Screwy Squirrel (also known as Screwball Squirrel) is an
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
cartoon character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, i ...
, an
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
created by
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...
for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
. He is generally considered the wackiest and outright most antagonistic of the
screwball
A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...
cartoon characters of the 1940s.
Among the most outrageous cartoon characters ever created, Screwy can do almost anything to almost anyone: he pulls objects out of thin air, doubles himself, and constantly breaks the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
, all the while uttering a characteristic cackling laugh. The character was not as successful as Avery's
Droopy
Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Go ...
was at this time, and Screwy appeared in only five cartoons: ''Screwball Squirrel'' (1944), ''Happy-Go-Nutty'' (1944), ''Big Heel-Watha'' (1944), ''
The Screwy Truant
''The Screwy Truant'' is a 1945 Screwy Squirrel cartoon directed by Tex Avery and released by MGM.
Summary
The cartoon centers around an adolescent version of Screwy Squirrel, who skips school to go fishing, which causes truant officer Meathead ...
'' (1945), and ''
Lonesome Lenny
''Lonesome Lenny'' is a 1946 Screwy Squirrel cartoon directed by Tex Avery and released to theaters on March 9, 1946 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the last ''Screwy Squirrel'' cartoon; he is "killed" off on-screen at the end of the short.
Plot
...
'' (1946).
[Adamson, Joe, ''Tex Avery: King of Cartoons'', 1975, Da Capo Press]
Biography
The character was known for being brash and erratic, with few sympathetic personality characteristics such as
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
's nobility and
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character, character created for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American black duck, black ...
's pathos. (Both of these characters also being creations of Tex Avery) Most of his cartoons saw him paired with Meathead Dog (voiced by screenwriter
Cal Howard Calvin Henry Howard (March 24, 1911 – September 10, 1993) was an American cartoon story artist, animator and director mostly remembered for his work at Walter Lantz Productions and Warner Bros. Cartoons. He was also the voice actor of Gabby Goat ...
in ''Screwball Squirrel'', Tex Avery in ''Happy-Go-Nutty'' and
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...
in ''The Screwy Truant'') as his adversary. Meathead's physical appearance differed in between the three shorts in which he appeared (with his ears changing color from grey-blue to black in ''Happy-Go-Nutty'', and donning a new color palette in ''The Screwy Truant''), but otherwise the character remained the same.
Screwy's shorts revolved around him inflicting various forms of torture on Meathead – or another enemy – for seven minutes. In ''The Screwy Truant'', one gag sees Screwy hitting Meathead over the head with everything he can find in a trunk labeled "Assorted Swell Stuff to Hit Dog on Head". When he finishes, Meathead remarks, "Gee whiz! He hit me with
everything but the kitchen sink!" Screwy responds with, "Well, don't want to disappoint you, chum," then pulls out that very item and bashes him over the head with it.
The final cartoon in the series, ''
Lonesome Lenny
''Lonesome Lenny'' is a 1946 Screwy Squirrel cartoon directed by Tex Avery and released to theaters on March 9, 1946 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the last ''Screwy Squirrel'' cartoon; he is "killed" off on-screen at the end of the short.
Plot
...
'' (a broad parody of the characters of George and Lenny from the
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
novel ''
Of Mice and Men
''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...
''), ends with a scene indicating that Screwy has been
killed off
The killing off of a character is a device in fiction, whereby a character dies, but the story continues. The term, frequently applied to television, film, video game, anime, manga and chronological series, often denotes an untimely or unexpect ...
as a regular MGM character. The 1946 cartoon begins with a wealthy woman purchasing the squirrel at a pet shop with the intention of giving him to her large dog Lenny as a companion. Pampered and dim-witted, Lenny is unaware of his brute strength; and later, when he hugs Screwy, he accidentally crushes him to death. In the cartoon's closing scene, the dog is now all alone and lying on the floor in his owner's mansion. After casually squeezing and pulverizing a big chew bone with his paw and crumpling his metal food bowl, he sits up, turns to the audience, and says, "You know, I had a little friend once, but he don't move no more." Lenny then reaches into a side "pocket" in his fur and pulls out the flattened body of Screwy. The squirrel is motionless and his eyes are closed. Seemingly dead, Screwy suddenly opens one eye and brings a sign out from behind his back that reads, "SAD ENDING, isn't it?" That gesture cast some doubt at the time on the finality of the crazy squirrel's demise. A similar "death" gag is presented at the conclusion of the 1957 Warner Bros. cartoon ''
What's Opera Doc?'', which was directed by
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
. In that cartoon, however, as a dead
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
is being carried away by a guilt-ridden
Elmer Fudd
Elmer J.''Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheo ...
