Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was born Feberuary 26 1908 in Taylor Texas. He showed an interest in art from an early age. The catchphrase of his school was "What's up doc?" which he would use in his later career.
When he completed schooling, he went to Los Angeles. After a series of menial jobs, he ended up as an inker at the Winkler studios, where he worked on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He subsequently moved to the Walter Lantz Studios, where he was promoted to animator. During some horseplay at the studio, a pin entered his left eye, leaving him permanently blind in that eye.This didn't interfere with his career. In fact some suggest it helped his depth perception.Avery was given a lot of autonomy in how animated stories were developed.Disillusioned with his pay level, Avery lost interest in the work and was fired.
He got a job with Leon Schleisenger Productions (Later Warner Brothers Cartoons). Here he worked with Friz Freleng, Jack King and Chuck Jones. The principal character was Porky Pig in 1936 in Porky the Rainmaker. Avery re-designed Porky to make him more cute and he became very popular. He used this style on his future artwork. It contrasted with and competed with Walt Disney's style.
In 1937 he launched Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt. Elmer Fudd was introduced in Little Red Walking Hood in 1938. In 1939 a Daffy Duck style rabbit was created by another animator, Ben "Bugs" Hardaway. As the character developed, he became known as Bug's bunny. He received his own feature. A Wild Hare. This was a remake of Porky's Duck Hunt, but featuring the new star.
When Avery's idea of a series of talking animals, was turned down, he sold it to Paramount Studios. He then left Warners permanently to work at MGM under Fred Quimby in 1941. At MGM Avery was given more autonomy and reached his creative peak. His shows were all frenetic and at a breakneck pace. The backgrounds were richly coloured. In 1943 he introduced Droopy, who always succeeded in spite of the frenetic pace around him. He continued his volume of work, both developing this character and various themes on modernisation. In 1950 he took a break from the burden of work. In 1953 the entire unit was closed by MGM.
In 1954 he returned to Lantz Studios. He produced some successful material there. But his contract meant he earned very little for it. He then moved to Cascade studios where he focussed on making adverts for television.In the 1960 and 1970s he became withdrawn and depressed following the death of his son. From 1970 until his death in 1980 he became a writer for Hanna Barbera.