Screwy Squirrel


Screwy Squirrel is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is generally considered the wackiest and outright most antagonistic of the screwball cartoon characters of the 1940s.
Among the most outrageous cartoon characters ever created, Screwy can do almost anything to almost anyone: he pulls objects out of thin air, doubles himself, and constantly breaks the fourth wall, all the while uttering a characteristic cackling laugh. The character was not as successful as Avery's Droopy was at this time, and Screwy appeared in only five cartoons: Screwball Squirrel, Happy-Go-Nutty, Big Heel-Watha, The Screwy Truant, and Lonesome Lenny.
The character was known for being brash and erratic, with few sympathetic personality characteristics such as Bugs Bunny's nobility or Daffy Duck's pathos. Most of his cartoons revolve around him inflicting various forms of torture on his enemy for seven minutes. In The Screwy Truant, Screwy hits a dog across the head with everything he can find in a trunk labeled "Assorted Swell Stuff to Hit Dog on Head". When he finishes, the dog remarks, "Gee whiz! He hit me with :Wiktionary: everything but the kitchen sink|everything but the kitchen sink!" Screwy responds with, "Well, don't want to disappoint you, chum," then pulls out that very item and bashes him over the head with it.

History

The final cartoon in the series, Lonesome Lenny, ended with a joking reference to indicate that Screwy had been killed off by his antagonist, who had crushed him and commented: "You know, I had a little friend once, but he don't move no more."
Meathead Dog makes a cameo appearance in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He is seen sniffing around at R. K. Maroon's Cartoon Studio in the film's beginning. Screwy is also mockingly mentioned as one of Eddie Valiant's bar patrons by Angelo: "Who's your client, Mr. Detective of the Stars? Chilly Willy, or Screwy Squirrel?"
Hanna-Barbera resurrected Screwy in new animation for the Droopy, Master Detective saturday morning cartoon on Fox Kids in 1993. These new cartoons featured the character's name as Screwball—never Screwy—and pitted him not against Meathead, but a pair of typical Hanna-Barbera authority figures, human park attendant Dweeble and his oafish dog Rumply. "Screwball" himself wore a T-shirt and, much of the time, a Napoleon hat.
On April Fools' Day 1997, Cartoon Network ran an edited version of the 1944 Screwy Squirrel cartoon Happy-Go-Nutty repeatedly from 6 AM to 6 PM, as part of an April Fool's joke that the cartoon character had taken over the channel.
In 2013, both Meathead and Screwy Squirrel make appearances as residents of "Fairy Land" in Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure retaining most of their traits. Screwy Squirrel was voiced by Paul Reubens and Meathead is voiced by John DiMaggio.
In 2019, Screwy Squirrel makes an appearance as a landlord of an apartment building called Screwy Arms Apartments, in the third season of The Tom and Jerry Show episode called "Double Dog Trouble". He also makes various cameos in the series. Screwy is voiced by Sean Kenin.

Voice actors

Comics

List of comics appearances

Some earlier comics style the character's name as "Skrewy Squirrel" or "Skrewy the Screwball Squirrel." Additional titles, not listed here, include the character in one-page gag or puzzle features.

Home media

Several Screwy Squirrel cartoons were released as bonus features on classic Warner Bros. titles including:
In March 2020, Screwball Squirrel, The Screwy Traunt, Big Heel-Watha and Lonesome Lenny were released on Blu-Ray, fully restored and uncut, by Warner Archive as part of Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1.