| “ | Hello? You don't say... you don't say? You don't say?? (Meathead): Deh uhh uh who was it? He didn't say! *pinches Meathead's nose* |
„ |
| ~ Screwball pulling off a phone call prank and toying with Meathead by pinching his nose in the episode "Happy-Go-Nutty" (1944). |
| “ | (Meathead): Deh uh, you aren't gonna... hit me again are ya? Now he oughta know better than that! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! |
„ |
| ~ Screwball in his debut appearance "Screwball Squirrel" (1944). |
| “ | Too bad! Just missed it! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! | „ |
| ~ Screwball, after getting Meathead to brutally fall onto the ground and expressing mock sympathy before doing his iconic, maniacal mocking cackling laughter in the debut episode "Screwball Squirrel" (1944). |
Screwball "Screwy" Squirrel is a character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, generally considered the wackiest and most outrageous of the screwball cartoon characters of the 1940s, which included Warner Bros.'s Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Disney's Aracuan Bird, Terrytoons's Heckle and Jeckle, DePatie-Freleng's The Pink Panther, Famous Studios' Blackie The Lamb, and Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker.
He was voiced by Wally Maher in the original 5 cartoons with 24 episodes, in 1993's Droopy Master Detective; he was voiced by Charlie Adler (who voiced Buster Bunny in Tiny Toons, Cow and Chicken from the show of same name (as well as Red Guy), I.R. Baboon from I.M Weasel, Harold from Fallout, Spike and Silverbolt from G1, Bev Bighead from Rocko's Modern Life, Nails from Cool World, Mr. Whiskers from Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, and Deputy Fuzz from BraveStarr), in Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure; he was voiced by the late Paul Reubens, and in the third season of The Tom and Jerry Show episode "Double Dog Trouble"; he is voiced by Sean Kenin.
Overview[]
The character was notable for being an crazy and eccentric squirrel, hence his name "Screwball", and he is also known for being unhinged and sadistic as a prankster who pulls off pranks onto anyone, and is considered by some to be "annoying" (or comes off as sociopathic) for his obnoxious and smug behavior with a few sympathetic and likable personality characteristics such as Bugs Bunny's nobility and wisecracking "Karmic Trickster" persona, and has some shades of Daffy Duck's wacky and zany pathos in being hyperactive and maniacal. (All of which was also perfected by the likes of Bob Clampett and Tex Avery himself.)
Most of his classical cartoons revolve around him inflicting various forms of torture on his enemy with several pranks (usually Meathead Dog, voiced by Dick Nelson) for seven minutes. In The Screwy Truant, Screwy hits a dog across the head with everything he can find in a trunk labeled "Assorted Swell Stuff to Hit Dog on Head". When he finishes, the dog remarks, "Gee whiz! He hit me with everything but the kitchen sink!" Screwy responds with, "Well, don't want to disappoint you, chum," then pulls out that very item and bashes him over the head with it, and he was once (mostly) killed off in his last episode "Lonesome Lenny" (mainly due to Tex Avery himself despising the character).
However, he does make several reappearances in future titles, for example his resurrected appearance in September 11 1993, after 47 years of rehab ever since his last appearance in the classical cartoons as of March 9 1946, and he began reappearing in Droopy's "Droopy Master Detective", where his segments focus on Screwy making life miserable for hot-headed park attendant Dweeble and his dog Rumpley he loves teasing and messing while he has a home in a public park.
Personality[]
Screwball in the films is depicted as very much deranged and an energetic thrill-seeker in terms of being a master of trickery to the point of being quite lucid, chaotic, imaginative, whimsical and lively (and being able to defy reality and going past the fourth wall multiple times while carrying a silly and wacky tone to him).
His character is very brash, cocky, sly, erratic, cheeky, creative, playful, deceitful, clever, optimistic, sneaky, devious, flippant and is always very proud about how much of a prankster he is when he repeatedly played tricks on Meathead and making him get into mishap after mishap, and also takes pride in being an sassy, obnoxious jerk with smugness in his character (he also manages to come off as much more unruly and crazier than Woody Woodpecker in terms of wackiness and unpredictability), and he is very fond with teasing and tormenting Meathead, a bird dog, with glee and having a signature maniacal cackling laughter he does mockingly after he tricks him into dismay or enemies that Screwball encounters such as Lonesome Larry, and sometimes he even does this when he exaggerates just how crazy Screwy is.
Despite being deceptive and an unhinged troublemaker with an exuberant laugh and a bit of an opportunist with a selfish and sadistic side to him, he still has moments of being nice, kind and thoughtful to other people (sometimes towards Meathead even) outside of being extremely mischievous, hedonistic, overconfident and a smart aleck.
In the original cartoons, it's revealed that Screwy being a "fourth-wall-breaking, mischievous, mean-spirited lunatic" is entirely scripted, so outside his role as an "unhinged, mean-spirited trickster" is acted out and it shows that he doesn't have any mean bone towards Meathead (or even the dog Larry) as much as Screwball's role makes one out to believe, and the only time he was genuinely mean is towards a Disney squirrel and nobody else. However, in later adaptions such as Droopy Master Detective (he became more of a chaotic troublemaker), Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure (he worked as a pie maker who kissed the woman that Tom was going to kiss), and later in the show The Tom and Jerry Show episode "Double Dog Trouble"; he becomes a one-shot villain once it was revealed that he was caged and then imprisoned for being responsible for kidnapping a dog.