, the rabbit awakes to speak to the audience about the opera
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
's sad ending.
It is said that the reason why Screwy was killed off in his last cartoon was because Tex Avery grew to openly dislike the character. According to animator Mark Kausler, he used to send Avery letters about his rendition of Screwy. He later learns that Avery has thrown away anything related to the character. Kausler would also say, “Tex really hated Screwy, because he didn't catch on like "the rabbit".
Later Appearances
Meathead Dog makes a cameo appearance in the 1988 film ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...
''. He is seen sniffing around at R. K. Maroon's Cartoon Studio in the film's beginning. Screwy is mockingly mentioned by one of Eddie Valiant's bar patrons Angelo: "Who's your client, Mr. Detective of the Stars?
Chilly Willy
Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive penguin. He was created by director Paul Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953, and developed further by Tex Avery in the two subsequent films following Smith's debut entry. The character ...
, or Screwy Squirrel?"
In 1993,
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
resurrected Screwy in new animation for the series ''
Droopy, Master Detective
''Droopy, Master Detective'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in association with Turner Entertainment, and a spin-off of ''Tom & Jerry Kids''. It debuted on Fox's Saturday morning block Fox Kids and ra ...
'' as part of
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
' programming block of
Saturday morning cartoon
"Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...
s. Those new cartoons featured the character's name as Screwballnever Screwyand pitted him not against Meathead but against a pair of typical Hanna-Barbera authority figures, a human park attendant named Dweeble and his oafish dog Rumply. "Screwball" himself wore a T-shirt and often a "Napoleon-style"
bicorne
The bicorne or bicorn (two-cornered) is a historical form of hat widely adopted in the 1790s as an item of uniform by European and American army and naval officers. Most generals and staff officers of the Napoleonic period wore bicornes, which ...
hat.
On
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
in 1997,
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
broadcast an edited version (minus one
blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
gag) of the 1944 Screwy Squirrel cartoon ''
Happy-Go-Nutty'' repeatedly from 6 AM to 6 PM, as part of an April Fool's joke that the cartoon character had seized control of the network.
In 2013, both Meathead and Screwy Squirrel make appearances as residents of "Fairy Land" in ''
Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure
''Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure'' is a 2013 animated fantasy comedy direct-to-video film starring Tom and Jerry, produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Tom and Jerry are the faithful servants of Jack, son of the founder of a struggling storybook a ...
'' retaining most of their traits. Screwy Squirrel was voiced by
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...
and Meathead is voiced by
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...
.
In 2019, Screwy Squirrel makes an appearance as a landlord of an apartment building called Screwy Arms Apartments, in the third season of ''
The Tom and Jerry Show'' episode called "Double Dog Trouble". He also makes various cameos in the series. Screwy is voiced by Sean Kenin.
American animator and producer
Bruce W. Smith
Bruce Wayne Smith (born September 6, 1961) is an African-American animator, character designer, film director and television producer. He is best known as the creator of Disney Channel's ''The Proud Family'' and '' The Proud Family: Louder and ...
briefly began developing a series for Warner Bros. starring the titular character. In Smith's proposed storyline, which was never produced, Screwy thinks he is in Hollywood, California, but in reality he is in
Hollywood, Alabama
Hollywood is a town in Jackson County, Alabama, Jackson County, northeast Alabama, United States. In 2020, the census showed a population of 981 residents. Hollywood is considered a suburb of Scottsboro, Alabama, Scottsboro, the county seat. The ...
.
Voice actors
*
Wally Maher Wally Maher (August 4, 1908 – December 26, 1951) was an American actor, primarily on old-time radio; he was also known as the original voice of Tex Avery's cartoon character Screwy Squirrel.
Early years
Maher was born in Cincinnati on August 4, ...
(1944—1946)
*
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...
(laughing in ''
The Screwy Truant
''The Screwy Truant'' is a 1945 Screwy Squirrel cartoon directed by Tex Avery and released by MGM.
