George and Junior are cartoon characters, two anthropomorphic bears created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. All of the George and Junior shorts were directed by Tex Avery in the 1940s. They appeared in four cartoons: Henpecked Hoboes (1946), Hound Hunters (1947), Red Hot Rangers (1947), and Half-Pint Pygmy (1948).[3]
| George and Junior | |
|---|---|
| MGM Cartoons character | |
 George (left) and Junior (right), seen in Red Hot Rangers | |
| First appearance |
|
| Last appearance |
|
| Created by | Tex Avery |
| Designed by | Irven Spence[1] |
| Voiced by | George: Dick Nelson (1946–1947)[2] Wally Maher (1948) John Rubinow (1995) Benjamin Diskin (2019) Junior: Tex Avery (1946–1948)[2] Tony Pope (1995) Stephen Stanton (2019) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Bears |
| Gender | Male |
History
editThe cartoons would usually follow the misadventures of two bears inspired by George and Lennie from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men:[4] George, the short, short-tempered, intelligent one (voiced by Dick Nelson[2]) and Junior, the tall, dim-witted, strong one (voiced by Tex Avery[2]). George would usually come up with a plan to fix their current situation. Junior would accidentally mess it up somehow, then George would get angry and say "Bend over, Junior", and, when Junior does so, George delivers a hard kick to his rear end.
Appearances
editThe characters' looks and voices were altered for their fourth appearance.
A gray-purple version of George made a headshot cameo appearance during the final scene of the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (the octopus from Half-Pint Pygmy also made a cameo as a bartender at The Ink and Paint Club). Junior was planned to have a cameo in the film, but was later dropped for unknown reasons. They would later make appearances in Dark Horse Comics with Tex Avery's Wolf and Red and Screwy Squirrel.
Later, they were brought back to life by Pat Ventura on the Hanna-Barbera anthology franchise What a Cartoon! in the 1990s voiced by John Rubinow and Tony Pope, respectively.
Lucky Ducky was originally planned to feature George and Junior.[5]
In 2019, both George and Junior make an appearance as zoo catchers in the fourth season of The Tom and Jerry Show episode called "Shadow of a Doubt". They also make various cameos in the series. In the show, George is voiced by Ben Diskin, while Junior is voiced by Stephen Stanton.
Cartoons
edit| # | Title | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henpecked Hoboes | October 26, 1946 |
| 2 | Hound Hunters | April 12, 1947 |
| 3 | Red Hot Rangers | May 3, 1947 |
| 4 | Half-Pint Pygmy | August 7, 1948 |
| 5 | Look Out Below | April 9, 1995[6][7] |
| 6 | George and Junior's Christmas Spectacular | July 23, 1995[8] |
Voice actors
edit- Dick Nelson (1946–1947, George)[2]
- Tex Avery (1946–1948, Junior)[2]
- Wally Maher (Half-Pint Pygmy, George)
- John Rubinow and Tony Pope (What a Cartoon!)
- Ben Diskin and Stephen Stanton (The Tom and Jerry Show)
Comics
editList of comics appearances
edit- Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel #1 (plus Wolf and Red) (1995) (Dark Horse Comics)
- Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel #3 (plus Wolf and Red) (1995) (Dark Horse Comics) (Junior only)
- Comics and Stories #2 Featuring Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel (1996) (Dark Horse Comics)
Home media
edit- Henpecked Hoboes is on the DVD of Till the Clouds Roll By
- Hound Hunters is on the DVD of Fiesta (1947)
- Red Hot Rangers is on the DVD of Tycoon (1947)
In 2020, Warner Archive released the cartoons Hound Hunters and Red Hot Rangers uncut and digitally restored as part of the Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1 Blu-Ray.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Yowp (2012-02-02). "Tralfaz: Hound Hunters". Tralfaz. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
- ^ a b c d e f Scott, Keith. ""Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company". Cartoon Research. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 84. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "George and Junior". Big Cartoon Database. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ Adamson, Joe, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, 1975, Da Capo Press
- ^ Winfery, Lee (27 December 1994). "From Hanna-barbera, 8 New Cartoons For Cable The Cartoon Network's New Stable Of Stars Includes Two Ducks, Two Bears, And Even Dino Of "Flintstones" Fame. - philly-archives". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "George and Junior in "Look out below"". United States Copyright Office. 9 April 1995. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 116. ISBN 9781476672939.