Blitz Wolf

This is a fairly slick propaganda film, with some pigs being a disinterested citizenry and the wolf being Hitler and the Germans. The third pig builds an armed fortress with bombs and guns. His bullet are war bonds. The wolf eventually meets some people who will become lifelong friends (and then some).

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.

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.

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.

'Blitz Wolf' is a terrific animated short made by Tex Avery. It is an anti-Nazi and anti-Hitler adaptation from 'Three Little Pigs'. The wolf, who walks like the Nazis and talks German, comes to the houses of the three pigs. The first two pigs lose their home but the third has made his house into a bunker with all kind of weapons. Together the three pigs fight the wolf.

This is a great little movie with some beautiful gags. The short itself gives some comments on the jokes, which makes it even funnier. Although it is pretty aggressive and therefore not really suitable for children, this Oscar-nominated cartoon is one of the better ones I have seen.