Screwy Squirrel

Screwy Squirrel (originally Screwball Squirrel) is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is generally considered the wackiest and outright most antagonistic of the screwball cartoon characters of the 1940s.[1]

Screwy Squirrel
MGM Cartoons character
First appearanceScrewball Squirrel
April 1, 1944
Created byTex Avery
Designed byClaude Smith
Voiced byWally Maher (1944–1946)
Pinto Colvig (1945)
Charlie Adler (1993)
Jeff Bergman (2004)
Paul Reubens (2013)
Sean Kenin (2019–present)
In-universe information
AliasSkrewy the Screwball Squirrel
SpeciesAmerican red squirrel
GenderMale

Among the most outrageous cartoon characters ever created, Screwy can do almost anything to almost anyone: he pulls objects out of thin air, doubles himself, and constantly breaks the fourth wall, all the while uttering a characteristic cackling laugh. The character was not as successful as Avery's Droopy was at this time, and Screwy appeared in only five cartoons: Screwball Squirrel (1944), Happy-Go-Nutty (1944), Big Heel-Watha (1944), The Screwy Truant (1945), and Lonesome Lenny (1946).[2]

The character was known for being brash and erratic, with few sympathetic personality characteristics such as Bugs Bunny's nobility or Daffy Duck's pathos.[3] Most of his cartoons revolve around him inflicting various forms of torture on his enemy (usually Meathead Dog, voiced by Dick Nelson) for seven minutes. In The Screwy Truant, Screwy hits a dog across the head with everything he can find in a trunk labeled "Assorted Swell Stuff to Hit Dog on Head". When he finishes, the dog remarks, "Gee whiz! He hit me with everything but the kitchen sink!" Screwy responds with, "Well, don't want to disappoint you, chum," then pulls out that very item and bashes him over the head with it.[2]

History

The final cartoon in the series, Lonesome Lenny (a broad parody of the characters of George and Lenny from the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men), ended with a joking reference to indicate that Screwy had been killed off by the dog that he was trying to help, who had accidentally crushed him and commented: "You know, I had a little friend once, but he don't move no more." The seemingly "dead" Screwy (flattened, but not dead) then holds up a sign saying "Sad ending, isn't it?", casting some doubt on the finality of his demise. The gag echoed in the 1957 Bugs Bunny cartoon, What's Opera Doc?, directed by Chuck Jones.

Meathead Dog makes a cameo appearance in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He is seen sniffing around at R. K. Maroon's Cartoon Studio in the film's beginning. Screwy is mockingly mentioned as one of Eddie Valiant's bar patrons by Angelo: "Who's your client, Mr. Detective of the Stars? Chilly Willy, or Screwy Squirrel?"

Hanna-Barbera resurrected Screwy in new animation for the Droopy, Master Detective saturday morning cartoon on Fox Kids in 1993.[4] These new cartoons featured the character's name as Screwball—never Screwy—and pitted him not against Meathead, but a pair of typical Hanna-Barbera authority figures, human park attendant Dweeble and his oafish dog Rumply. "Screwball" himself wore a T-shirt and, much of the time, a Napoleon hat.

On April Fools' Day 1997, Cartoon Network ran an edited version (minus one blackface gag) of the 1944 Screwy Squirrel cartoon Happy-Go-Nutty repeatedly from 6 AM to 6 PM, as part of an April Fool's joke that the cartoon character had taken over the channel.

In 2013, both Meathead and Screwy Squirrel make appearances as residents of "Fairy Land" in Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure retaining most of their traits. Screwy Squirrel was voiced by Paul Reubens and Meathead is voiced by John DiMaggio.

In 2019, Screwy Squirrel makes an appearance as a landlord of an apartment building called Screwy Arms Apartments, in the third season of The Tom and Jerry Show episode called "Double Dog Trouble". He also makes various cameos in the series. Screwy is voiced by Sean Kenin.

Voice actors

Cartoons
#TitleRelease Date
1Screwball SquirrelApril 1, 1944
2Happy-Go-NuttyJune 24, 1944
3Big Heel-Watha (Buck of the Month)October 21, 1944
4The Screwy TruantJanuary 13, 1945
5Lonesome LennyMarch 9, 1946

Comics

List of comics appearances
  • Our Gang Comics #12–14 (1944) (Dell Comics)
  • Tom & Jerry's Winter Carnival #1 (1952), #2 (1953) (Dell)
  • Tom & Jerry's Winter Fun #3 (1954), #6 (1957), #7 (1958), #8 (1958) (Dell)
  • Tom & Jerry's Summer Fun #1 (1954), #2 (1955) (Dell)
  • Tom and Jerry #213 (1962), #231, #232 (1966), #258 (1971)
  • Golden Comics Digest #3, #5 (1969), #8 (1970), #18 (1971), #22, #25 (1972), #28 (1973), #41 (1975) (Gold Key Comics)
  • Tex Avery's Wolf and Red various issues (1995) (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel (1995) (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Tex Avery's Droopy various issues (1995) (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Comics and Stories various issues (1996) (Dark Horse Comics)

Some earlier comics style the character's name as "Skrewy Squirrel" or "Skrewy the Screwball Squirrel." Additional titles, not listed here, include the character in one-page gag or puzzle features.

Home media

Several Screwy Squirrel cartoons were released as bonus features on classic Warner Bros. titles including:

In March 2020, Screwball Squirrel, The Screwy Traunt, Big Heel-Watha and Lonesome Lenny were released on Blu-Ray, fully restored and uncut, by Warner Archive as part of Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1.[7]

References
  1. Markstein, Don. "Screwy Squirrel". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  2. Adamson, Joe, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, 1975, Da Capo Press
  3. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 134–135. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 288–290. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. Tim, Lawson (2004). The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-60473-685-4. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  6. "Screwy Squirrel". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  7. WBShop https://www.wbshop.com/collections/warner-archive-pre-orders/products/tex-avery-screwball-classics-volume-1-bd. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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