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.

Another 1942 Oscar nominee, another propaganda film, although perhaps this is all understandable given the period. This one retells the story of the 3 Little Pigs, with Adolf Wolf coming to destroy the houses of the pigs, who mostly are unprepared apart from the third pig who has built his house out of brick (as well as trenching around it and installing a battery of cannons on it too).

When I saw this film was from Tex Avery I was hoping it would be a little bit more than just simple flag-waving and to be fair mostly it is. It takes WWII motifs and puts them into the world of Tex Avery, with the style of animation and humor that we expect. The film opens with a disclaimer (or "claimer" I guess) which states that any similarity between the wolf and "that *&%$%!&* jerk Adolf" is entirely intentional and so it continues with Adolf Wolf getting a beating while the pigs defend their home. The humor is quite broad but mostly focused on making fun of Hitler, which is all fine and good. It is amusing even if it is a little disappointing when viewed next to the high standard of Avery at his best. The animation is good but of course there are the messages to be expected about buying war bonds and the usual racism towards the Japanese (and the sight of Tokyo wiped off the map with one good shell). All of this feels uncomfortable decades later of course, but is understandable in the context and at least is touched with Avery's humor so is a bit more palatable.

Overall, it is an enjoyable Tex Avery cartoon even if it is below the bar, but as a piece of American propaganda, at least it is touched with Avery's humor and style.

This cartoon short might be one of the best war-time propaganda pieces ever made, along with 'Der Fuehrer's Face' (Both were nominated for Best Animated Short at the Oscars, with the latter winning). As usual, Tex Avery's visual gags were wild, unruly, all over the place, and top-notch. I love the character design of the Hitler Wolf (though why is the moustache split? Why not draw him with the regular Charlie Chaplin? The inaccuracy of the moustache is the one thing that annoys me) (Also, Adolf is an amalgam of Adal Wulf "Noble Wolf", so the character was of course a no-brainer, but still clever in this context) and his "combat" with the Three Little Pigs (Lead by Sergeant Pork) using an arsenal of gags, goofs, and antics. I've lost count how many times I've watched this cartoon, and I can honestly say it's more well thought-out than most action movies, and a far more brilliant piece of American propaganda than the generic Lone Survivor/Black Hawk Down/American Sniper crap we have today. P.S. This cartoon was made in 1942, and I know it's in reference to the Doolittle raid, but there's a scene where they wipe out Japan with a single bomb, which is oddly prescient the more you think about it.

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.