No Quiero ir a la Escuela

This was my second look at the "Screwy Squirrel" character of the mid 1940s, a character invented by the great Tex Avery and writer Heck Allen. Only five cartoons featuring this squirrel were made. That's too bad, because this humor is just pure genius.

The sight gags almost from the start are absolutely fantastic. The dumb dog I saw in the first Screwy cartoon is now the "villain," as truant officers are always the bad guys, aren't they? Of course, the squirrel's attitude is pure juvenile delinquent. The opening scene has Screwy outside the school house and telling us, the audience, "Can you imagine those chumps going to school on a nice day like this?"

Screwy may not be Avery's super-nice little "Droopy," but he is just as fascinating to watch and a great vehicle for laughs and because he's different, I appreciated the character. It's almost refreshing to see a wise-guy "good guy," just for variety sake. His violent nature, however, is sometimes shocking. This squirrel is a killer!

I don't know if all the Screwy cartoons as good as this one, but it is the best of the three I've seen, just squeaking out "Lonesome Lenny," which also was outstanding. Reviewers here mainly think this is the best of the SS cartoons, and I wouldn't argue with that.

I also have to believe that audiences back in 1945 had never quite seen the inventive tricks that Avery and Heck played in here. This is a wild, outrageous cartoon and I can't rate it high enough! Great stuff!