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Censored |
| This article is about a censored film, it is added in the Censored Films category. |
Blitz Wolf is a 1942 cartoon directed by Tex Avery.
Plot[]
The plot is a parody of the Three Little Pigs, told from a Second World War anti-German propaganda perspective. In this cartoon, the pigs go to war against Adolf Wolf (Adolf Hitler), who is set on invading their country, Pigmania. The two pigs who built their houses of straw and sticks claim they don't have to take precautions against the wolf, because they signed non-aggression pacts with him. The pig who built his house of stone, "Sergeant Pork" (an homage to Sergeant York), does take his precautions and outfits his house with defense machinery.
Adolf Wolf invades Pigmania, despite the two pigs protesting that he signed a treaty with them. He destroys their houses, whereupon the pigs flee to the third pig's house. Then the Wolf and pigs start fighting. Towards the end of the cartoon, Adolf Wolf is blown out of his bomber plane by the pigs' artillery shells filled with Defense bonds and falls down to Earth, together with a bomb which blows him to Hell. There he realizes he is dead and says: "Where am I? Have I been blown to... ?", whereupon a group of devils adds: "Ehhhh, it's a possibility!", in reference to a then well-known catchphrase by Jerry Colonna.
Availability[]
- (1993) LaserDisc - The Compleat Tex Avery, Side 1
- (2008) DVD - Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection: 15 Winners, 26 Nominees (Warner Bros.)
- (2010) DVD - Banned & Censored Cartoons: Volume II
- (2012) Blu-Ray/DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 3 (high-definition; Warner Bros.)
- (2021) Blu-ray - Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3 (restored; Warner Bros.)
Censorship[]
- When TNT aired this cartoon in the late 1980s, the Hitler Wolf's voice was redubbed and all scenes featuring subtitles to what he's saying were cropped out. The end card that reads, "If you buy a stamp or bond, we'll skin that skunk across the pond," was replaced with a generic MGM production card (not unlike the ones used in the Tom and Jerry cartoons or the other one-shot MGM cartoons).
- When this cartoon aired on Cartoon Network as part of its ToonHeads special about World War II cartoons, the Hitler Wolf's voice, the subtitles, and the end cards were left intact, but two anti-Japanese jokes were edited:
- The "No
DogsJaps" plaque outside the Third Little Pig's house had "Japs" digitally blurred out. - The long gag with the large gun originally ended with the gun blasting a shell to Tokyo and Tokyo exploding and sinking into the ocean. The Cartoon Network version cut that whole part and made it look like the pigs were aiming the gun at the Hitler Wolf's trench.
- The "No
Notes[]
- This was the first MGM cartoon with the yellow-red color scheme opening title.
- This cartoon is a WW2-themed parody of Disney's "Three Little Pigs" Silly Symphony.
- This was Tex Avery's first direction credit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although released first, the cartoon was actually finished after The Early Bird Dood It!, released only a week after Blitz Wolf.
- This is also the first time he's credited as "Tex" Avery, in the Looney Tunes shorts he directed, he's credited as "Fred Avery".
- Sergeant Pork is voiced by Pinto Colvig (better known for his role as Goofy), who voiced a similar character in Walt Disney's Three Little Pigs series.
- This is the only Tex Avery cartoon that Al Grandmain animated.
- The footage of Tanner's first roar is repeated several times to sync with the opening title theme's rendition of "Tiger Rag".
- This short was an Academy Award nominee, though it lost to another anti-Nazi cartoon, Der Fuhrer's Face (Disney).[3]
- This cartoon has a special ending card, rather than the 1942 Red THE END (and Bonds label) ending card. It reads:
THE END
OF
ADOLF
IF YOU BUY A STAMP OR BOND-
WE'LL SKIN THAT SKUNK ACROSS THE POND!
Gallery[]
Adolf Wolf in the straw house
