Falling Meathead

Tex Avery got his gags across with economy. At MGM, he didn’t believe in excess dialogue and movement. Backgrounds were clean enough to see the characters (and the gags).

Here’s a scene from Screwball Squirrel (1944). All Screwy says is “Hands up!” The drawings tell the rest. Screwy is held; there’s no need for him to move. The background has no clutter. All the attention is on Meathead. When he’s out the picture, Screwy can go to from pose to pose to finish the gag.



Ed Love, Preston Blair and Ray Abrams are the animators, while Heck Allen worked with Avery on gags.