The Hick Chick

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. 'The Hick Chick' is not one of Avery's best, with a fairly weak and very predictable love triangle story that lacks the razor sharpness of his best work. It is nonetheless a long way from bad, actually it is still good. When Avery was not at his best he still fared much better than most other animation directors at their worst, some can only dream of having their best work on the same level as the masterpieces from Avery.

The characters are good fun, the two roosters and the chicken are both charming if slightly bland compared to most Avery creations but it's the bull who steals the show, pure classic Avery in characterisation. The work cannot be faulted.

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 impeccably timed and very funny, with Avery's style shining all over it, especially in the writing for the bull.

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.

To conclude, not a masterpiece but very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Tex Avery apparently liked using Red Skelton, or rather his characters and catchphrases, in his cartoons. In this one, "Lem Kadodlehopper" is Skelton's character, Clem Kadiddlehopper. The expressions, speech patterns, the whole bit. How Skelton felt about this, I don't know, but I suspect he took it in stride. Skelton was a popular source for animators, particularly the routine they borrowed from most, The Mean Widdle Kid. The catchprase, "If I dood it, I'll get a whippin'" is used often, in whole or in part. Actually, being parodied in cartoons is a compliment and an indication of popularity, because animators used things that audiences would easily recognize and enjoy, as an inside joke or a hook to get audiences into the cartoon. This cartoon is loaded with sight gags and has not one, but two, running gags. The one with the steer is more a Tex Avery kind of gag and is funnier, at least to me. The steer is also a typical Tex Avery character and has the best dialogue in the short. Worth watching. Recommended.

Country chicken Clem takes beautiful Daisy to a barn dance. That's when Charles, the slick villain with a big car, spots the beauty and the two compete for her. Charles takes Daisy to the big city.

It's a 6 min Tex Avery cartoon. This is very much his staple. It's the southern hick and his big city rival. It's fairly standard in its construction. The Clem character is the basic hick type. Some references are lost. Daisy should probably resist Charles so that she is more worthy for the rescue. It's very basic.

A slick rooster from the big city, Charles (whose voice is an impersonation of Charles Boyer) woos Clem's girl--winning her with promises to take her to New York and give her lots of clothes, clothes, clothes. She agrees but finds out he's nothing but a big dumb jerk. And, when Clem arrives in the city to reclaim her, Charles spends most of the picture punching Clem in the face. It's not exactly the deepest MGM cartoon I've ever seen, though Tex Avery's direction helps with this plot immensely. His goofy sense of humor and silly sound effects get the absolute most from the plot. While it's not one of Avery's better films, even a sub-par outing during his MGM era is a must-see! Well worth your time and if you don't enjoy this one you are probably dead!

Red-headed country rooster Clem courts country hen Daisy, until the city rooster talking like Charles Boyer comes by and steals her away; she immediately starts to talk like Katherine Hepburn.

Lots of sight gags, repeating gags, and general mayhem pepper this very funny Tex Avery cartoon written by Heck Allen. Peak post-war movie attendance and a budget that has not yet begun to be constrained by inflation lets Avery pile on the gags and visual oppulence of this one; and if it's not quite at the level of the Red cartoons, there's plenty to laugh at in this one, from the Red Skelton voices, to the bull that keeps having its skin pulled off to have the butchering diagram revealed.