''The Screwy Truant'' is a 1945

Screwy 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 screwball c ...

cartoon directed 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 ...

and released by

MGM 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 through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

Summary

The cartoon centers around an adolescent version of Screwy Squirrel, who skips school to go fishing, which causes truant officer Meathead Dog (here seen with a different color palette but otherwise the same) to go around attempting to arrest Screwy, with various failures. At the end, Meathead finally catches Screwy and demands to know why he is not in school. Screwy tells him the reason is because he has

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

, much to the horror of Meathead, who has now contracted measles from him.

Cameo

Tex Avery's versions of

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brother ...

and the

Big Bad Wolf The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales that include some of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales.'' Versions of this character have appeared in numerous works, and it has become a generic archetype of a menacing predatory a ...

(from '' Swing Shift Cinderella'') make a cameo appearance. In the middle of the cartoon, the two characters interrupt one of Screwy's antics with "Wolfie" chasing Little Red Riding Hood across the screen, only for Screwy to interrupt that action by showing the wolf the title of the cartoon and informing him that he is in the wrong "picture". ''Swing Shift Cinderella'' would not premiere until seven months after the release of ''The Screwy Truant'',"W-634_Swing_Shift_Cinderella—Cartoon...Aug._25"_[1945
,_partial_index,_''Harrison's_Reports.html" ;"title="945">"W-634 Swing Shift Cinderella—Cartoon...Aug. 25" [1945
, partial index, ''Harrison's Reports">945">"W-634 Swing Shift Cinderella—Cartoon...Aug. 25" [1945
, partial index, ''Harrison's Reports'', August 18, 1945, page C. Retrieved via Internet Archive, January 27, 2023. so it could be inferred that its script was still being written at the time and Avery wanted to provide theater audiences with a "wikt:Special:Search/promotion, teaser" for that upcoming short.

References

External links

* * 1945 animated films 1945 films 1945 short films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films Animated films about squirrels Films directed by Tex Avery Films scored by Scott Bradley Films with screenplays by Henry Wilson Allen Films produced by Fred Quimby Films about the education system in the United States Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films Red (animated character) films Tex Avery's Big Bad Wolf films {{short-animation-film-stub