George and Junior

George and Junior was a short-lived animation cartoon series by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. All of the original, 1940s shorts were directed by Tex Avery, who based them on George and Lennie from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. For their final appearance their looks were altered and at the end they commit suicide (although, before they actually don't shoot themselves, the end title card is drawn down, which then shakes to the sound of the gunshots). The characters were brought back to life by Pat Ventura in two 1995 cartoons on the What-A-Cartoon! franchise, George and Junior: Look Out Below, and George and Junior's Christmas Spectacular. A grey version of George made a cameo appearance in a brief headshot during the final scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The shorts followed the misadventures of two bears: George, the short, short-tempered intelligent one; and Junior, the tall, dim-witted one. George would come up with a plan to fix their current situation, and Junior would mess it up somehow. This usually resulted with an angry George saying "Bend over, Junior", and, when Junior does this, George delivers a hard kick to the rear end.

Cartoons

Note: Avery made an additional short, Lucky Ducky (1948), that started development as a George and Junior entry, but was ultimately produced with two random dog characters.[1]

References

  1. ^ Adamson, Joe, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, 1975, De Capo Press

External links