#droopy dog

[skullislandproductions]

Happy Birthday, Red! “Red Hot Riding Hood” directed by Tex Avery was released May 8th, 1943. The great Preston Blair provided the animation for our favorite singing and dancing redhead.

[goodpartpoopers]

What was I on while making this

Based on this scene idek

⬇️

[moiderahart]

Did you know that the Orphan of Kos just has a Mel Blanc scream as one of its sound effects?

[docgold13]

The Folks behind the Toons

Tex Avery

Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was born February 26, 1908, in Taylor, Texas.  Following a short stint at the Art Institute of Chicago, Avery headed out to Los Angeles where he got his start in the animation business as an inker, working on cels for animated short films in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series.  Soon he was promoted to an assistant to director Bill Nolan.  Avery finagled his way into Warner Brothers pretending to have much more experience as a director than he actually did.  

Avery was assigned to work primarily on the black-and-white Looney Tunes instead of the Technicolor Merrie Melodies, but was allowed to make color Merrie Melodies beginning with Page Miss Glory from 1936.  Later that year he directed Porky the Rainmaker which stared a new version of Porky Pig that Avery designed.  This was followed by Porky's Duck Hunt in 1937, which introduced the character of Daffy Duck, who possessed a new form of zaniness that had not been seen before in animated cartoons. Daffy was an almost completely crazy, bounding about the film frame in double-speed, yammering nonsensically in a high-pitched, sped-up voice provided by actor Mel Blanc.  

The madcap style of Avery’s direction was a significant departure from much of what was being done in animation.  Many of the cartoons were slower, more gentle and similar to those produced at Walt Disney Studios.  Although initially thought of as low-brow and overly silly, Avery's style was a hit with audiences and he went on to direct dozens of subsequent cartoons, introducing many characters who would become staples in Warner Brothers’ catalog, including Elmer Fudd, Cecil Turtle and Willoughby the Dog.  He additionally came up with Bugs Bunny’s trademark phrase eh, what’s up, doc?’  which was how Tex greeted his friends throughout his childhood and teenage years.  

In 1941, Avery left Warners and signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he formed his own animation unit and directed shorts in Technicolor that were produced by Fred Quimby.  Avery’s work at MGM led to the creation of many new characters, such as Droopy Dog, Screwy Squirrel, a new iteration of the Big Bad Wolf and of course Red Hot Riding Hood (hubba hubba) . 

During his time at MGM, Avery became friends with fellow animators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.  Hanna and Barbera would borrow some of Avery’s madcap schtick in crafting their break-out hit, Tom and Jerry.  

Avery left MGM and went to work for Walter Lantz Productions in 1954.  Here he created Chilly Willy and directed numerous toons featuring the penguin.   His 1955 short, Crazy Mixed Up Pup, along with he Chilly Willy short The Legend of Rockabye Point were both nominated for an Academy Award.  

Avery went into semi retirement following the death of his son from a heroin overdose.  The tragedy contributed to the break up of Avery’s marriage to Patricia Johnson and led to a prolonged depression.  He returned to the industry briefly, working for his old friends Hanna and Barbera where he wrote gags for Saturday morning cartoons such as Fred and Barney Meet the Thing and Kwicky Koala.  

Avery passed away from lung cancer in 1980.  He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, in a grave next to his son.  Avery’s signature style of breakneck pacing, nutty sight gags, exaggerated expressions and fourth-wall breaking bits would become incorporated into many of the other cartoons continuing to this day.   Avery’s influence is especially evident in such projects as The Ren and Stimpy Show, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Mask, SpongeBob SquarePants, and many others.  

[dreamychampiongriffin]

The Originals vs. Wacky World

[sandytrish008]

Fanart I did of Tex Avery’s Wolf: Joe is in the hospital, being treated by the unpredictable Droopy as the doctor aaand the “treatment” is nothing less than the dreaded saw 🐺

[nicheydrabbles]

Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) Group Headcanons

General:

-Outside of Tom and Jerry (being that the two were MGM's prime stars) MGM Toons tended to view themselves as loners during the Golden Age of Animation. They never really associated with Toons from other studios. However, as the studio was nearing its end in the 1950s, some of the other Toons like Red, Slick, Droopy, and even Screwy Squirrel began to make connections to other Toons to have a safety net just in case. This worked in their favor when MGM closed in 1957. 

-The posters depicting MGM Toons in various situations were carefully taken and posed by the MGM toons themselves. They weren’t all too fond of being photographed in general, but they needed any advertisement and publicity they could get.

-MGM Toons weren’t paid very well for their work. At first they didn’t mind. But this slowly fostered a deep upset within them the longer this went on, especially after witnessing Harman and Ising consistently fight with MGM over the budget. 

Culture:

-MGM Toons tended to view themselves as more “high-class” than Toons like the Looney Tunes, aiming for a more "sophisticated" or "surreal" brand of chaos compared to their peers. This translated as a misplaced sense of superiority, which other Toons didn’t like. 

-MGM Toons, especially from the Happy Harmonies series by Harman and Ising, don't have the connection to their creators that Tom and Jerry or Red, Slick and Droopy have. Truthfully, they often had to witness Harman and Ising fight with MGM over their budget...and when it culminated in them leaving, they were at a loss at what to do. Especially since it meant MGM wouldn't use them again. 

-The Metro Goldyn Mayer (MGM) Toons weren't all that close during their time at the studio...mainly because they never had a chance to interact with each other. When the studio closed down in 1957, many of them (aside from the bigger names like Tom and Jerry, Droopy, Slick Wolf, and Red Hot Riding Hood) were out of a job. Nowadays, the lesser MGM Toons have a BIG resentment for the "bigger names" of what was once MGM. None of said-bigger names know how to fix this...and they're not sure they even can.

-With the exceptions of Tom and Jerry and MGM’s other “stars”, MGM Toons were rarely seen out and about Toontown. After MGM shut down and the work dried up, an MGM Toon is only seen once in a blue moon. And that’s IF they haven’t been forgotten (which most of Toontown assumes they are). 

-Because of how closely tied their origins are, MGMs (but especially Toons from Harman and Ising) hate being compared to Disney. Tell them they look like a Disney Toon will have them go red with anger.

[punster-2319]

Golden Age of American Animation Cartoons on Physical Media

With the release of the Tom and Jerry Golden Era set on Blu-ray, I thought it would be a good time to show off my collection of classic golden age of animation on DVD/Blu-ray that I've been collecting on and off since 2006 (it all started when my parents got me vol. 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection for Christmas that year).

Warner Bros.

MGM Cartoon Studio

Walter Lantz Productions

Fleischer/Famous Studios

UPA (United Productions of America)

Here’s my Walt Disney Treasures collection.

5/6/2026 EDIT: My Walt Disney Treasures DVD collection as of January 2026