Tex Avery

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Tex Avery (actually Frederick Bean Avery ; born February 26, 1908 in Taylor , Williamson County , Texas , † August 26, 1980 in Burbank , California ) was an American director and illustrator of cartoons . Avery was instrumental in creating the characters Dick Pig , Elmer Fudd , Daffy Duck , Bugs Bunny , Screwy Squirrel , George and Junior , and Droopy Dog .

With his fast-paced chases, absurd gags and ludicrous exaggerations, he has exhausted the genre to its limits and shaped it significantly. His motto was: "Anything is possible in a cartoon."

career

origin

Frederick Bean Avery was the son of George Walton Avery (1867-1935) and his wife Mary Augusta Bean (1886-1931). On his mother's side, he is a direct descendant of the self-proclaimed Justice of the Peace Roy Bean . His grandmother withheld further details from him, as she was ashamed of this eccentric relative: “Don't ever mention you are a kin to Roy Bean. He's a no good skunk !! - Don't tell anyone that you are related to Roy Bean. He was a do-no! "

Because of his origins and his Texan dialect, Fred Avery got his nickname "Tex".

youth

Tex Avery was already active as a draftsman in high school. He drew for a school newspaper and also published a weekly one- pager , which he pinned to the wall newspaper. He also took a three-month summer course at the Chicago Art Institute ; Caricaturists from the leading daily newspapers were invited as teachers. After graduating from North Dallas High School in June 1927, Avery worked on a comic strip that he offered to various newspapers. However, he only received rejections. Through the girlfriend of a friend, Tex Avery joined the ink and drawing department of Walter Lantz Productions , an established studio for cartoon films.

Walter Lantz (1930–1935)

From 1930 Tex Avery worked as an animator for Walter Lantz . He washed and drew a. a. for the series Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , a forerunner of Mickey Mouse . He was also involved in the making of the short animated films Elmer, the Great Dane and Towne Hall Follies (both 1935).

A negligent prank by his colleagues caused Tex Avery to lose an eye in the drawing studio. It was customary among the young draftsmen to aim a sling every now and then at the back of the head of someone present. In one of these attacks, Avery was turned around and hit by a paper clip in the eye. Tex Avery has been blind in the left eye ever since.

We were all a group of crazy gagsters that would attempt anything for a laugh, and one routine was the rubber band and paper spitball shot at the back of the head.

“We were a bunch of crazy jokers who did anything for a laugh. A routine trick was the thing with the rubber band, where you aimed a ball of paper at the back of the head. "

- Tex Avery in an interview with Joe Adamson

Tex Avery left Walter Lantz after five years of working together for financial reasons and moved to the animation department of Warner Bros.

Warner Brothers (1936-1942)

Tex Avery actually worked for Leon Schlesinger , who produced the cartoons for his own account and published them via Warner Brothers Pictures in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. In the interview, Avery told Schlesinger that he had already directed two cartoons - which was not true.

Leon Schlesinger, whose drawing studio was severely weakened by the departure of Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising , took the risk with his new addition. Schlesinger provided Avery with a remote barracks and a group of draftsmen who wanted to try something new anyway. These draftsmen included Chuck Jones , Bob Clampett, and Bob Cannon; the old drawing barracks were given the joke address Termite Terrace ("Termite Terrace").

For the first animation project Gold Diggers of '49 (1935), the team used the animation I Haven't Got a Hat (1935), for which Bob Clampett had created a stuttering pig. This nameless piglet became Piggy Dick and would quickly develop into the Looney Tunes mascot . The team around Fred Avery gradually invented the characters Egghead alias Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, whose film debuts "Fred Avery" took over the direction.

Since animals were primarily used as cartoon characters, Avery came up with the idea in 1941 of using rotoscopy to make real animals speak. Avery presented the idea to Schlesinger, but he declined on the grounds that he paid him for cartoons and not for "real" films; that is Warner's job.

The collaboration with Leon Schlesinger turned out to be increasingly problematic. The studio boss did not want Tex Avery to appear as a director by name. Only the note "Supervision: Fred Avery" was permitted. All employees also had to pay part of their wages ($ 25 per week) into a kind of compulsory lottery ("cutthroat poker"), the winnings of which were collected by Leon Schlesinger.

