Can't See the Characters For the Trees

Tex Avery didn’t originate the “large body behind thin tree” gag, but he seems to have liked using it. All he and his gag writers had to do was find variations on it so it wouldn’t be stay.

Let’s see how he handled it in The Screwy Truant, a 1945 MGM release.

Here’s the basic gag.

Now, the variations.

Tex tries the body-parts-run-between-the-elms gag. The tail hops.

By now, Tex’s pace was fast enough that you didn’t have time to think about the gag.

Preston Blair, Ed Love and Ray Abrams are the animators.