Summary
The cartoon centers around an adolescent version of Screwy Squirrel, who skips school to go fishing, which causes truant officer Meathead ...
'')
*
Charlie Adler (''
Droopy, Master Detective
''Droopy, Master Detective'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in association with Turner Entertainment, and a spin-off of ''Tom & Jerry Kids''. It debuted on Fox's Saturday morning block Fox Kids and ra ...
'')
*
Jeff Bergman
Jeffrey Bergman (born July 10, 1960) is an American voice actor and impressionist who has provided the modern-day voices of various classic cartoon characters, most notably with ''Looney Tunes'' and Hanna-Barbera.
Bergman was the first to repla ...
(
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
bumpers)
*
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...
(''
Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure
''Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure'' is a 2013 animated fantasy comedy direct-to-video film starring Tom and Jerry, produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Tom and Jerry are the faithful servants of Jack, son of the founder of a struggling storybook a ...
'')
* Sean Kenin (''
The Tom and Jerry Show'')
Cartoons
Comics
List of comics appearances
* ''Our Gang Comics'' #12–14 (1944) (
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
)
* ''Tom & Jerry's Winter Carnival'' #1 (1952), #2 (1953) (Dell)
* ''Tom & Jerry's Winter Fun'' #3 (1954), #6 (1957), #7 (1958), #8 (1958) (Dell)
* ''Tom & Jerry's Summer Fun'' #1 (1954), #2 (1955) (Dell)
* ''Tom and Jerry'' #213 (1962), #231, #232 (1966), #258 (1971)
* ''Golden Comics Digest'' #3, #5 (1969), #8 (1970), #18 (1971), #22, #25 (1972), #28 (1973), #41 (1975) (
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
)
* ''Tex Avery's Wolf and Red'' various issues (1995) (
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
)
* ''Tex Avery's
Screwball Squirrel
Screwy Squirrel (also known as Screwball Squirrel) is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is generally considered the wackiest and outright most antagonistic of the screwbal ...
'' (1995) (Dark Horse Comics)
* ''Tex Avery's
Droopy
Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Go ...
'' various issues (1995) (Dark Horse Comics)
* ''Comics and Stories'' various issues (1996) (Dark Horse Comics)
Some earlier comics style the character's name as "Skrewy Squirrel" or "Skrewy the Screwball Squirrel." Additional titles, not listed here, include the character in one-page gag or puzzle features.
Home media
Several Screwy Squirrel cartoons were released as bonus features on classic Warner Bros. titles including:
* ''Screwball Squirrel'' on the DVD of ''
The Thin Man Goes Home
''The Thin Man Goes Home'' is a 1945 comedy- mystery film directed by Richard Thorpe. It is the fifth of the six '' Thin Man'' films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Dashiell Hammett's dapper ex-private detective Nick Charles and his ...
''
* ''Happy-Go-Nutty'' on the DVD of ''
Dragon Seed''
* ''The Screwy Truant'' on the DVD of
''The Clock'' (1945 film)
* ''Lonesome Lenny'' on the DVD of ''
Undercurrent''
* ''Screwball Squirrel'' on the Blu-Ray of ''
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2'' (Disc 3)
In March 2020, ''Screwball Squirrel'', ''The Screwy Traunt'', ''Big Heel-Watha'' and ''Lonesome Lenny'' were released on Blu-Ray, fully restored and uncut, by
Warner Archive
The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...
as part of ''
Tex Avery Screwball Classics
''Tex Avery Screwball Classics'' is a series of single-disc Blu-ray and DVD sets by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's Warner Archive unit collecting various theatrical cartoons from animation director Tex Avery during his tenure at the Metro-Goldw ...
: Volume 1''. ''Happy Go Nutty'' was released on October 5, 2021 as part of ''Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3-'' completing Screwy’s filmography.
References
External links
Screwball Squirrelat the
Big Cartoon DataBase
The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts.
The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...
.
Screwy Squirrelat
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archivedfrom the original on March 29, 2017.
{{Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Cartoons
Tex Avery
Animated film series
Animated characters
Fictional squirrels
MGM cartoon characters
Film characters introduced in 1944
Film series introduced in 1944
Fictional anthropomorphic characters
Fictional characters who break the fourth wall
Fictional tricksters
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films
Male characters in animation
Surreal comedy films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio film series