Tex Avery

Avery was born to Mary Augusta "Jessie" (née Bean; 1886–1931) and George Walton Avery (1867–1935) in Taylor, Texas.

His father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Chickasaw County, Mississippi.

Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor.

He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation.

His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.

He gained influence for his technical innovation, directorial style and brand of humor.

Avery's attitude toward animation was opposite that of Walt Disney and other conventional family cartoons at the time.

Avery's cartoons were known for their sarcastic, ironic, absurdist, irreverent, and sometimes sexual tone in nature.

They focused on sight gags, surrealist humor, rapid pacing, racial stereotypes, and violent humor, with wacky characters who broke the fourth wall.

Avery graduated in 1926 from North Dallas High School.

On January 1, 1928, Avery arrived in Los Angeles.

He spent the following months working in menial jobs.

According to animation historian Michael Barrier, these jobs included working in a warehouse, working on the docks at night, loading fruits and vegetables, and painting cars.

He began his animation career when hired by the Winkler studio (named after producer Margaret J. Winkler and later known as Screen Gems).

He was an inker, inking cels for animated short films in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series; the character had been created by Walt Disney.

Avery then moved to a new studio, Universal Cartoon Studios (later known as Walter Lantz Productions).

He was again employed as an inker, but moved rapidly up the studio's hierarchy.

By 1930, Avery had been promoted to the position of animator.

Avery continued working at the Walter Lantz Studio into the early 1930s.

He worked on most of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from 1931 to 1935.

He is shown as "animator" on the original title card credits on the Oswald cartoons.

He later claimed to have directed two cartoons during this time.

During some office horseplay at the Lantz studio, a thumbtack or paper clip flew into Avery's left eye and caused him to lose sight in that eye.

Some speculate it was his lack of depth perception that gave him his unique look at animation and bizarre directorial style, but it did not stop his creative career.

The incident is described in some detail by Barrier, based in part on old interviews with Avery.

Part of the typical crude horseplay at the Universal studio was using a rubber band or a paper spitball to target the back of a colleague's head.

An animator called Charles Hastings decided to take the game one step further, by using a wire paper clip instead.

Avery heard one of his colleagues telling him to look out.

He reacted by turning around.

Instead of the back of his head, the paper clip hit Avery in his left eye.

He instantly lost the use of his eye.

As an animator, Avery worked under director Bill Nolan.

Nolan reportedly delegated work to Avery, whenever Avery had to animate a sequence.

Nolan's instructions for a scene involving Oswald being chased by bees were reportedly simple.

He would describe in which direction Oswald was running ("right to left") and for how many feet.

The rest of the details were left up to Avery.

Avery started handing out work to other animators working under Nolan.

Avery wanted still greater control over the creative process and served as a de facto director for a couple of films.

A popular catchphrase at his school was "What's up, doc?", which he later used for Bugs Bunny in the 1940s.

Interested in becoming a newspaper cartoonist, he took a three-month summer course at the Chicago Art Institute but left after a month.