Screwball Squirrel
Screwball Squirrel
| 01 April 1944 (USA)
Screwball Squirrel Trailers

A crazy squirrel provokes a dog into trying to catch him throughout the picture.

Reviews
Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
TheLittleSongbird Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'Screwball Squirrel' signals the first appearance of the short lived character of Screwy, and of his five cartoons it's one of his best. Despite being a compelling, much more anarchic than his sweet appearance and funny character, as well as being charismatic enough to carry his cartoons as a lead character (as he does here), it is somewhat easy to see why Screwy didn't click and didn't last long, being a brash character with few sympathetic qualities.Tex Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and humour style all over 'Screwball Squirrel'. The cartoon is wonderfully over-the-top, very creative in its violent nature and some of it is hilarious, avoiding the potential trap of being too cutesy despite the opening.'Screwball Squirrel' as always with Avery is beautifully animated. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.Voice acting is very good. The ending is a little too sadistic for my tastes, one really hates the uncalled for treatment of the cute squirrel at the hands of Screwy and the dog.Otherwise, this is great. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Screwball Squirrel" is an animated short film from 1944, so two more years until this one has its 75th anniversary. Of course, the name "cartoon" is more accurate as it runs for slightly over 7 minutes as they usually did/do and the name of director Tex Avery is inevitably linked to the Golden Age of Cartoons back then. It's a production by MGM and looking at the production companies Hanna Barbera were also involved. I believe this is the very first of several cartoons starring Screwy Squirrel and probably also the most famous. Still, even if this cartoons is still relatively well-known today, I believe it is for a reason that Screwy has long been forgotten by almost everybody. I believe that reason is that this simply was not a funny watch by any means. There are many interesting ways in which the animators played with the audience, not just from the visual side, but also from the audible side. What we hear as soundtrack or sound effects is referenced in the film on more than one occasions. I think this is a good watch for aspiring animators because it is as fast as it is witty and creative. But it simply isn't fun really unfortunately compared to many other works by WB or Disney from that times, works that may not have been as intelligent as this one here, but were 5 times more entertaining. The train scene at the very end is the perfect example. It's just nothing remotely memorable at all when they were trying to go for fun for once. It's your choice what you prefer. I myself give this one a cautious thumbs-up. It is probably worth seeing. But just once.
Seamus2829 This was the first appearance of Screwy Squirrel, and like most of Tex Avery's animated shorts for Fred Quimby at M-G-M, filled with sight gags aplenty,along with the usual kinetic pacing that put Avery on the map. Screwy wasn't as popular as some of the other cartoon characters of the period (let's face it---Screwy is little more than Avery's answer to Bugs Bunny,like Woody Woodpecker was Walter Lanz's answer to Bugs). This short begins looking like it's going to be yet another 'Happy Harmony' short (M-G-M's answer to Disney's 'Silly Symphony' shorts,complete with cutsy woodland creatures & plots that can bring on diabetic shock),but this is flushed down the crapper fast, once Screwy makes his debut. Screwy manages to taunt a bloodhound (known as Meathead)for almost all of the short (with some pretty sadistic,but funny results). Toss in a sprinkle of Avery's use of surrealism, and you have yourself a laugh fest. Aired at various times on Cartoon Network's sister station, Boomerang, or on one of several early M-G-M Avery DVD's.
MartinHafer This is the first of several Screwball Squirrel cartoons. It's a real shame that this Tex Avery character never really took off, as I would have really loved to see more.The cartoon begins with a cute little squirrel talking about the film and all his friends in the forest. Screwball then walks him away from the camera and beats the stuffing out of him and takes over the cartoon. He then phones and insults a bird dog so that through the rest of the film this hapless dog gets tortured repeatedly by Screwball. The film ends with the appearance of the same cute squirrel and BOTH Screwball and the dog pummel him! The film is great because of all the Tex Avery touches--great over-the-top sight gags (such as catching the street car inside the tree) and the completely surreal aspects of the film. While it's not the best Avery cartoon (that might be SWINGSHIFT Cinderella), it is pure vintage Avery and fun for everyone but complete stick-in-the-muds.