Bad Luck Blackie

One after another, Tex Avery comes at you with a stream of variations on a gag in ‘Bad Luck Blackie,’ one of his best cartoons. You know the black cat is going to cross in front of the evil bulldog. And you know something’s going to fall from the sky and land on the dog. But you don’t know what or even when. Then, when one gag is finished, it’s on to the next one.

How about a couple of scare takes?




How about the sneaky bulldog becoming cellophane-thin to sneak up on his kitten prey?



And how about the dog as brush strokes with eyes rushing into a scene, then becoming a solid. It happens in ten frames, five drawings on twos, immediately after the drawing where the cat disappears under the building.



Avery has the same crew as ‘Lucky Ducky’ working on this great short, released in 1949—Louie Schmitt, Grant Simmons, Walt Clinton and Preston Blair. Avery himself is the snickering bulldog. The cat’s voice is open for debate; it’s a different guy than the growly Cat That Hates People, featured in the Avery cartoon released just before this one.