The Screwy Truant Explained

Director:Tex Avery
Story:Heck Allen
Layout Artist:Claude Smith
Music:Scott Bradley
Producer:Fred Quimby
Studio:MGM cartoon studio
Distributor:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Released:[1]
Color Process:Technicolor
Runtime:7 minutes
Language:English

The Screwy Truant is a 1945 Screwy Squirrel cartoon directed by Tex Avery and released by MGM.[2]

Summary

The cartoon centers around an adolescent version of Screwy Squirrel, who skips school to go fishing, which causes truant officer Meathead Dog (here seen with a different color palette but otherwise the same) to go around attempting to arrest Screwy, with various failures. At the end, Meathead finally catches Screwy and demands to know why he is not in school. Screwy tells him the reason is because he has measles, much to the horror of Meathead, who has now contracted measles from him.

Voice cast

Cameo

Tex Avery's versions of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf (from Swing Shift Cinderella) make a cameo appearance. In the middle of the cartoon, the two characters interrupt one of Screwy's antics with "Wolfie" chasing Little Red Riding Hood across the screen, only for Screwy to interrupt that action by showing the wolf the title of the cartoon and informing him that he is in the wrong "picture". Swing Shift Cinderella would not premiere until seven months after the release of The Screwy Truant,[4] so it could be inferred that its script was still being written at the time and Avery wanted to provide theater audiences with a "teaser" for that upcoming short.

Home media releases

The Screwy Truant was released on LaserDisc by MGM Home Entertainment as part of All This and Tex Avery Too! in 1992 and The Compleat Tex Avery in 1993.[5] It was released on Blu-ray by Warner Archive Collection as part of Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1 on February 18, 2020.[6]

Notes and References

  1. February 17, 1945 . Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer—One Reel 1943–44 . . . C . . 2023-01-27.
  2. Book: Lenburg . Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons . 1999 . Checkmark Books . 0-8160-3831-7 . 134–135.
  3. Web site: "Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company . CartoonResearch.com . 2020-02-12.
  4. August 18, 1945 . Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer—One Reel 1944–45 . . . C . . 2023-01-27.
  5. Daly . Steve . March 19, 1993 . The Compleat Tex Avery . . 2024-07-02.
  6. Web site: Amidi . Amid . January 21, 2020 . The Tex Avery Blu-Ray Will Be Out February 18. Here's What's on It. . . 2024-07-02.