I sure hope you’ve seen at least one Tex Avery cartoon in your life — those classic shorts of the 1940s mostly, that feature exaggerated chaos and great voice acting. They all have the strong theme of nonstop visual comedy, that is the distinguishing hallmark sign of a Tex Avery cartoon. Every single second has something happening. Every cartoon doesn’t even give you time to wonder what’s going to happen next, because brother, it’s already happening. The slapstick has never been finer, and his humor influenced generations of cartoonists, and even his contemporaries got in on it. If you ever wince at an animated depiction of a crack in the teeth, gasp at outlandish overreactions of fear or lust, or sit there in puzzlement as you experience some extremely absurd mayhem, thank the angel of Tex Avery.
No. Upon second thought, I hope you’ve seen at least a few different Tex Avery cartoons because there are so many different kinds. Ol’ Tex is responsible for outrageous twists on fairy tales, incredibly horndog womanizing-as-comedy highlight reels with very little plot actually, murder mysteries, fourth-wall-breaking, anvil-related violence, dog-chases-cat, Droopy Dog, Screwy Squirrel, Chilly Willy the Penguin, and apparently even Daffy Duck and the personality of Bugs Bunny. He worked for Merrie Melodies, Looney Tunes, and the MGM Studios (except for Tom and Jerry cartoons, although I swear his kind of humor is all over those things.)
Aside from specific sight gags being my fave, I have always been partial to the House or Farm or Whatever of Tomorrow, Today! cartoons, and of course those weird ones showcasing the stars of the silver screen — the Hollywood Canteen type ones. In fact, I imagine that viewing those in my childhood is why you are reading Sneer Campaign today! It’s not that much of a stretch!
In the future, I will probably pay homage to those ones, but it wouldn’t be an Overindulgent Self Portrait if I gave myself plenty of time to do it! And it wouldn’t be Sneer Campaign if I didn’t set myself up for future glory by way of easy content. For now, enjoy this simple homage to our man, Tex Avery, cartoon genius.
I really hoped you expected me to draw us as the vampy gals that the wolves were always after instead of this equally as accurate depiction of us.