Screwball Squirrel
Screwball Squirrel, alias Screwy Squirrel, is a cartoon squirrel created by Tex Avery in 1944, and first appeared in Screwball Squirrel.
Origin[edit]
Screwball Squirrel was created for MGM by Tex Avery to recreate his success with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck when he worked with Warner Bros.[1]. Although Screwball's career was short-lived, he certainly lived up to his expectations.
Career[edit]
Debuting on April Fool's Day 1944, Screwball's all-too-brief career lasted for only five cartoons between 1944 and 1946[2], but all five cartoons remain popular today despite the minimal number.
In his "final" cartoon, Lonesome Lenny (1946), Screwball is apparently killed off by his antagonist[3], and is not used by Avery again for the rest of his lifetime.
Further Appearances[edit]
During the 1960's, Screwball appeared in Our Gang Comics (an imprint of Dell Comics), and creditted as Skrewy the Skrewball Squirrel[4], and was briefly mentioned in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but it wasn't until the 1990's that Screwball would be revived for TV, as a backup feature to Droopy, Master Detective.
On April 1st 1997, Cartoon Network staged a supposed takeover by Screwball, who attempted to make April Fool's Day a national holiday, and his second cartoon Happy Go Nutty was played for twelve hours over and over.[5][6][7].
Since then, Screwball has only been seen in idents for the Boomerang channel, cracking walnuts on his head and declaring: "There's more after this!".
See Also[edit]
- Slappy Squirrel - His Animaniacs counterpart
References[edit]
- ↑ http://www.toonopedia.com/screwy.htm
- ↑ http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/MGM/Shorts/Screwy_Squirrel/index.html
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_Squirrel
- ↑ http://funnies.goldenagecartoons.com/stories/mgm/og120801.html
- ↑ http://www.toonopedia.com/screwy.htm
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day#By_television_stations
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_Squirrel