Stackars Lenny (1946) Online

I can't recall too many cartoons in which I laughed out loud a half-dozen times in a seven-minute cartoon. I was sorry to find out this was the last of this short-lived Screwy Squirrel series, five cartoons in all. All three of the ones I saw were fantastic. I didn't think director Tex Avery could top "Droopy" for cleverness but this is close. Speaking of Tex, how about a plug for the writer of these cartoons: Heck Allen? Here's a guy who was the "gag man" for Tex for most of his cartoons, and never hear of his name. He must have had an awesome sense of humor and it's a shame he doesn't get any recognition he deserves for his written material on these cartoons.

After the opening credits, we see a store that has has spelled out on its awning: "P.U. Pet Shop - "If You Smell It , We Sell It." Then we see a friendly dog in an enclosure, wagging his tale while reading "A Tree Grows In Podunk." Since "A Tree Grow In Brooklyn" is my favorite classic film, this cartoon got big points with me in the opening 10 seconds.

Then we see a sampling of some of the other pets for sale in the store. There are so many sight gags in this cartoon in the first 30 seconds alone, it would make your head swim. The last one, of course, shows the lead character, the Screwy Squirrel, although his cage labels him here as "Crazy Squirrel." If you've seen other Screwy Squirrel cartoons you know he is crazy, violent, a bit sadistic but also hilarious.

This cartoon also features a big, dumb dog who is based on the character "Lenny" from John Steinbeck's famous novel, "Of Mice and Men." Any doubts of that reference are erased when Lenny calls Screwy "George" when he first sees him. George is Lenny's buddy in that novel.

Here, Lenny's owner wants a playmate for him and, naturally, the squirrel is picked. Well, Lenny has been pining away for someone to play with, and certainly got his wish - and a lot more - when "Crazy" arrives at the dog's mansion.

If you ever seen "Screwy Squirrel" advertised to be shown on TCM or somewhere else, don't pass it up. If you like outrageously humorous cartoons, you'll love this.

This is one of my favorite cartoon. Unlike others I think the screwy squirrel is a very funny character. Tex Avery was a very gifted and talented animator with a dark humor and all his cartoons are excellent. This one is not an exception. Too bad that there are only five cartoons of this crazy character.

This short was the last one to feature Screwy Squirrel. His nemesis here is a dog patterned after the character Lenny from Of Mice and Men, which was a device used quite often in cartoons, particularly by Tex Avery (who used the two leads as the pattern for George and Junior as well). Good, if not particularly novel, short, which is probably why Avery stopped-he'd taken Screwy as far as he could and there wasn't much more to do with him. Characters were seldom important to Avery in any case. Well worth tracking down. Recommended.

Lonesome Lenny (1946) was sadly the last of the run of Screwball Squirrel. The Napoleon hat wearing manic Squirrel met his match with a very large and dim witted dog name Lenny.

Spoilers

Lenny is a doofus who likes to keep and play with small furry things (based upon the infamous Lenny Smalls from Of Mice and Men). He even has his own theme music. In several scenes "If I only Had a Brain" is played instrumentally in the background. Screwball confronts the big oaf and challenges him. An unwise decision. Poor Screwball pulls out every single trick in his hat but all to no avail. He becomes Lenny's latest victim. Screwball's run ended in typical Tex Avery fashion.

A highly recommended short and one of the first characterizations of Lenny Smalls. He even calls Screwy "George"! Tex Avery would use this in several other cartoons. I guess he liked to parody George and Lenny. Funny short if you can find it!

A+

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. All five Screwy Squirrel cartoons are great (my least favourite is 'Big-Wheel-Watha' but it is still wonderfully and hugely funny, just have a preference for the more daring Screwy cartoons), it is a shame that there weren't more, with 'Lonesome Lenny' being a close second favourite after 'The Screwy Truant'.

Despite being a compelling, much more anarchic than his sweet appearance and funny character, as well as being charismatic enough to carry his cartoons as a lead character (as he does here), it is somewhat easy to see why Screwy didn't click and didn't last long, being a brash character with few sympathetic qualities. As one can guess, while one can see why others find him annoying, he's never been a problem with me. The Lenny-like dog, dumb and strong, manages to be Screwy's best opponent.

Tex Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it once again.

Furthermore, 'Lonesome Lenny' is once again wonderfully over-the-top, very creative in its violent tone and some of it is hilarious, with enough variety to stop it from being repetitious.

It's beautifully and brilliantly animated as usual. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.

Voice acting is very good.

Altogether, wonderful and it was sad that there weren't more Screwy cartoons. 10/10 Bethany Cox

. . . but what about the fowl consistently passing rotten ones? During the 1940s, MGM's animated shorts department found itself facing exactly such a quandary, and decided to rid itself of this dire problem by churning out a series of brief cartoon Snuff Films. LONESOME LENNY thus marks Crazy Squirrel's swan song. This especially irritating rodent gets sold by a PETS OR FOOD store to be the "playmate" or Playmeat of a large dog with a thing for John Steinbach novellas. OF MICE AND MEN is his particular favorite, so he styles himself as "Lenny," a serial killer of soft furry things (not unlike current White House resident Rump). Lenny begins his brief time with Crazy Squirrel by subjecting him to extreme vetting. Though this squalid squirrel wins a battle or two, it's not long before he loses Lenny's extreme petting war. Director Tex Avery pins a "Sad, isn't it?" note to Crazy's corpse. However, the only unhappy aspect of Crazy's demise is that Disney did not follow suit with a few of its own especially obnoxious and over-exposed cartoon personalities, such as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.