User Reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Had it not been for Disney's Der Fuehrer's Face, this probably would have won the Oscar. As Disney does not show the cartoon, probably because of unflinching content (I wish they'd release it on video. Cartoons aren't just for kids!), I've only seen bits and pieces. But, happily, Blitz Wolf is available and it's great! Tex Avery happily rips Adolf up one side and down the other in an exceptionally good cartoon-even for the master! It's The Three Little Pigs meet Fascism. The villain outdoes the most evil villains in melodrama! Some of the jokes are dated and withot some knowledge of the 1940s, some of them will get by you, but this is an exceptional piece of animation as well as a marvelous example of propaganda in wartime. It's aged remarkably well and Tex Avery had every right to be proud. Most highly Recommended!

I was amused by the way some of the humor was aimed clearly over the heads of the younger end of the audience - and maybe some of the not-so-young-anymore realized they understood some of the humor, but knew better than to spoil their younger friends' innocence. It was fun watching the two naive piggies taunting their more serious kin, "You're diggin' a ditch - " and then freezing for a couple of seconds as they let the audience fill in the rest of the ditty in their heads.

All in all, another excellent (and enjoyably over-the-top) Tex Avery creation. Though the wolf isn't as top-notch an incarnation of the enemy as some of the other war cartoons employed, it's well in keeping with the tone and background of this entry.

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).

It was funny at how it mocked Disney's "The Three Little Pigs" (especially since the voice of the third little pig was the same as the one in the Disney version), it is very dated however due to the wolf being modeled after Adolf Hitler. I just saw this cartoon a few days ago and I laughed my butt off! I have to admit Tex Avery knew what to do to make a cartoon funny.

'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 my 1144th review for IMDb but the first I'll ever dedicate to a short film, not any short film, a cartoon, a Tex Avery cartoon, the first made for MGM in 1942 and whose title gives an obvious indication about the context of its making.

But first, a few words about the Master. Frederick Bean Avery (1908-1980), better known as Tex Avery, is certainly after Walt Disney the most influential animation director of history. And he's my personal hero. At a time where kids of my age were worshiping Nirvana, Michael Jackson and girls were drooling over Brad Pitt and then-two-hair-on-the-chin Leo, my personal idol was Uncle Tex (and his comic-book counterpart Marcel Gotlib but that's another story). Tex who? I used to hear, without any Internet to take me off the solitude zone.

But adults knew Tex Avery, his name became as famous as the cartoons he made, like a label, a guarantee of uninterrupted minutes of sheer hilarity, where the only interruptions consist on a little fourth-wall break or a sign generally ending with "'isn't it?". Basically, Tex Avery mastered comical timing and codified a form of humor that is still used today by animators, comedians and comedic directors. And while often perceived as the anti-Disney, I think he was more of a complement. Disney made movies for children, awaking in the process the inner child in every adult while Avery never believed animation was for kiddies. His genius lied on a simple but brilliant strategy: material aimed for adults can be enjoyed by children, not the opposite.

So, his cartoons definitely aimed an adult audience, as evidenced by his iconic creations. But "Blitz Wolf" doesn't feature the erotomaniac wolf, frenetically howling whenever he sees the gorgeous Red, the laconic Droopy and the sadistic Screwy Squirrel, but it has the wolf, thinly disguised as Adolf Hitler, but the wolf nonetheless. Of course it's propaganda but come on, we're talking about Hitler, and Avery opens with a disclaimer that should nip any comment in the bud, he clearly says: "The wolf in this photo-play is NOT fictitious, any similarity between that wolf and that (curse symbols) Hitler is purely intentional" then he adds a comment about a fake braking sound (meant to save rubber for the war effort) followed by "We ain't kiddin' brother".

No characters had yet appeared but the tone of Tex Avery was set. The man makes you laugh with writing, he acknowledges that the cartoon carries some political undertones but that doesn't prevent it from being one hilarious, exceptionally long (nine minute) masterpiece of modern animation, modern as it would distort the heritage of Disney and turn it into raunchy and adult material. The film is a variation on the Three Little Pigs story (one of Disney's darlings) and Avery had a unique talent to grab from fairy tales the true substance, the one that only the sophisticated and delightfully perverted mind of an adult can grab.

