Tex Avery made The Blow Out in 1936 and it looks years ahead of what other Schlesinger directors were doing. There is an overhead shot to open things and perspective animation of a bat. Avery explores one of his themes he perfected in Northwest Hounded Police at MGM—the bad guy can’t escape from the good guy, no matter what he does.
Interestingly, the bad guy is played by a woman. It sounds like Martha Wentworth, using her witch voice from radio and the later Tom and Jerry cartoon Fraidy Cat (1942). Wentworth’s real voice can be heard as the woman giving Porky a penny. Joe Dougherty is Porky.
Avery even inspired the Schlesinger scorer to do more than churn out a piece of music with a woodblock on the off-beat. He gave the bad guy a theme. It’s J.S. Zamecnik’s “Treacherous Knave.” Hear it below.
Wouldn't be a surprise if it was early efforts like this by Avery -- taking a character from the "Beans Gang" and actually doing a funny cartoon -- that cause Schlesinger (or Henry Bender, or Ray Katz) to decide to jump Tex's unit over Jack King's LT unit to assist Friz with the color Merrie Melodies.
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