ducky | 1948 |
|
| [50] |
30 | The Cat That Hated People | 1948 | [8] [51] | ||
31 | Bad Luck Blackie | 1949 |
|
| [52] |
32 | Señor Droopy | 1949 |
|
| [45] |
33 | The House of Tomorrow | 1949 | [15] | ||
34 | Doggone Tired | 1949 |
| [46] | |
35 | Wags to Riches | 1949 |
|
| [46] |
36 | Little Rural Riding Hood | 1949 |
| [8] | |
37 | Out-Foxed | 1949 |
| [46] | |
38 | The Counterfeit Cat | 1949 | [46] | ||
39 | Ventriloquist Cat | 1950 |
| [46] | |
40 | The Cuckoo Clock | 1950 | [53] | ||
41 | Garden Gopher | 1950 |
| [46] | |
42 | The Chump Champ | 1950 |
|
| [54] |
43 | The Peachy Cobbler | 1951 |
| ||
44 | Cock-a-Doodle Dog | 1951 | [45] | ||
45 | Daredevil Droopy | 1951 |
|
| |
46 | Droopy's Good Deed | 1951 |
|
| [46] |
47 | Symphony in Slang | 1951 |
| [55] | |
48 | Car of Tomorrow | 1951 |
| ||
49 | Droopy's Double Trouble | 1951 |
|
| |
50 | Magical Maestro | 1952 |
|
| [56] |
51 | One Cab's Family | 1952 | |||
52 | Rock-a-Bye Bear | 1952 |
|
| [45] |
53 | Little Johnny Jet | 1953 |
| [45] | |
54 | T.V. of Tomorrow | 1953 | |||
55 | The Three Little Pups | 1953 |
|
| [46] |
56 | Drag-a-Long Droopy | 1954 |
| [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 |
|
| [45] |
65 | Cellbound | 1955 |
| [45] [30] | |
66 | Millionaire Droopy | 1956 |
|
| [46] |
67 | Cat's Meow | 1957 |
| [30] |
# | 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] |
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Casper's First Christmas | 1979 | Credited as Musical Sequence Director | [65] |
Looney Tunes is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside the related series Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation. Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a large cast of characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.
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Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil. He was born and raised not far from Hollywood and, early in life, showed an interest in animation and puppetry. After dropping out of high school in 1931, he joined the team at Harman-Ising Productions and began working on the studio's newest short subjects, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
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Beans the Cat is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Cartoons series of cartoons from 1935–1936. Beans was the third Warner Bros cartoon character star after Bosko and Buddy. He was voiced by Billy Bletcher. He was created by director Friz Freleng. The character was featured in nine cartoons made in 1935 and 1936.
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films. The characters featured in these cartoons, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, are among the most famous and recognizable characters in the world. Many of the creative staff members at the studio, including directors and animators such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Arthur Davis, and Frank Tashlin, are considered major figures in the art and history of traditional animation.
The Heckling Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon, released on July 5, 1941, and featuring Bugs Bunny and a dopey dog named Willoughby. The cartoon was directed by Tex Avery, written by Michael Maltese, animated by soon-to-be director Robert McKimson, and with musical direction by Carl W. Stalling. In a style that was becoming typical of the Bugs character, he easily outwitted and tormented his antagonist through the short, his only concern being what to do next to the dog.
I Love to Singa is a 1936 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on July 18, 1936.
Joseph Benson Hardaway was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He was sometimes credited as J. B. Hardaway, Ben Hardaway, B. Hardaway and Bugs Hardaway. He fought in World War I in the 129th Field Artillery Regiment, Battery D.
Egghead Rides Again is a 1937 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Tex Avery. It was first released to theaters on July 17, 1937. The cartoon marks the first appearance of Egghead, a character who eventually appear in three more cartoons, "Daffy Duck and Egghead", "A-Lad-In Bagdad" (1938) and "Count Me Out" (1938), both cartoons released in 1938, according to David Gerstein and Michael Barrier.
Daffy Duck & Egghead is a 1938 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon produced in 1937 and directed by Tex Avery. The cartoon was released on January 1, 1938, and stars Daffy Duck and Egghead.
Little Red Walking Hood is a 1937 Merrie Melodies cartoon supervised by Fred Avery. The short was released on November 6, 1937, and features the first appearance of an early character who later became Elmer Fudd.
This is a listing of all the animated shorts released by Warner Bros. under the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners between 1940 and 1949.
Daffy Duck in Hollywood is a 1938 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Tex Avery. The cartoon was released on December 12, 1938, and stars Daffy Duck. The short is Avery's last Daffy Duck cartoon.
Count Me Out is a 1938 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton. The short was released on December 17, 1938, and features Egghead.
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 is a Blu-ray and DVD box set by Warner Home Video released on October 16, 2012. It contains 50 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements. Disc 3 is exclusive to the Blu-ray version of the set. Unlike Volume 1, which was released in a digibook, Volume 2 was released in a standard 1 movie case. This release was followed by Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3
Gilbert H. Turner was an American animator, comic book artist and producer.
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