Tex Avery

Tex Avery
Tex Avery, circa 1940s.
Born	Frederick Bean Avery February 26, 1908 Taylor, Texas
Died	August 26, 1980 Burbank, California
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Animator Director
Years active at MGM	1941-1953
Years active at Hanna-Barbera	1980

Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, voice actor, director, and cartoonist. He is known for his works during the golden age of Hollywood, with most of his major work created for the animation unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and is credited for creating its characters such as Droopy, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, Screwy Squirrel, and George and Junior. He was also known for his work at the Warner Bros. animation unit, where he became crucial in the creation of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd.

His influence came in part to his own innovation, directorial style, and brand of humor. Avery's attitude towards animation was the opposite of Walt Disney's cartoons and others alike, with many being presented as more sarcastic, ironic, surreal, and sometimes overtly laid with sexual undertones. Avery's cartoons focused on sight gags, rapid-fire comedy, and violent humor, with wacky characters that often broke the fourth wall. Avery had an effect on almost all of the animation studios during from the 1940s to 1950s, which still has influence in many cartoons to this day.

Avery died of lung cancer on August 26, 1980, at the age of 72.

Credits

• Droopy
  • Dumb-Hounded (1943) - director
  • The Shooting of Dan McGoo (1945) - director
  • Wild and Woolfy (1945) - director
  • Northwest Hounded Police (1946) - director
  • Señor Droopy (1949) - director
  • Wags to Riches (1949) - director
  • Out-Foxed (1949) - director
  • The Chump Champ (1950) - director
  • Dardevil Droopy (1951) - director
  • Droopy's Good Deed (1951) - director
  • Droopy's Double Trouble (1951) - director
  • The Three Little Pups (1953) - director
  • Drag-a-Long Droopy (1954) - director
  • Homesteader Droopy (1954) - director
  • Dixieland Droopy (1954) - director
  • Deputy Droopy (1955) - director
• One-shot MGM cartoons
  • Blitz Wolf (1942) - director
  • The Early Bird Dood It! (1942) - director
  • Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) - director
  • Who Killed Who? (1943) - director
  • One Ham's Family (1943) - director
  • What's Buzzin' Buzzard? (1943) - director
  • Screwball Squirrel (1944) - director
  • Batty Baseball (1944) - director
  • Happy-Go-Nutty (1944) - director
  • Big Heel-Watha (1944) - director
  • The Screwy Truant (1945) - director
  • Jerky Terky (1945) - director
  • Swing Shift Cinderella (1945) - director
  • Lonesome Lenny (1946) - director
  • The Hick Chick (1946) - director
  • Henpecked Hoboes (1946) - director
  • Hound Hunters (1947) - director
  • Red Hot Rangers (1947) - director
  • Uncle Tom's Cabaña (1947) - director
  • Slap Happy Lion (1947) - director
  • King Size Canary (1947) - director
  • What Price Fleadom (1948) - director
  • Little 'Tinker (1948) - director
  • Half-Pint Pygmy (1948) - director
  • Lucky Duck (1948) - director
  • The Cat That Hated People (1948) - director
  • Bad Luck Blackie (1948) - director
  • The House of Tomorrow (1949) - director
  • Doggone Tired (1949) - director
  • Little Rural Riding Hood (1949) - director
  • The Counterfeit Cat (1949) - director
  • Ventriloquist Cat (1949) - director
  • The Cuckoo Clock (1949) - director
  • Garden Gopher (1950) - director
  • The Peachy Cobbler (1950) - director
  • Cock-a-Doodle Dog (1951) - director
  • Symphony in Slang (1950) - director
  • Car of Tomorrow (1950) - director
  • Magic Maestro (1952) - director
  • One Cab's Family (1952) - director
  • Rock-a-Bye Bear (1952) - director
  • Little Johnny Jet (1953) - director
  • T.V. of Tomorrow (1953) - director
  • Billy Boy (1954) - director
  • The Farm of Tomorrow (1954) - director
  • The Flea Circus (1954) - director
  • The First Bad Man (1955) - director
  • Cellbound (1955) - director
• The Kwicky Koala Show (1981-1982) - series creator

Tributes

• In the letters section of Dark Horse Comics' Droopy #1, cartoonist Scott Shaw draws an affectionate caricature of Avery standing outside of his office at Hanna-Barbera, telling the other employees to call him by his real name Fred (as he did in real life), while dressed as Fred Flintstone.

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