George and Junior

Last updated
George and Junior
MGM Cartoons character
George and Junior.jpg
George (left) and Junior (right), seen in Red Hot Rangers
First appearance
Last appearance
  • George and Junior's Christmas Spectacular
  • July 23, 1995
Created by Tex Avery
Designed by Irven Spence [1]
Voiced byDick Nelson (1946–1947) [2]
Tex Avery (1946–1948) [2]
Wally Maher (1948)
John Rubinow and Tony Pope (1995)
In-universe information
Species Bears
Gender Male

George and Junior are cartoon characters, two anthropomorphic bears created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. All of the George and Junior shorts were directed by Tex Avery in the 1940s. They appeared in four cartoons: Henpecked Hoboes (1946), Hound Hunters (1947), Red Hot Rangers (1947), and Half-Pint Pygmy (1948). [3]

Contents

The cartoons would usually follow the misadventures of two bears inspired by George and Lennie from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men : [4] George, the short, short-tempered, intelligent one (voiced by Dick Nelson [2] ) and Junior, the tall, dim-witted, strong one (voiced by Tex Avery [2] ). George would usually come up with a plan to fix their current situation. Junior would accidentally mess it up somehow, then George would get angry and say "Bend over, Junior", and, when Junior does so, George delivers a hard kick to his rear end.

Appearances

The characters' looks and voices were altered for their fourth appearance. Later, they were brought back to life by Pat Ventura on the Hanna-Barbera anthology franchise What a Cartoon! in the 1990s voiced by John Rubinow and Tony Pope, respectively. A gray-purple version of George made a headshot cameo appearance during the final scene of the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (the octopus from Half-Pint Pygmy also made a cameo as a bartender at The Ink and Paint Club). Junior was planned to have a cameo in the film, but was later dropped for unknown reasons. They would later make appearances in Dark Horse Comics with Tex Avery's Wolf and Red and Screwy Squirrel .

Lucky Ducky was originally planned to feature George and Junior. [5]

In 2019, both George and Junior make an appearance as zoo catchers in the fourth season of The Tom and Jerry Show episode called "Shadow of a Doubt". They also make various cameos in the series. In the show, George is voiced by Ben Diskin, while Junior is voiced by Stephen Stanton.

Cartoons

#TitleRelease Date
1 Henpecked Hoboes October 26, 1946
2Hound HuntersApril 12, 1947
3Red Hot RangersMay 3, 1947
4Half-Pint PygmyAugust 7, 1948
5Look Out BelowApril 9, 1995 [6] [7]
6George and Junior's Christmas SpectacularJuly 23, 1995 [8]

Voice actors

Comics

List of comics appearances

Home media

In 2020, Warner Archive released the cartoons Hound Hunters and Red Hot Rangers uncut and digitally restored as part of the Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1 Blu-Ray.

See also

Related Research Articles

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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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<i>Northwest Hounded Police</i> 1946 American film

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<i>Jerky Turkey</i> 1945 film

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<i>Henpecked Hoboes</i> 1946 American film

Henpecked Hoboes is a theatrical cartoon short released on October 26, 1946 directed by Tex Avery. It stars George and Junior in their first appearance. According to model sheets, the cartoon's working title was Bums Away.

<i>Uncle Toms Cabaña</i> 1947 American film

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Events in 1912 in animation.

References

  1. ↑ Yowp (2012-02-02). "Tralfaz: Hound Hunters". Tralfaz. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Scott, Keith. ""Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company". Cartoon Research. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  3. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 84. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "George and Junior". Big Cartoon Database. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  5. ↑ Adamson, Joe, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, 1975, Da Capo Press
  6. ↑ Winfery, Lee (27 December 1994). "From Hanna-barbera, 8 New Cartoons For Cable The Cartoon Network's New Stable Of Stars Includes Two Ducks, Two Bears, And Even Dino Of "Flintstones" Fame. - philly-archives". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "George and Junior in "Look out below"". United States Copyright Office. 9 April 1995. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  8. ↑ 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. p. 116. ISBN   9781476672939.
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