Screwy Squirrel is skipping school to go fishing. Truant officer dog is hot on his tail. It's not an easy chase. This is Tex Avery doing an MGM cartoon short. Screwy Squirrel is basically Bugs Bunny without his nice personality or Deadpool without his charms. He's not my favorite character but he works in this one. I love the irreverent turns and breaking conventions. I like this despite Screwy.
13 Reviews
Tex Avery's Twisted Tales
Bill-162 January 2021
First thing that caught my attention was that my dad was fighting in the Pacific WWII when this was released. Things where not going well over there, but America still has to laugh. Right?
The violence and incredibly dizzying speedy scene changes are pure Tex Avery. There is no limit in animation and Tex pushed every limit. The Screwy Truant doesn't push too hard, but I could not hold in the laughs as I watch it today, probably 55yrs since I first saw it. Truant Officer sure had a thick skull. Take my word.
When you take the time to look up the numbers . . .
tadpole-596-9182564 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
. . . you'll learn that measles--the dread disease lampooned at the close of 1945's THE SCREWY TRUANT--was killing EIGHT MILLION kids annually during each year of the 1940's. Yup, for viewers unfamiliar with historical numbers, that's actually MORE than the annual tally of Old Testament People that the Fuhrer was infamously eradicating at the same time. Probably the tone-deaf director of this misfiring film made what he thought was a funny cartoon about THAT, too. This jerk had recently been fired from America's pro-Freedom Hero movie studio, Warner Brothers, and had found refuge with one of the Quisling outfits crowding Tinsel Town's tawdry "Poverty Row." Even Today, some benighted individuals try to twist the facts and find "humor" in this deviant's doodles. These tend to be the same enemies of Democracy who got a chuckle out of the Capitol Riot. I guess it takes all kinds.
Yeah, I Agree: This Is The Best Of The Screwy Squirrel 'Toons I've Seen
ccthemovieman-18 July 2007
This was my second look at the "Screwy Squirrel" character of the mid 1940s, a character invented by the great Tex Avery and writer Heck Allen. Only five cartoons featuring this squirrel were made. That's too bad, because this humor is just pure genius.
The sight gags almost from the start are absolutely fantastic. The dumb dog I saw in the first Screwy cartoon is now the "villain," as truant officers are always the bad guys, aren't they? Of course, the squirrel's attitude is pure juvenile delinquent. The opening scene has Screwy outside the school house and telling us, the audience, "Can you imagine those chumps going to school on a nice day like this?"
Screwy may not be Avery's super-nice little "Droopy," but he is just as fascinating to watch and a great vehicle for laughs and because he's different, I appreciated the character. It's almost refreshing to see a wise-guy "good guy," just for variety sake. His violent nature, however, is sometimes shocking. This squirrel is a killer!
I don't know if all the Screwy cartoons as good as this one, but it is the best of the three I've seen, just squeaking out "Lonesome Lenny," which also was outstanding. Reviewers here mainly think this is the best of the SS cartoons, and I wouldn't argue with that.
I also have to believe that audiences back in 1945 had never quite seen the inventive tricks that Avery and Heck played in here. This is a wild, outrageous cartoon and I can't rate it high enough! Great stuff!
The sight gags almost from the start are absolutely fantastic. The dumb dog I saw in the first Screwy cartoon is now the "villain," as truant officers are always the bad guys, aren't they? Of course, the squirrel's attitude is pure juvenile delinquent. The opening scene has Screwy outside the school house and telling us, the audience, "Can you imagine those chumps going to school on a nice day like this?"
Screwy may not be Avery's super-nice little "Droopy," but he is just as fascinating to watch and a great vehicle for laughs and because he's different, I appreciated the character. It's almost refreshing to see a wise-guy "good guy," just for variety sake. His violent nature, however, is sometimes shocking. This squirrel is a killer!
I don't know if all the Screwy cartoons as good as this one, but it is the best of the three I've seen, just squeaking out "Lonesome Lenny," which also was outstanding. Reviewers here mainly think this is the best of the SS cartoons, and I wouldn't argue with that.
I also have to believe that audiences back in 1945 had never quite seen the inventive tricks that Avery and Heck played in here. This is a wild, outrageous cartoon and I can't rate it high enough! Great stuff!