So we have our little pigs, the first two built their houses with the usual straw and wood, the practical one set himself in post-Pearl Harbor mode and built a real bunker, surrounded by trenches. His friend sing the "You're in the army now" and after "you're digging a ditch" the image freezes just long enough so our mind can fill the blank. And then the Wolf makes his spectacular entrance, befitting the Blitzkrieg war, he's followed by a long chain of tanks, one of them carries the "Good Rumor" sign and another "doesn't want to set the world on fire", quite thought-provoking for a cartoon.

Adolf Wolf, Der Fuerher (Der Better), raises his head and after a pause, turns at the audience then brandishes a sign "Go on and hiss, who cares?" he gets a tomato on his head. Avery made the cartoon with the audience in mind, he knew the effect the appearance of the wolf by recalling Hitler would create, but he blesses his characters with a sort of self-awareness that becomes a sort of bridge with the audience, it's like everyone is part of the same joke. What it also says is "I know we're supposed to hate that villain, but I won't make him more hateful than needed". One of the ironies of the film is that despite being a clear take on Hitler, this Wolf is more "sympathetic" than Disney's 'Big Bad Wolf".

So, propaganda isn't exactly Avery's strongest suit and that says a lot about his rebellious approach to the art, he can't make unconventional cartoons by sticking to narrative conventions, it just had the misfortune to lose its Oscar for another masterpiece of propaganda, Disney's classic "Der Fuerher's Face". Still, "Blitz Wolf" is a masterpiece and even as the first Tex Avery cartoon, it is one of his most accomplished one, which is saying a lot since the first twenty-thirty movies he'll make for MGM will either be masterpiece or great cartoons.

(Of course, I know Avery was no newcomer, he started at Warner Bros. where he made one contribution or two, such as creating Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but we was 'Fred Avery' then and Tex Avery is mostly associated to the MGM period (1942-1955), the roaring lion, the wolf, Red, Droopy and all the whole team)

And this year, we're celebrating the 75th anniversary of the start one of the greatest legacies in animation history, which should remind these Warner Bros scissor-handling employees that if we acknowledge the propaganda nature of these films, then the two cut bits should have been kept for the sake of historical value. The cannon joke is totally ruined if you don't see where the missile goes, not that it ruins the funniest gag but if Tex Avery respected the intelligence of his audience in 1942, why shouldn't we now?

That's another proof that Tex Avery was ahead of his time. And I ain't kiddin' brother!

Tex Avery has been responsible for some brilliant cartoons, that are beautifully and cleverly animated, clever, extremely entertaining and with something for everybody.

'Blitz Wolf' may not be up there with Avery's very finest, but it is a very clever take on a famous story that has actually been very well-adapted in animation (it's also one of the better takes on it) and is definitely one of the best "WWII propaganda" cartoons, though it is much more than that. Like with all Avery though, there is plenty to enjoy for both kids and adults.

Kids will love how the famous story is adapted, the animation, the music, the characters, the very witty and wild tone and the voices. while adults will like it even more for all those reasons, plus they will also understand more what the cartoon is trying to say, understand and appreciate more the subject matter and references and admire how 'Blitz Wolf' isn't afraid to say what it does.

To me, that was one of 'Blitz Wolf's' biggest strengths, knowing what to say and how to say it. It is wild and very savage (while not being too preachy, a danger with this sort of cartoon and subject), which was quite a brave route to go considering the subject, but also very funny in doing so. While somewhat of the time, so a couple of parts may go over the heads of first-time or younger viewers or may not hold up, but on repeat viewings those parts make sense and the cartoon holds up remarkably well for a "WWII propaganda" cartoon.

As always with Avery, the animation is great, vibrant, meticulous, stunningly detailed and wildly clever. The music by Scott Bradley, also responsible for the scoring of prime-Tom and Jerry, is lush and rousing with the ability to not just add to the action but enhance it (Carl Stalling was also a master of this). 'Blitz Wolf' is smartly and wittily scripted, with a wild and savagely satirical tone at times, while the "propaganda" stuff makes its part but allows the Three Little Story to shine through. All the characters are lots of fun, especially the Wolf, and the voice acting is terrific from Pinto Colvig, Frank Graham and Bill Thompson.

Overall, clever and quite brilliant Tex Avery cartoon, and much more than a propaganda cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox