Crashing Kitten

A poor abused kitten is toinged toward the ceiling by a bulldog in Tex Avery’s Bad Luck Blackie (is “toinged” a word).



The bulldog looks concerned about the fate of the kitten.



It’s all a ruse. His expression changes and the kitten splatters to the floor. The bulldog (played by Avery) lets out with a wheezy laugh. Somewhere else in the MGM studio, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera think “Hey, we can steal that from Tex and use it in a dog at our own studio someday.”



Rich Hogan assisted Avery with gags and the animation was by Preston Blair, Grant Simmons, Walt Clinton and Louie Schmitt, all of whom had worked at Disney before this. In 1949 Disney was filling the screen with Donald Duck squawking at Chip and Dale. The cartoon was re-released in 1957 and 1967, and even appeared in 1963 at the Chilliwack Drive-In about 20 miles from where I grew up.