List of films directed by Tex Avery
Tex Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor, and director. He became famous for producing animated cartoons during the Golden age of American animation and produced his most significant work while employed by the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. He created the characters of Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt (1937), Elmer Fudd in Egghead Rides Again (1937), Bugs Bunny in A Wild Hare (1940), Cecil Turtle in Tortoise Beats Hare (1941), Droopy in Dumb-Hounded (1943), Screwy Squirrel in Screwball Squirrel (1944), George and Junior in Henpecked Hoboes (1946), Spike/Butch the bulldog (Tex Avery's version) in Bad Luck Blackie (1949), and Smedley Dog in I'm Cold (1954). He developed the characters of Porky Pig from the Warner Bros. studio and Chilly Willy from the Walter Lantz Studio into the personas for which they are best remembered.
Avery first began his animation career at the Walter Lantz studio in the early 1930s, working on the majority of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from 1931-35. He is listed as "animator" on the original title card credits on the Oswald cartoons. He later claimed to have directed two cartoons during this time. By 1942, Avery was in the employ of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, working in their cartoon division under the supervision of Fred Quimby. At MGM, Avery's creativity reached its peak. A burnt-out Avery left MGM in 1953 to return to the Walter Lantz studio. Avery's return to the Lantz studio did not last long. He directed four cartoons in 1954-1955: the one-shots Crazy Mixed-Up Pup and Shh-h-h-h-h, and I'm Cold and The Legend of Rockabye Point, in which he defined the character of Chilly Willy the penguin.
Films directed or co-directed by Tex Avery
1935–1942: Warner Bros. era
As from 1935 - 1942, Tex Avery has directed some Leon Schlesinger Productions on Fridays to release through Warner Home Video on DVD.
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Gold Diggers of '49 | 1935 | In black and white. First cartoon by Tex Avery | |
Plane Dippy | 1936 | In black and white | |
Page Miss Glory | 1936 | First color cartoon by Tex Avery | |
The Blow Out | 1936 | In black and white | |
I'd Love to Take Orders from You | 1936 | ||
I Love to Singa | 1936 | ||
Porky the Rain Maker | 1936 | In black and white | |
The Village Smithy | 1936 | In black and white | |
Milk and Money | 1936 | In black and white | |
Don't Look Now | 1936 | ||
Porky the Wrestler | 1937 | In black and white | |
Picador Porky | 1937 | In black and white. First cartoon to have voices by Mel Blanc | |
I Only Have Eyes for You | 1937 | ||
Porky's Duck Hunt | 1937 | In black and white. First appearance of the character Daffy Duck
First cartoon when Mel Blanc does the voice of Porky Pig |
|
Uncle Tom's Bungalow | 1937 | Part of the Censored Eleven. | |
Ain't We Got Fun | 1937 | ||
Egghead Rides Again | 1937 | First appearance of the character Elmer Fudd as Egghead | |
A Sunbonnet Blue | 1937 | ||
Porky's Garden | 1937 | In black and white. Also in the public domain | |
I Wanna Be a Sailor | 1937 | In the public domain | |
Little Red Walking Hood | 1937 | ||
Daffy Duck & Egghead | 1938 | ||
The Sneezing Weasel | 1938 | ||
The Penguin Parade | 1938 | ||
The Isle of Pingo Pongo | 1938 | Part of the Censored Eleven | |
Cinderella Meets Fella | 1938 | ||
A Feud There Was | 1938 | First cartoon in which the name Elmer Fudd was employed | |
Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas | 1938 | ||
Daffy Duck in Hollywood | 1938 | Final Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Tex Avery | |
The Mice Will Play | 1938 | ||
Hamateur Night | 1939 | In the public domain | |
A Day at the Zoo | 1939 | In the public domain | |
Thugs with Dirty Mugs | 1939 | ||
Believe It or Else | 1939 | ||
Dangerous Dan McFoo | 1939 | ||
Detouring America | 1939 | ||
Land of the Midnight Fun | 1939 | ||
Fresh Fish | 1939 | ||
Screwball Football | 1939 | ||
The Early Worm Gets the Bird | 1940 | In the public domain | |
Cross-Country Detours | 1940 | ||
The Bear's Tale | 1940 | ||
A Gander at Mother Goose | 1940 | ||
Circus Today | 1940 | ||
A Wild Hare | 1940 | First appearance of the character Bugs Bunny | |
Ceiling Hero | 1940 | ||
Wacky Wild Life | 1940 | ||
Of Fox and Hounds | 1940 | ||
Holiday Highlights | 1940 | ||
The Crackpot Quail | 1941 | ||
The Haunted Mouse | 1941 | In black and white. In the public domain | |
Tortoise Beats Hare | 1941 | First appearance of the character Cecil Turtle | |
Hollywood Steps Out | 1941 | In the public domain | |
Porky's Preview | 1941 | In black and white. Also in the public domain
Final Porky Pig cartoon directed by Tex Avery |
|
The Heckling Hare | 1941 | ||
Aviation Vacation | 1941 | ||
All This and Rabbit Stew | 1941 | Part of the Censored Eleven and the only cartoon in the Censored Eleven to have a recurring character (Bugs Bunny)
Final Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Tex Avery until he started directing Kool Aid ads in the 1960s. Also in the public domain |
|
The Bug Parade | 1941 | Final cartoon directed by Tex Avery that he completed by himself | |
The Cagey Canary | 1941 | Planned, but completed by Bob Clampett | |
Aloha Hooey | 1942 | Planned, but completed by Bob Clampett | |
Crazy Cruise | 1942 | Planned, but completed by Bob Clampett |
1941–1944: Paramount era
All shorts are in live action and in black and white.
