Blitz Wolf

'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.

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).

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.

These WWII propaganda cartoons are really interesting to me because of the history behind them-a look at the War Years. I have a few propaganda favorites from Disney, but this short is my favorite from MGM.

Well, to the nitty-gritty: "Blitz Wolf" is one of Avery's masterpieces, a wild satire of Adolf Hitler disguised as the story of "The Three Little Pigs." Fred Quimby allegedly told Avery to be careful when caricaturing Adolf Hitler, saying, "After all, we don't know who's going to win the war!" The short was a great success and received a nomination for an Academy Award (one of Avery's six nominations). It lost to another excellent WWII propaganda cartoon, Walt Disney's "Der Fuehrer's Face," starring Donald Duck.

This short is also the first short Tex Avery directed and the first voice-acting role for Bill Thompson (Adolf Wolf).

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.