Paramount Pictures (1941)

At Paramount, Tex Avery only gave a brief interlude with the Speaking of Animals series . The series was based on Avery's idea to synchronize animal films and make the animals "talk". Leon Schlesinger didn't like the idea, so it was implemented by Paramount Pictures. After just three episodes, Avery left Paramount Studios and moved to MGM. The Speaking of Animals series was continued without him and in 1943 (for Speaking of Animals and Their Families ) and 1945 (for Who's Who in Animal Land ) with an Oscar in the category " Best Short Film (a film role) ". Tex Avery was only involved in the first three episodes:

  1. Speaking of Animals Down on the Farm (August 18, 1941)
  2. Speaking of Animals in a Pet Shop (September 5, 1941)
  3. Speaking of Animals in the Zoo (October 31, 1941)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1942–1955)

A new era began for Tex Avery at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Under the direction of the animation producer Fred Quimby , he created his most important works, especially the fairy tale adaptations with a nameless wolf. Avery made his debut with the anti-war film Blitz Wolf , for the first time with the indication "Directed by Tex Avery" in the opening credits. The title already names the most important employees who will from now on form the creative team around Tex Avery: Ray Abrams, Preston Blair and Ed Love. Also worth mentioning is the composer Scott Bradley , whose score is an integral part of the excitement of these cartoons. A very fruitful cooperation resulted from the collaboration with the author Heck Allen , from whom u. a. the stories about Screwy Squirrel were.

Well, at Warners they wanted more dignity, or something, so it had to be Fred, my real name. And then, the next move I made to Metro, they let me take the name of Tex, which everyone knew me by.

“Warner put a lot of emphasis on decency or something, so it had to be Fred, my real name. And then, when I switched to Metro, I was made to appear as Tex, the name everyone knew me by. "

- Tex Avery in an interview with Joe Adamson

Walter Lantz (1954–1955)

Tex Avery eventually returned to the studio where he started out as an animator. Walter Lantz's animation studio had established itself in the meantime with characters like Woody Woodpecker and Chilly Willy . During his brief interlude at Walter Lantz Productions, Tex Avery directed four films; two of them were dedicated to Chilly Willy. There are also the unfinished cartoons Hold That Rock and Room and Wrath , which were completed by Alex Lovy after his departure . Alex Lovy also directed the other short films with Droopy Dog.

Tex Avery died of lung cancer on August 26, 1980 in Burbank, California .

effect

Some of the effects of the Wrong Play with Roger Rabbit (1988) and The Mask (1994) with Jim Carrey are based on ideas from Avery.

The Tex Avery Show from 1997 pays homage to the draftsman, but has nothing in common with his characters or with his content.

Companions through Avery

Tex loves to be funny; I think he'd kill himself to get a laugh.

“Tex loves to be funny. I think he would kill himself to get a laugh. "

- Heck Allen , interviewed on April 1, 1971

Tex was always totally in charge of anything he ever did. That's why he works alone; he just doesn't want to argue with people ... I think, that he's a genuine, native, American genius.

“In everything he ever did, Tex was in charge. That's why he works alone: ​​he just doesn't want to discuss. I consider him to be a real, original American genius. "

- Heck Allen, interviewed on April 1, 1971

Tex is a hard man to work for; he's a perfectionist to this point: that even when he's ready to turn out a good cartoon, it's still not as good as he wanted to make it.

"Working for Tex is not easy because he is a true perfectionist: even if he is in the process of putting out a really good cartoon, he is dissatisfied because it is not as good as he would like it to be."

- Michael Maltese , interviewed on April 3, 1971

Awards & nominations

Six films directed by Tex Avery have been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Animated Short Film category. Ultimately, however, Tex Avery's work never won an Oscar.