As good a Screwy gets
Squonk10 November 1999
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't really care for the character of Screwy Squirrel. Of all of Tex Avery's wonderful cartoon creations, he is the one I could really do without. That being said, The Screwy Truant has to be one of, if not the best cartoon featuring this extremely annoying character. In this one Screwy is chased by a truant officer dog. The result is some very funny gags that remain fresh due to the fact that they have not been over used in other cartoons. My favorite bit involves Red Riding Hood and the Wolf getting lost in the wrong cartoon.
Screwy and the truant officer
TheLittleSongbird8 September 2017
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. Of the five Screwy Squirrel cartoons, it's 'The Screwy Truant' that's my favourite despite loving the previous three cartoons almost as equally. After 'Big-Wheel-Watha', which is the most tame of the Screwy cartoons but still manages to be great, 'The Screwy Truant' is back to being very violent. It's perhaps the most violent Screwy cartoon, and pretty relentless at it, but not in a way that's sadistic or stomach-churning.
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. As one can guess, while one can see why others find him annoying, he's never been a problem with me. It was great and refreshing to see a dog in a different more authoritative role.
Tex Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it once again.
Furthermore, 'The Screwy Truant' is once again wonderfully over-the-top, very creative in its violent tone and some of it is hilarious, with enough variety to stop it from being repetitious. The box and the Little Red Riding Hood characters getting lost gags are particularly strong.
It's beautifully and brilliantly animated as usual. 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.
Overall, absolutely wonderful and my favourite of the overall truly great and under-appreciated Screwy Squirrel series. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. Of the five Screwy Squirrel cartoons, it's 'The Screwy Truant' that's my favourite despite loving the previous three cartoons almost as equally. After 'Big-Wheel-Watha', which is the most tame of the Screwy cartoons but still manages to be great, 'The Screwy Truant' is back to being very violent. It's perhaps the most violent Screwy cartoon, and pretty relentless at it, but not in a way that's sadistic or stomach-churning.
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. As one can guess, while one can see why others find him annoying, he's never been a problem with me. It was great and refreshing to see a dog in a different more authoritative role.
Tex Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it once again.
Furthermore, 'The Screwy Truant' is once again wonderfully over-the-top, very creative in its violent tone and some of it is hilarious, with enough variety to stop it from being repetitious. The box and the Little Red Riding Hood characters getting lost gags are particularly strong.
It's beautifully and brilliantly animated as usual. 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.
Overall, absolutely wonderful and my favourite of the overall truly great and under-appreciated Screwy Squirrel series. 10/10 Bethany Cox
The very best of the Screwy Squirrel cartoons and vintage Avery
llltdesq21 February 2001
This is the best of the Screwy Squirrel shorts. I am convinced that Tex Avery wanted to design the prototypical Avery character, did so, then revved it up about 180 RPM faster and Screwy was born! Screwy's motto seems to be,"Let's not push the limits-destroy them instead!" To say he is outside the rules is to mistakenly believe that he admits the rules even exist! Sight gags come fast and furious with Screwy and even the form and nature of conventional cartooning isn't safe! Tex Avery was a mad genius! Actually, that last is a redundancy or there is no such thing! The final frame and it's a strike! A perfect game! Most recommended.
Screwball's back and skipping school!
Captain_Couth5 November 2004
The Screwy Truant (1945) follows the further exploits of one Screwball Squirel! This time his out playing hooky from school. Whilst he's enjoying himself, a real stupid Truant officer spends the whole day trying to catch the wayward Squirrel and drag him back to school. But the wacky Squirrel has other plans and does everything within his power to try and stop the dopey officer and enjoy his day out in the forest. Will Screwy get the day off or will the moronic Truant Officer drag him back into the classroom? Check it out!
Tex Avery has created another classic short. That's what I like about Screwball Squirrel. He left everyone wanting more. At
the right time (before it got stale) he decided to end the lifeline of the character. It was fun while it lasted however. Long live Screwball Squirrel!
A+
Tex Avery has created another classic short. That's what I like about Screwball Squirrel. He left everyone wanting more. At
the right time (before it got stale) he decided to end the lifeline of the character. It was fun while it lasted however. Long live Screwball Squirrel!
