Tex Avery: a Documentary
October 14, 2009 9:24 AM   Subscribe

John Needham's 1988 documentary on the life and work of animation legend Tex Avery [part 1 2 3 4 5]. Some representative work, much of which is covered in the documentary: Porky's Duck Hunt (1937, first appearance of Daffy Duck) || A Wild Hare (1940, first appearance of Bugs Bunny) || Dumb-Hounded (1943, first appearance of Droopy) || Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) || Bad Luck Blackie (1949) || The House / Car / TV / Farm of Tomorrow (1949, 1951, 1953, 1954) || Symphony in Slang (1951) || I'm Cold (1954, Tex's first Chilly Willy)
posted by milquetoast (11 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
Must... not... watch... now...
posted by cmoj at 9:29 AM on October 14, 2009 [1 favorite]


"Legend" is not too strong a word in this case. A god among men.

When I was courting the future Mrs. Beese, I told her that, when I first met her, had I been able to yank my tongue several feet out of my mouth, causing my ears to clap together at the top of my head, I would have.
posted by Joe Beese at 9:40 AM on October 14, 2009 [1 favorite]


As a graduate student, I used to tape a Looney Tunes marathon that Cartoon Network ran early on Saturday mornings (from 5 am or so, for three or four hours). I would come home from my crappy part-time job around noon, crawl into bed and play the tape. I'd sit there all warm and happy watching cartoons I had seen dozens of times. I did this for the better part of a year. Is that wrong?

Thanks for this! Can't wait to settle in to check it out....
posted by East Siberian patchbelly wrangler at 9:45 AM on October 14, 2009 [2 favorites]


Avery is one of the gods, indeed.

Conversation from yesterday, when I and my husbands went out to an industrial park to pick up a package at UPS:
"This is nowhere. This area hates us. We've walked right off the edge of the film."
"So is Tex Avery gonna be waiting to hand us our package?"
posted by egypturnash at 10:04 AM on October 14, 2009 [1 favorite]


"This is nowhere. This area hates us. We've walked right off the edge of the film."
"So is Tex Avery gonna be waiting to hand us our package?"


Then paint flower petals around your face and put a flag on your tail.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:06 AM on October 14, 2009


Then paint flower petals around your face and put a flag on your tail.

That would be Chuck Jones, but I know what you mean.

Is that wrong?

I'd have a hard time thinking of a better way to spend a couple hours.
posted by marxchivist at 10:10 AM on October 14, 2009


As a graduate student, I used to tape a Looney Tunes marathon that Cartoon Network ran early on Saturday mornings (from 5 am or so, for three or four hours). I would come home from my crappy part-time job around noon, crawl into bed and play the tape. I'd sit there all warm and happy watching cartoons I had seen dozens of times. I did this for the better part of a year. Is that wrong?

Not at all, because I [used to] have a tape that my parents made for me when I was little, maybe about 20 years ago at this point. Instead of the typical Nick-at-Nite programming, one evening Nickelodeon ran a "Looney Tunes Time Warp" [I distinctly remember the crazy 'do not attack your television with a hammer' voiceover] for four or five hours, nothing but the cartoons that I loved. I watched it for years, up through college, until it was somehow misplaced. I'm still mourning the loss of that tape, and I've torn my entire house apart on various occasions looking for it, even though I'm not sure that I now own a player on which it would work.

So I've resorted to slowly buying up the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD sets. I just bought Volume Two for $15, and I'm impatiently awaiting its arrival.
posted by alynnk at 10:31 AM on October 14, 2009


don't click here unless you want to see that dog that tunnels out of prison and hides in a TV ("Cellbound"), the cat that throws his voice ("Ventriloquist Cat"), or my personal favorite cartoon of all time...

"King-size Canary"

i could go on and on
posted by Hammond Rye at 11:15 AM on October 14, 2009 [1 favorite]


OH HELL YEAH THERE GOES THE WEEKEND.
posted by Space Kitty at 12:25 PM on October 14, 2009


Blitz Wolf. (WWII propaganda 'photoplay'.)
posted by i_cola at 3:24 PM on October 14, 2009


When I was a kid in France I would watch Tex Avery cartoons like there was no tomorrow. They were hard to come by in Iceland and I would pine for them (yes, I pined in the fjords). Somehow that documentary made it to Iceland and watching I was happy as a clam to find out that one of my heroes had the same birthday as me. I also noted that he died exactly 6 months before I was born (which is meaningless, but nice somehow... well, not nice insofar I wish the guy had lived longer).
posted by Kattullus at 6:06 PM on October 14, 2009


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