Fred "Tex" Avery

Tex Avery started off animating at Walter Lanz Studios in the early 1930s, then in 1935, he moved to Leon Schlesinger Productions where he ran a production unit with Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett. Their studio was nicknamed "Termite Terrace" and Avery worked with many famous characters such as Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck; the building has now been demolished. Avery then moved to MGM studios in 1941, following a dispute with Schlesinger where at the end of The Heckling Hare Bugs Bunny and Hunting Dog fall off a cliff three times, but before the third fall they were to look at the audience and Bugs says "hold onto your hats, folks, here we go again", which was the ending line of a well-know porn sequence at the time. During Tex's time working at MGM with Fred Quimby, he began to push gags to the extreme to a point where they became very surreal and out-of control.

Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) is a great example of Tex's out-of-control style. This cartoon is clearly quite frantic, and the gags are pushed to the extreme but that really does work as part of the gag, such as when the wolf turns into a car, and when the granny goes flying because the wolf stuck a pin in her back side. The set-up for the latter joke is very clever because you don't actually see the pin stab her bum, but you see the pin and her bum then you see her in pain so you know exactly what has happened. The comedy in this is very aggressive, in-your-face, and not child-friendly but it is incredibly funny. It's also an original take on little red riding hood which makes it a bit more interesting.

Ventriloquist Cat (1950) is an example of how Avery used exaggerated body capabilities to create humour, such as the dog being able to survive having his insides blown up again and again and still being able to recover. It is also an example of using repetition to make things more funny. This is a classic cat and dog fighting cartoon, but the way the cat tries to injure the dog are quite original so it's still funny.

Bad Luck Blackie (1949) is very similar to Tom and Jerry, on which Avery also worked. It is another great example of how repetition can be used as a gag, namely everytime the black cat walks past the dog, something falls on the dog's head. Again, this is a classic cat and dog cartoon but by pushing the gags to the limit it continues to be funny.

Tom and Jerry

Tom and Jerry is a cartoon with a simple storyline about a cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry), involving surreal injury gags, usually at Tom's expense. Tex Avery's influence in this cartoon series is greatly evident by the comically violent nature of the characters towards each other.

Puss Gets the Boot (1940) is an early example of Tom and Jerry. Even though the cat in this cartoon is called Jasper, from looking at the design it is easy to tell that this is an early design of Tom. It also shows that Jerry's design has mostly remained the same throughout the years. Even though it is funny to watch, I almost feel as though it's a bit irritating to watch because the lady calls Tom "Jasper" whereas I know him as Tom so it seems a bit strange.

The Little Orphan (1949) is a great example of how the crew working on Tom and Jerry really use the musical score to make the fighting funny and light-hearted. They also use the story behind thanks giving as the concept for Tom and Jerry's fighting.

The later Tom and Jerry cartoons (directed by Gene Deitch at Rembrandt Films, then later by Chuck Jones) were successful but not as critically acclaimed as the early ones. The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit (1962) is a later cartoon, and it really doesn't have the same charm as the earlier cartoons.