Bad Luck Blackie

This short from 1949 was included from the early "Tom and Jerry" series the episode called "Bad Luck Blackie" was one of Tex Avery's best. The short was smart and clever. As the story moves with logic and makes sense and with a typical cartoon it has chase and action, it just doesn't have Tom cat or Jerry mouse in it. The story involves a bullied and tormented kitten who just can't escape the paws and jaws of a big unique laughing bulldog. Only things change when little kitty finds the services of a black cat named "Bad Luck Blackie". And on the side the trick is a piece of equipment that the cat carries that is a little whistle and with one blow the black cat crosses the big bulldog's path to save the day for little kitty. Things that drop from the sky to punish the bulldog are simple to far out from a flowerpot, to bigger items like a piano, a bomb and other things. The only short and slim luck the dog has is some white paint only the little kitten has learned the game and outsmarts the big dog! Really this short stayed true to the old myth of being aware and scared of crossing black cats. Overall well done short that's enjoyable and teaches a superstition like themed message!

Tex Avery strikes again with this funny little cartoon. It's about a little cat who's been bullied by a large bulldog, and so turns to the services of the "Black Cat Bad Luck Company," which offers "Paths Crossed - Guaranteed Bad Luck." As soon as the streetwise alley cat crosses the dog's path, a flower pot drops from the sky and knocks him out. Given a whistle, the little cat can summon help anytime - which he does, again and again. The gag is repetitive, but the variations on the theme are amusing, including the dog trying to reverse his fortunes with a horseshoe, getting his hands on the whistle, and using some white paint. The various ways his body contorts and how he runs along on two fingers are funny, but note there is one unfortunate Asian stereotype when he's gone up the chimney of an outdoor grill (mercifully it's very brief). Overall, quite entertaining.

This is perhaps Tex Avery's best cartoon, and it's because it has something one would not think of looking for in a cartoon, let alone one by Avery. That secret ingredient is logic. Yes, logic. This is a very logical cartoon, not because it presents realistic action (it certainly does not), but because the action - unreal as it is - follows a logical progression, and it's all the funnier for it. The cartoon has a very simple concept: a white kitten, harassed by a guffawing bulldog, hires the services of Bad Luck Blackie. With one blow of a whistle, Blackie crosses the bulldog's path and gives him bad luck - i.e., something drops from the sky and hits him on the head. The entire film is comprised of variations of this simple scenario, normal procedure for Avery. But rather than merely repeat the gag ad nauseam, Avery builds up the situation to a crescendo of outlandishness. With each scene, the objects become larger and more unlikely - from a simple flowerpot, to a piano, a lit bomb, a fire hydrant, and on and on until...let's just say that Avery doesn't stop at the proverbial kitchen sink. The dog tries to stop Blackie by any means necessary - good luck charms, setting traps - but always he succumbs to the inscrutable logic of the situation; whenever the whistle is blown, Blackie passes by and the dog gets conked. No matter who blows the whistle, no matter where the dog is, the result is always the same: whistle=black cat=conk! Finally, the dog gets the upper hand by applying some logic of his own. If a black cat causes bad luck, painting the cat white negates the effect, and that is just what he does. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true, so the kitten paints himself black and saves his hero and gets revenge on his tormentor at the same time. Anyone else would have ended the cartoon right then and there, but Avery gives us one more twist, one that is ridiculous, yet still in keeping with the logic established early on. (Think Pavlov) If this film teaches us anything (besides being kind to kittens and beware of black cats) is the importance of logic in cartoons. Avery isn't merely laying one gag after another. He is developing the situation, letting it build naturally to a satisfying conclusion. He sets up rules for his characters to follow and bends them without breaking them. The result may be irrational, but it is never illogical, and it's funny as hell.

This Tex Avery effort is virtually a crash course-pun intended-on how to make a Tex Avery cartoon. Take a wholly unsympathetic villain (in this case, a bully), add a victim ( a cute little kitten), show the bully in action and then set up a means for the bad guy to get what they deserve and then some, making certain that there's room for roughly 5,306 sight gags along the way. Tex Avery created or helped develop Bugs Bunny, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel and Chilly Willy, to name a few. Many of his cartoons centered around that basic outline, with some variation. Sight gags, sight gags and more sight gags. Most recommended.

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. 'Bad Luck Blackie' is another example of an animated masterpiece and one of his all time best. Like the best of Tex Avery, 'Bad Luck Blackie' is a cartoon of amazing quality, is very creative and hilarious, and has a potentially distasteful premise actually done inventively and tastefully.

The kitten is adorable and a character one roots for. The funnier and more interesting character though is the bulldog, who is both scarily formidable and hilarious. The voice work as to be expected is marvellous.

Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.

Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild and hilarious throughout from start to finish. The sight gags throughout are an absolute joy and are immaculate in timing.

It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail. 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.

Summing up, another Avery masterpiece. 10/10 Bethany Cox