Blitz Wolf

I was amused by the way some of the humor was aimed clearly over the heads of the younger end of the audience - and maybe some of the not-so-young-anymore realized they understood some of the humor, but knew better than to spoil their younger friends' innocence. It was fun watching the two naive piggies taunting their more serious kin, "You're diggin' a ditch - " and then freezing for a couple of seconds as they let the audience fill in the rest of the ditty in their heads.

All in all, another excellent (and enjoyably over-the-top) Tex Avery creation. Though the wolf isn't as top-notch an incarnation of the enemy as some of the other war cartoons employed, it's well in keeping with the tone and background of this entry.

Very well done propaganda piece from the WWII era has the famous story of the three little pigs told with Hitler as the wolf. He's huffing and puffing away the straw and wood houses but then finds himself at war with the third piggies house, a bunker with hundreds of canons in it.

Amusing tale is well told, only to be slowed down by some silly gags with little posts here and there throughout the movie. For instance: when the first pig flees from his blown away house, it says 'gone with the wind', only to be followed by another sign: 'Corny gag, isn't it'. Yes, it sure is!

But overall this short is loads of fun and way better than comparable ones from that time, so if you have a chance of catching this: please do!

7/10.

We all love to make fun of Adolf Hitler. He's the sort of political figure who's tailor-made for caricature, as Charles Chaplin discovered with 'The Great Dictator (1940).' But it also happens that he was a monster, one whose success spawned the most devastating conflict the human race has ever known. So it's with some uncertainty that comedy and propaganda combine in Tex Avery's 'Blitz Wolf (1942).' That same year, Jack Kinney's 'Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)' won an Oscar for showing Donald Duck's miserable life in "Nutzi" land, where he is continually battered into submission by the machinery of fascism, but Avery's cartoon is rather more open about its hatred towards Germany's leader. An opening title mocks convention by declaring that "the wolf in this photoplay is NOT fictitious. Any similarity between this Wolf and that (*!!*!) jerk Hitler is purely intentional!" Thus, the knives are sharpened, and Adolf Hitler's animated counterpart is about to receive his due.

'Blitz Wolf' is styled around the tale of the Three Little Pigs (particularly the 1933 Disney Silly Symphony) – certainly the most offbeat version of the story you'll ever see – with the Big Bad Wolf having attained a characteristic moustache and a distinctive German accent. The first two pigs, having misguidedly entered into a peace treaty with the Wolf, are surprised to have their homes destroyed by his armies (this Wolf is too weak and cowardly to blow down houses himself, and instead uses mechanical beasts to do his dirty work). The third pig, his home a veritable steel fortress (a sign announcing "No dogs/Japs allowed!"), urges his brothers to help fight their collective enemy, both in combat and by purchasing war bonds. Not surprisingly, the remainder of the film consists of the Hitler-Wolf being continually shot and blasted from all angles, until he eventually wakes to find himself in the fiery dungeons of Hell. It gets a little bit repetitive, but, of course, Hitler deserves to be exploded as many times as possible.

Whereas I found 'Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)' to be a highly rewatchable cartoon, even nearly seventy years later, Avery's take on Nazism isn't quite so fresh. There are some excellent word gags, such as a title on the Wolf's tank reading "Der Fewer (Der Better)," but there are also some self-referential signs that may elicit a disbelieving groan: "Gone with the Wind" when the first pig's house is blown away (despite the animators' acknowledgement of its corniness) and "Long darn thing, isn't it?" when we can clearly already see that the pigs' weaponry is rather lengthy. For the adults, there's also plenty of mischievous sexual innuendo at play, particularly in the comparisons made between the length of each army's cannons. One gag, with a suddenly-limp American cannon being rejuvenated by a dosage of Vitamin B1, was certainly more forward than I'm used to from 1940s children's cartoons. Overall, 'Blitz Wolf' is not the most intelligent of animated shorts, but it's an interesting historical document, and a bit of fun, too.

It was funny at how it mocked Disney's "The Three Little Pigs" (especially since the voice of the third little pig was the same as the one in the Disney version), it is very dated however due to the wolf being modeled after Adolf Hitler. I just saw this cartoon a few days ago and I laughed my butt off! I have to admit Tex Avery knew what to do to make a cartoon funny.

Had it not been for Disney's Der Fuehrer's Face, this probably would have won the Oscar. As Disney does not show the cartoon, probably because of unflinching content (I wish they'd release it on video. Cartoons aren't just for kids!), I've only seen bits and pieces. But, happily, Blitz Wolf is available and it's great! Tex Avery happily rips Adolf up one side and down the other in an exceptionally good cartoon-even for the master! It's The Three Little Pigs meet Fascism. The villain outdoes the most evil villains in melodrama! Some of the jokes are dated and withot some knowledge of the 1940s, some of them will get by you, but this is an exceptional piece of animation as well as a marvelous example of propaganda in wartime. It's aged remarkably well and Tex Avery had every right to be proud. Most highly Recommended!