Tex Avery Overview

There are few artists whose animation style is instantly identifiable, no matter what the character or situation. Whether it's Bugs Bunny falling through the sky only to skid to a stop in mid-air, or Daffy Duck's bill spinning furiously around his... [more]

There are few artists whose animation style is instantly identifiable, no matter what the character or situation. Whether it's Bugs Bunny falling through the sky only to skid to a stop in mid-air, or Daffy Duck's bill spinning furiously around his head, people across the globe recognize the kinetic, physics-defying work of cartoonist Tex Avery. If a cartoon character stops and asks the audience, "Exciting, isn't it?" you know you're watching the hand of Tex Avery in action. Born in 1908 in Taylor, Texas, Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was a descendant of both Daniel Boone and the infamous Judge Roy Bean. In Avery, the adventuresome spirit of Boone and the judge's biting humor combined to forge one of the most inventive minds that the cartoon world has ever seen. He began his career peddling his comic strips to newspapers but found no takers. His sketches landed him a job inking and painting animation cels for a cartoon studio. Though relegated to the drudgework of painting the cels between the frames done by the credited artists, he learned all he needed to know about the creative freedom offered by the burgeoning new medium. After a stint with Walter Lantz (creator of Woody Woodpecker) at Universal, he moved to Warner Brothers, where he finally became a full-time cartoon director. In those days, animated shorts preceded feature films in most movie houses. The animators were charged with making compact, punchy stories that would get the moviegoers excited about the feature. The standard-bearer of the era was Walt Disney's studio, which regularly created new characters and serials. However, Disney's cartoons had little bite: the singing animal scenarios were interesting more for their technical bravura than for their storylines. At Warner Brothers, Tex joined famed animators Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett in a ramshackle, back-studio unit that had been aptly dubbed "Termite Terrace." This rundown building was the birthplace of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd. Whereas Disney's films were bland and almost irritatingly sweet, Avery's were wild, crazy, and packed to the rafters with eye-popping visual jokes and constant action. Not bothering with fleshed-out storylines, Avery's cartoons were often simply a hyper-speed series of gags that never stopped for breath. Tex is widely acknowledged as the author of Bugs Bunny's classic interrogative, "What's up, Doc?" -- a reflection of his own ever-questioning nature. He also revolutionized the relationship between viewers and cartoons by allowing his animated characters to speak directly to the audience. He reversed the flow as well, having the audience speak to the characters: shadows seated at the bottom of the frame interacted with the figures onscreen. These devices brought the cartoon out of the ether and directly onto the proscenium. After his stint at Warner Brothers, Avery went to MGM, where from 1942 to 1954 he was responsible for practically every cartoon the studio produced, excluding the "Tom and Jerry" series. Here, he created Droopy Dog, Chilly Willy, and Screwy Squirrel. He also began to tackle social issues head-on, including many critical swipes at the future. He recontextualized fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood to address contemporary topics. Cast as tales of wanton lust and depravity, the pieces certainly took a more mature approach than other cartoons of the period. His "Swing Shift Cinderella" is a classic story put in a modern, adult, and blatantly sexual context. It stands in stark contrast to Disney's blander interpretation of the tale. After burning out at MGM, Avery returned briefly to Walter Lantz's studio, where he produced just four more shorts. By most accounts, it was his stint at MGM that changed Avery and drove him to working in advertising, where he created insects for Raid and the Frito Bandito for Frito-Lay. Though he was underappreciated in his later years, his legacy and characters are still cash cows for Warner Brothers some 50 years after they were first brought to life. [show less]