  • 1940: Oscar nomination for Detouring America (Leon Schlesinger)
  • 1941: Oscar nomination for A Wild Hare (Leon Schlesinger)
  • 1943: Oscar nomination for Blitz Wolf (Fred Quimby)
  • 1953: Oscar nomination for Little Johnny Jet (Fred Quimby)
  • 1955: Oscar nomination for Crazy Mixed Up Pup (Walter Lantz)
  • 1956: Oscar nomination for The Legend of Rockabye Point (Walter Lantz)
  • 1957, 1958 and 1959: International Publicity Film Festival Award (for Calo Tiger ads )
  • 1960: Television Commercials Council Award
  • 1974: Annie Award of ASIFA for Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones and Tex Avery.

Filmography (selection)

Fairy tale adaptations
  • 1937: Little Red Walking Hood (Warner - Merry Melodies )
  • 1938: Cinderella Meets Fella (Warner - Merry Melodies )
  • 1940: The Bear's Tale (Warner - Merry Melodies )
  • 1941: Hollywood Steps Out (Warner - Merry Melodies )
  • 1942: Blitz Wolf (with Adolf Wolf ; MGM)
  • 1943: Red Hot Riding Hood (with Der Wolf , MGM)
  • 1945: Swing Shift Cinderella (with Der Wolf , MGM)
  • 1949: Little Rural Riding Hood (with Der Wolf , MGM)
with Daffy Duck
  • 1937: Porky's Duck Hunt (Warner - Looney Tunes )
  • 1937: Daffy Duck and Egghead (Warner - Merry Melodies )
  • 1938: Daffy Duck in Hollywood (Warner - Merry Melodies )
with Bugs Bunny
  • 1940: A Wild Hare - The hares case ( Bugs Bunny's debut, Warner - Merry Melodies )
  • 1941: Tortoise Beats Hare (Warner)
  • 1941: The Heckling Hare - Who is hunting whom? (Warner)
  • 1941: All This and Rabbit Stew (Warner)
with Screwy Squirrel
  • 1944: Screwball Squirrel (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
  • 1944: Happy-Go-Nutty (MGM)
  • 1944: The Screwy Truant (MGM)
  • 1944: Big Heel-Watha (MGM)
  • 1946: Lonesome Lenny ( Screwy Squirrels Demise, MGM)
with George and Junior
  • 1946: Henpecked Hoboes (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
  • 1947: Hound Hunters (MGM)
  • 1947: Red Hot Rangers (MGM)
  • 1948: Half-Pint Pygmy ( George and Juniors Ableben, MGM)

literature

  • Joe Adamson: Tex Avery: King of Cartoons. The Man Who Created Bugs Bunny, and the Story Behind Those Lunatic Looney Tunes. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, ISBN 0-306-80248-1 .
  • Patrick Brion, Tex Avery: Tex Avery. Schuler, Herrsching 1986, ISBN 3-7796-5238-2 .

Web links

Commons : Tex Avery  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joe Adamson: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons , Da Capo Press, New York 1985, p. 203, ISBN 0-306-80248-1 .
  2. ↑ You Couldn't Get Chaplin in a Milk Bottle , Interview with Tex Avery, in: Joe Adamson: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, pp. 151-200.
  3. ↑ You Couldn't Get Chaplin in a Milk Bottle , Tex Avery in an interview with Joe Adamson in: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, p. 157.
  4. ↑ You Couldn't Get Chaplin in a Milk Bottle , Interview with Tex Avery, in: Joe Adamson: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, p. 167.
  5. ↑ You Couldn't Get Chaplin in a Milk Bottle , Tex Avery in an interview with Joe Adamson, in: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, p. 171.
  6. ↑ Tales of Taylor, Texas , Heck Allen in an interview with Joe Adamson, in: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, p. 149.
  7. ↑ Tales of Taylor, Texas , Heck Allen in an interview with Joe Adamson, in: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, pp. 140-141.
  8. ↑ That Warner Brothers Rowdyism , Michael Maltese in an interview with Joe Adamson, in: Tex Avery - King of Cartoons. Da Capo Press, New York 1985, p. 134.
  9. ↑ Gary Morris: goosing Mother Goose: The Fairy Tales of Tex Avery , Bright Lights Film Journal from September 1 1998th
personal data
SURNAME Avery, Tex
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Avery, Frederick Bean (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Taylor , Williamson County , Texas
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1980
Place of death Burbank , California