A+
The Screwy Truant is hilarious Tex Avery cartoon from MGM
tavm7 June 2007
When I was a kid watching the Tom and Jerry show on weekday afternoons in the late '70s and early '80s, I watched most of the cartoons they aired that was from the '40s including those starring Droopy or Barney Bear. For some reason, however, they never either showed or I never saw any Screwy Squirrel cartoons made during the same time. So The Screwy Truant is the very first one starring this admittedly unappealing, both visually and personality-wise, character I've ever seen. Despite that, I loved the "everything but the kitchen sink" (actually, don't think too much about that one) humor of the entire premise of the title character playing hooky and getting chased by the truant officer with all the fast-paced wackiness you can only expect from the one and only Tex Avery. Absolutely nothing is sacred, certainly not "Little Red Riding Hood" or jokes related to WWII air raid uniforms. So to anyone who loves great animation and great laughs, The Screwy Truant is for you!
I Like Screwy Squirrel. He's Silly
boblipton14 December 2019
Screwy Squirrel plays hooky to go fishing, but the truant officer dog pursues him, and receives a series of Tex Avery battering for his troubles in one of the best of the series of cartoons he directed at MGM.
There are the usual wild series of Tex Avery gags in this one, including one in which the Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood shows up, and the Squirrel pulls down the credits to show him he's in the wrong movie. There's a lot more story, including a resolution for this one; often Avery's wilder movies just continued until they ran out of gags.
Henry Wilson "Heck" Allen is credited as the writer for this one. He claimed that he served solely as a sounding board for Avery, but it's surely no coincidence that Avery's best cartoons at MGM usually had Allen for a writer. Allen would go on to write about fifty western novels under pseudonyms, beginning in 1950. He died in 1991, aged 79.
There are the usual wild series of Tex Avery gags in this one, including one in which the Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood shows up, and the Squirrel pulls down the credits to show him he's in the wrong movie. There's a lot more story, including a resolution for this one; often Avery's wilder movies just continued until they ran out of gags.
Henry Wilson "Heck" Allen is credited as the writer for this one. He claimed that he served solely as a sounding board for Avery, but it's surely no coincidence that Avery's best cartoons at MGM usually had Allen for a writer. Allen would go on to write about fifty western novels under pseudonyms, beginning in 1950. He died in 1991, aged 79.
He Must Have Been Paid a Lot
Hitchcoc12 October 2021
The most interesting character in this cartoon is the truant officer. Tex Avery gave him monumental abilities. But they do him no good against the impish squirrel. He counters every effort the officer makes to drag him off to school. Really, would one like to be in the same room with Screwy? It's a pretty well made little effort.
Funniest ever!
PorridgeBird7 January 2003
The Screwball Squirrel cartoons are never favored for the annoying character. Rather, Screwball cartoons use some of Tex Avery's best gags. "The Screwy Truant" is a good example. In the course of the seven-minute short, Screwball spends time running away from the Truant Officer who is trying to get him into school. Along the way, there are characters lost in the wrong cartoon, the greatest of the sequences where the characters go in and out of doors in a hallway, and my personal favorite, the character finding a box simply labeled "Things to Hit (insert name of antagonist) With" followed by everything but the kitchen sink (well... never mind.)
Among Tex Avery's best
planktonrules9 January 2022
During the 1940s and 50s, Tex Avery made many of the best and weirdest cartoons. One of his most manic and strange creations was Screwy Squirrel...who I absolutely love. Oddly, however, he only appeared in five shorts. So, either the studio had little faith in him or, inexplicably, the public didn't take to him. It's a real shame, as these cartoons are among the funniest and most manic cartoons of the era. Most of this is because Screwy often breaks the fourth wall and his antics make Bugs Bunny seem VERY tame by comparison.
In this short, Screwy is truant from school and Meathead the Dog chases him through the course of the film. Ultimately, Screwy's absence from school is explained...and Meathead is defeated once again.
This cartoon really defies explanation....you just have to see the zaniness to believe it. But it's nonstop action and weirdness...and is sure to make you smile.
In this short, Screwy is truant from school and Meathead the Dog chases him through the course of the film. Ultimately, Screwy's absence from school is explained...and Meathead is defeated once again.
This cartoon really defies explanation....you just have to see the zaniness to believe it. But it's nonstop action and weirdness...and is sure to make you smile.
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