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Down on the Farm | 1941 | In the public domain | |
Speaking of Animals Down in a Pet Shop | 1941 | In the public domain | |
Speaking of Animals Down in the Zoo | 1941 | In the public domain |
1942–1957: MGM era
In 1942, Tex Avery directed MGM Cartoons. The first one was Blitz Wolf. He retired in 1957 after directing Cat's Meow the remake of Ventriloquist Cat from 1950.
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Blitz Wolf | 1942 | ||
The Early Bird Dood It! | 1942 | ||
Dumb-Hounded | 1943 | First appearance of the characters Droopy and Wolf | |
Red Hot Riding Hood | 1943 | First appearance of the character Red (Tex Avery) | |
Who Killed Who? | 1943 | ||
One Ham's Family | 1943 | ||
What's Buzzin' Buzzard | 1943 | ||
Screwball Squirrel | 1944 | First appearance of the character Screwy Squirrel | |
Batty Baseball | 1944 | ||
Happy-Go-Nutty | 1944 | ||
Big Heel-Watha | 1944 | ||
The Screwy Truant | 1945 | ||
The Shooting of Dan McGoo | 1945 | ||
Jerky Turkey | 1945 | In the public domain | |
Swing Shift Cinderella | 1945 | ||
Wild and Woolfy | 1945 | ||
Lonesome Lenny | 1946 | ||
The Hick Chick | 1946 | ||
Northwest Hounded Police | 1946 | ||
Henpecked Hoboes | 1946 | First appearance of the characters George and Junior | |
Hound Hunters | 1947 | ||
Red Hot Rangers | 1947 | ||
Uncle Tom's Cabaña | 1947 | Rarely available due to racially stereotypical content | |
Slap Happy Lion | 1947 | ||
King-Size Canary | 1947 | ||
What Price Fleadom | 1948 | ||
Little 'Tinker | 1948 | ||
Half-Pint Pygmy | 1948 | Rarely available due to racially stereotypical content | |
Lucky Ducky | 1948 | ||
The Cat That Hated People | 1948 | ||
Bad Luck Blackie | 1949 | First appearance of the character Spike/Butch the bulldog (Tex Avery's version) | |
Señor Droopy | 1949 | First cartoon in which the character is named onscreen. | |
The House of Tomorrow | 1949 | ||
Doggone Tired | 1949 | In the public domain | |
Wags to Riches | 1949 | ||
Little Rural Riding Hood | 1949 | ||
Out-Foxed | 1949 | ||
The Counterfeit Cat | 1949 | ||
Ventriloquist Cat | 1950 | ||
The Cuckoo Clock | 1950 | ||
Garden Gopher | 1950 | ||
The Chump Champ | 1950 | ||
The Peachy Cobbler | 1950 | Photo backgrounds | |
Cock-a-Doodle Dog | 1951 | ||
Daredevil Droopy | 1951 | ||
Droopy's Good Deed | 1951 | ||
Symphony in Slang | 1951 | ||
Car of Tomorrow | 1951 | ||
Droopy's Double Trouble | 1951 | ||
Magical Maestro | 1952 | ||
One Cab's Family | 1952 | ||
Rock-a-Bye Bear | 1952 | ||
Little Johnny Jet | 1953 | ||
T.V. of Tomorrow | 1953 | ||
The Three Little Pups | 1953 | Final live-action/animated cartoon | |
Drag-a-Long Droopy | 1954 | ||
Billy Boy | 1954 | ||
Homesteader Droopy | 1954 | ||
The Farm of Tomorrow | 1954 | ||
The Flea Circus | 1954 | ||
Dixieland Droopy | 1954 | ||
Field and Scream | 1955 | ||
The First Bad Man | 1955 | ||
Deputy Droopy | 1955 | ||
Cellbound | 1955 | ||
Millionaire Droopy | 1956 | Cinemascope remake of Wags to Riches (1949) | |
Cat's Meow | 1957 | Cinemascope remake of Ventriloquist Cat (1950)
Final cartoon directed by Tex Avery. He will go on to do TV commercials for most of his remaining years before passing away during early pre production of The Kwicky Koala Show in 1980 of which Tex Avery created |
1954–1955: Walter Lantz era
Title | Year | Notes | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|
Crazy Mixed Up Pup | 1954 | ||
I'm Cold | 1954 | First appearance of the character Smedley Dog | |
The Legend of Rockabye Point | 1955 | ||
Sh-h-h-h-h-h | 1955 |