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

Marcus Geebs I think that screwball squirrel was a really funny character,he's a orange squirrel that talks like he has a cold,this cartoon is similar to tom and jerry because this dog that screwball calls meat head is always chasing him and screwball would always beat the living crap out of him with baseball bats and all sorts of objects that can be used as weapons.For a cartoon that was released in the 1940's it's really hilarious and more funny than them crappy cartoons they show today.Tex Avery the creator of this cartoon made a whole lot of funny cartoons during the same time,but i find this one to bee the funniest,it's a shame that he didn't continue with this funny cartoon character this cartoon only had about 4 or 5 episodes than went off the air. Screwball Squirrel is such a underrated cartoon character,but is unforgettable.

tedg I'm interested in how we imagine as a society, so study movies. I'm increasingly convinced that many of the cleverest folding ideas were introduced first through shorts, specifically cartoons. They were cheaper to produce and wouldn't drag down the bill if they failed.1944 is a bit late in the game for the history of folding, so the experiments have to be outrageous.This is. Superficially, it is a chase cartoon where the plucky small creature outwits and pummels the bigger, dumber one. I understand that the form was mandated by funders. Ignore it.Much more interesting is how Tex wrapped that in a selfaware perspective.It starts with a fight for control of the cartoon, one character saying: "what kind of cartoon is this anyway?"Midway in the chase, the little guy — the squirrel — asks what the next scene will be, and literally lifts the page to see the cartoon underneath.Near the end, the big dumb guy says that he's had enough and the cartoon is over. That shrinking iris effect begins, but the little guy begs for some more time. He makes a promise which is of course broken.At the real end of the thing, the little guy comes on stage to talk to the audience and reveals that he was able to perform all those tricks because he had a twin. The final joke is that the big dog had one too (about which the screwy squirrel was unaware.)Important stuff. Funny, engaging.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

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.