TEX AVERY SCREWBALL CLASSICS: Vol. 1 (MGM 1943 - 51) Warner Archive

The life of an animator is a curious discipline, marked by awe-inspiring dedication to the craft of bringing inanimate creatures convincingly to life. In the case of Frederick Bean ‘Tex’ Avery, the accomplishment remains distinguished, yet marred by assessments of his genius, using today’s slide ruler of political correctness, to brand it as racist/sexist/homophobic drivel. A pause, dear readers, to suggest an alternative – and far more plausible theory; first, that Avery’s particular brand of irreverence was always skewed toward extreme absurdity. Hence, his cartoons tend to favor a hyperactive slant, railing against commonly shared human foibles. Arguably, then – Avery was not promoting racism, sexism or homophobia, but rather, exposing all three at their most extreme and ludicrous; theoretically, and through humor and farce, to hold a mirror up to society and critique, rather than criticize, or worse, obfuscate their existence from the public record. “Oh, wolfie, you’re the one!”  For those appreciative of Avery’s brilliant ‘Swing Shift Cinderella’ (1945, though alas, not included herein) – the reference is, indeed, poignant. And, in the intervening decades, Avery’s influence has been felt globally, from TV’s Ren and Stimpy (1991-96), and, the Animaniacs (1993-98), beloved, to be high-profile included in the animated/live action cornucopia classic, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988); not to mention the boundless references made to Avery’s prowess elsewhere in the cinema firmament.  So, please – can we just cease criticizing artists from another generation like Avery as harboring a congenital affliction against minority groups and women? His art functioned from a perspective in which no such impositions existed. And maybe, just maybe, his cartoons – usually set in the animal kingdom – were substitutes, trying to tell us something more generous and revealing about our sincerely flawed human behavior.

Ostensibly, there was nothing in Avery’s youth that might have hinted at a brilliant career in animation – then, a fledgling art form. He was born in Taylor, Texas (near Austin), hence the nickname ‘Tex’ – and adopted his high school’s popular catch phrase, ‘What’s up, doc?’ for the Bugs Bunny cartoons in 1940. His animation career began at the Winkler Studios, inking cels for the Oswald – the Lucky Rabbit franchise, before migrating over to Walter Lantz Productions – a subsidiary at Universal. From this inauspicious debut, Avery learned the ropes and steadily rose through the ranks; eventually, promoted as an animator. Losing sight in his left eye, due to a studio prank with a thumbtack gone horribly awry, the accident left Avery with a uniquely skewed depth perception that only helped to benefit his creative style.  Desiring greater creative control, and displeased with his salary, Avery left Uni for the Warner back lot in 1935, hired by Leon Schlesinger but lying about his abilities as an ‘experienced’ director of animated shorts. Given his own suite of offices, Avery’s unit eventually became known for ‘the Warner Bros. cartoon’; granted exclusive use of the legendary, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Sid Sutherland and Virgil Ross. Involving himself in every facet of the animation process, Avery was frequently chastised for his ribald panache. This, he judiciously defended, despite the stringency of screen censorship. Together with Clampett, Jones, and associate director, Frank Tashlin, Avery’s joyously impertinent bravura eclipsed the finessed and formal renderings previously honed and promoted at The Walt Disney Studio. Under his aegis, the Warner Bros. cartoon short became king of the lot.

Alas, by 1941, this love affair was over – Avery and Schlesinger quarreling over creative differences over Avery’s risqué ‘blue’ humor on The Heckling Hare. Avery was slapped with a four-week, unpaid suspension. Undaunted, He moved to MGM, signing a 5-year contract, where he would be in charge of his own animation unit to direct cartoons in Technicolor under Fred Quimby’s supervision. Given free reign, Avery’s penchant for unhinged lunacy ran rampant. Metro afforded Avery a monumental leap of faith and production facilities that were, by far, state of the art for their time. As a result, Avery’s first short for the studio – 1942’s The Blitz Wolf, a mocking spoof of Adolf Hitler was Oscar-nominated. A year later, Avery debuted the droll hound, Droopy in Dumb-Hounded and ventured forward with the sort of brazen, sex-laden farcical fun denied him elsewhere with Red Hot Riding Hood (also in 1943). Eventually, the lush palettes and uber-realistic backgrounds gave way to Avery’s more feverish and ferocious approach; partly, a reflection on the UPA Studio style, but moreover, to keep escalating costs of producing these shorts in check, by streamlining the animation process. In 1950, the burn out was evident, and Avery took an extended vacation to recoup his creative energies. Alas, by the time of his return, one year later, the studio’s outlook for animated shorts had dimmed. His final shorts for Metro were completed in Cinemascope in 1953, but released almost 2 years later, by which time Avery had departed MGM to work for Walter Lantz. Barely ensconced in his new digs, Avery and Lantz clashed over salary. And although two of his shorts were, again, Oscar-nominated, Avery’s tenure with Lantz barely lasted a year. Turning his attentions and efforts to commercial advertising in the sixties and seventies, Avery was later hired by Hanna-Barbera where he wrote gags for Kwicky Koala. On Aug. 26, 1980, Tex Avery died of lung cancer at the age of 72, leaving behind a legacy of cartoon classics readily serialized as Saturday morning kiddie fare. And although Avery’s slant was always more adult-themed, his artistry and humor were, arguably, not lost on the tiny tot sect; some, like yours truly, immensely entertained by his bold and revealing artistic impudence.

