Getting Tex Avery's Goat

Hurrah, I say, to the new generation of animation researchers. They deal in facts, not connecting dots based on wishful thinking. Even long-time cartoon fans like me learn something and I’m always impressed with what they find.

Some time ago, Thad Komorowski posted a list of production numbers of MGM cartoons. There are lots of items of interest here, among them are cartoons that never got made.

He has one entry that reads:

261: BILLY THE KID (rejected) – Lundy

That’s the only information. It doesn’t say why it was rejected or how far into production it got.

Enter fine young animation researcher Devon Baxter.

I’m never sure where Devon finds things, but he recently posted model sheets from this cartoon, so we know it got that far.



Unfortunately, there’s no date on this, but you can see it’s yet another Dick Lundy-Jack Cosgriff-Heck Allen short where Barney Bear has to deal with a small animal that does what it wants (like head-butting into Barney’s butt). If you’ve seen one, well, you know the saying.

But those of you who know your MGM cartoons are likely saying “Hey, that goat! Tex Avery made a cartoon with a little goat!”

Of course, you would be correct. Billy Boy was released in 1954.

Thanks to Thad, we can give you a bit of a timeline.

Lundy directed two more cartoons after Billy the Kid was proposed for production—Sleepy Time Squirrel (Production 263) and Bird Brain Dog (Production 265). Then Avery returned from a “sabbatical” in October 1951 and Lundy’s services were no longer required. His first new cartoon was Little Johnny Jet (Production 267). His next short, Three Little Pups (Production 269) featured the Southern wolf who survived when Mike Lah was hired to direct after Avery’s unit was disbanded. The wolf was borrowed (in attitude and voice) by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera when they came up with Huckleberry Hound in 1958.

Billy Boy was Production 272. The goat’s horns and legs in this cartoon are smaller than in the proposed Lundy short. He is obviously younger than Barney’s antagonist. But is there any doubt one design is based on the other?



Heck Allen stuck around to write when Avery returned, but I can’t picture most of the gags in Tex’s cartoon being found in a Lundy cartoon. Avery, fortunately, eschewed making anything with Barney Bear. So instead of Paul Frees’ low mumble, we get Daws Butler with a bright, enthusiastic voice, which counter-balances all the crap the kid goat puts him through. The Exhibitor declared the cartoon "excellent" and "hilarious."

So, what happened? Did Avery go through a pile of story ideas and character designs left behind and figure he could salvage a good cartoon out of one?

Perhaps the new breed of animation researchers can find out the answers. They’re up to the task.