Heroic or Noble Acts[]
- “Big Heel-Watha”, he was willing to let himself get caught and nearly sacrificed by a Native American hunter (who was trying to win the hand of the chief's daughter by capturing Screwy for his hungry tribe), and he opens up to the hunter when he is then seen crying and whimpering in sadness when he admits to why he wanted to catch Screwy in a remorseful manner, and Screwy even had the decency of allowing himself to be in a cooking boiling pot for the tribe so this hunter can impress his tribe.
- Even before the tribe was scared over a hot lady's "ugly face" seen underneath before it was revealed to be a face mask, and despite Screwy deliberately getting her to wear said mask and nearly getting to kiss the woman himself, he even lets the hunter have a happy ending despite being in the pot with Screwy and the lady from earlier.
- “The Screwy Truant”, stopping the Big Bad Wolf from chasing Red Riding Hood by breaking the fourth wall to tell the wolf that he's in the wrong show, and him trying to fight him got them both shrunk, and him stealing the Big Bad Wolf's role to mess with Meathead practically saved Red Riding Hood from getting attacked by the wolf.
Quotes[]
| “ | Hello! *Sniffs* | „ |
| ~ Screwy to Meathead. |
| “ | Y'know, those guys in there think I'm crazy. And I am too! BEEPBEPBEBBEPBEPBLBLBLUB!! | „ |
| ~ Screwball after escaping a insane asylum before he starts doing some lip burbling, whacking his head with a mallet, does a silly sticking tongue out taunt and then slamming his head onto a anvil multiple times before he goes to wake up Meathead with a violent alarm clock in "Happy Go Nutty" (1944). |
| “ | I knew that would get 'em! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! | „ |
| ~ Screwball before teasing and toying with Meathead's nose in the debut episode "Screwball Squirrel" (1944). |
| “ | Well you better chase me then brother, I'm nuttier than a fruitcake! HAHAH AHAHAHAHA!!! BEEPBEPBLBLBLBLUB!! | „ |
| ~ Screwball meeting Meathead in "Happy Go Nutty". |
| “ | Now let's see, what is the next thing I do to that guy? What IS the next scene?? *flips a page of a scene with him holding a bat* Ohh yeah! (Meathead): Deh duh deh, ye-yea-yeah yeah I got you red-handed didn't I!? No chump, be living it up I'm waiting for a streetcar. |
„ |
| ~ Screwball breaking the fourth wall and then defy reality and escaping the scene with a train titled "Squirrel Holl Special" suddenly inside of a tree like a train station before whacking Meathead on the head with a bat in the debut episode "Screwball Squirrel" (1944). |
| “ | Well that's that! Now that dumb screw 'ol officer never WILL know why I wasn't in school! (Meathead: Oh, yeah?? Come on now, why wasn't you in school?) Because! *kisses Meathead's snout* I got measles! (Meathead: DOOOOHHHH!!) |
„ |
| ~ Screwball to Meathead before laughing at Meathead in "The Screwy Truant" (1945). |
| “ | I uh, I think this belongs to you, Meathead. HAHAH! | „ |
| ~ Screwball to Meathead. |
| “ | I like this ending, it's silly. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! | „ |
| ~ Screwball, after Meathead goes crazy at the end of "Happy-Go-Nutty". |
| “ | Can you imagine them dumb kids going to school on a nice day like this? Oh ho! What a bunch of chumps! | „ |
| ~ Screwball, in "The Screwy Truant" (1945). |
| “ | Oh brother! Now I've seen everything! | „ |
| ~ Screwball seeing Meathead has a "spare foot" in his trunk as if Meathead's backside works like a car trunk, in "The Screwy Truant" (1945). |
| “ | Oh brother! What a dumb mutt! | „ |
| ~ Screwball after tricking Meathead into slamming into a brick wall hidden behind a door in "The Screwy Truant" (1945). |
| “ | Y'know, hehe, I like him, he's silly! | „ |
| ~ Screwball teasing Meathead for his stupidity in "The Screwy Truant" (1945). |
| “ | (Meathead): Duhhh this picture is screwy enough with two of ya!! Ahhh go lay a egg! |
„ |
| ~ Screwball retorting to Meathead complaining how there's two crazy squirrels he just witnessed in "Happy Go Nutty". |
| “ | Oh yeah?! Listen you! If you was my size I'd bust you RIGHT in the nose! | „ |
| ~ Screwball to the Big Bad Wolf in “The Screwy Truant”. |
| “ | You would've have liked the story anyway... The funny stuff will as start as the boat rings. | „ |
| ~ Screwy after beating up a jolly squirrel in "Screwball Squirrel" (1944). |
| “ | "Wanna catch ya ball 'darling"! AHA! "Another picture or two!" Ahahaoh! Oh, she thinks I'm just an innocent little helpless creature oh what a laugh! *chortling* ME?? "Innocent"? REAL FUNNY!! Ahaha AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Door is kicked open and safari lady comes in angry) Ohohoh! I guess that was a bad choice of words huh? |
„ |
| ~ Screwball taunting and relishing in tricking a female safari guard before getting confronted by said lady in the "Droopy Master Detective" show. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In The Tom and Jerry Show, he made several cameos in 2019-2021 with several episodes such as "Kid Stuff" (where he is silent) and other speaking roles in episodes like "Double Dog Trouble", "Ballad Of The Catnip Kid", "Sock it to Me", "Ball of Fire", "Dry Hard", and "Camelot Cat".
- In the Tom and Jerry 2021 movie, he makes a cameo.
- He has his own entire TV Trope page titled after him to define the archetype for squirrels being depicted as hyperactive, sadistic or overall tricksters.
External Links[]
- Screwy Squirrel on the MGM Wiki
- Screwy Squirrel on the Screwy Squirrel Wiki
- Screwy Squirrel on the Conflicting Evil Wiki
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