The inimitable hilarity of Tex Avery finally gets his due from the Warner Archive (WAC). Well, partly. Personally, I prefer the grand ole days of Laserdisc when ‘complete’ collections of the studio’s vast animation holdings were offered in chronological order, allowing the true aficionado the opportunity to observe the undiluted and ‘binge-worthy’ artistic evolution of an artist and his franchise. Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume One (with the promise of more to follow) offers us a look at Avery’s MGM years and the debuts of Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, Butch/Spike, George and Junior, and many of Avery’s best-loved creations. Avery’s screwball style is immediately apparent; his adult-themed rapid-fire explosion of sight gags, awesome in all their flippancy and farce.  In all, WAC provides 19 examples of Avery at his finest: Red Hot Riding Hood (1943), Who Killed Who? (1943), What’s Buzzin’ Buzzard? (1943), Batty Baseball (1944), The Hick Chick (1946), Bad Luck Blackie (1949), Garden Gopher (1950), Peachy Cobbler (1950), Symphony in Slang (1951), Screwball Squirrel (1944), The Screwy Truant (1945), Big Heel-Watha (1944), Lonesome Lenny (1946), Hound Hunters (1947), Red Hot Rangers (1947),  Dumb-Hounded (1943), Wags to Riches (1949), The Chump Champ (1950), and, Daredevil Droopy (1951). Owing to our current politically-correct times, (and the tender ears of leftists who would rather silence any artistic achievement that does not conform to their limited understanding of art in general), WAC has provided the following disclaimer: “Some of the cartoons you are about to see are a product of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in American society. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Bros.’ view of today’s society, some of these cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed.”

Rubbish! We will give WAC very high marks for including these shorts in their irreverent entirety. No edits, excisions, alterations, etc. So, those with hyper-sensitivity and a general lack of a good sense of humor, out to seek, find and lament perceived prejudices and stereotypes as such, and completely discount the artistry clearly on display herein, should spend their time and money elsewhere. For the rest of us, still able to appreciate comedy as cheeky as this, Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Vol. 1, is but an entrée into Avery’s formidable tenure at MGM. All of these shorts have been afforded a new 4K scan from archival film elements, meticulously restored. Important to note: all of the original nitrate elements were destroyed in a fire many years ago. So, WAC is working from film-based materials, ranging from Technicolor separation masters to color reversal internegatives, rather than original camera negatives. The results speak for themselves, with gorgeous watercolor textures, showcasing the exquisite fluidity of time-honored/hand-rendered cel animation. Light dust speckling is present, and several shots remain optically soft, while others have amplified grain levels. But these anomalies were baked into these archival materials and are not flaws introduced in the 1080p mastering process. Point blank – these shorts have never looked better on home video. The 2.0 DTS audio has been lovingly restored to minimize hiss and pop. Dialogue, music, and foley SFX are present with excellent fidelity. Alas, there are no extras – not even an audio commentary. As Avery directed 67 shorts while at MGM, one can only hope WAC’s debut of these rare 19 shorts is but the beginning of a ‘beautiful friendship’ to blossom with more great work and volume-specific collections coming down their pipeline in the near future. Bottom line: Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Vol. 1 is an absolute must-have for cartoon lovers everywhere. Show WAC that their investment in time and energies, thus far spent, was well worth it with a show of your dollars, and more Tex Avery shorts will surely follow. Very – very – highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

4.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4.5

EXTRAS

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