The Wacky World of Tex Avery

***The Wacky World of Tex Avery*** (French: *Le Monde fou de Tex Avery*) is a French–American animated comedy television series created by Robby London and co-produced by DIC Productions L.P., Les Studios Tex SARL, Milimetros, M6 Métropole Télévision and Telcima SA.

The series was named after Tex Avery, a cartoonist who is known for his work at Warner Bros. and MGM. The creator describes the show as "homage to the brilliant, hilarious and groundbreaking animator Tex Avery and the wonderful squash-and-stretch cartoons of his era". The series was first broadcast on French channel M6 on September 3, 1997, followed on by its broadcast in the United States on September 29th, through syndication where it aired usually on Fox stations at the time. Despite London's say about this show, it is truly well-despised, as it was known to be extremely outsourced from the Avery reels from the golden years of animation.

## Segments

The show contains the following short series:

**Tex Avery**

The cartoon stars a goat-riding cowboy named Tex Avery (voiced by Billy West) who saves the day and his girl Chastity Knott (voiced by Kathleen Barr) from his outlaw nemesis Sagebrush Sid (voiced by Billy West). Based on Bob Clampett's (a fellow animator at Warner Bros Studios in the 1930s) "Red Hot Ryder" from "Buckaroo Bugs" (WB 1944).

**Freddy the Fly**

An obnoxious fly named Freddy (voiced by Billy West) bugs an obese and exceedingly short-tempered billionaire named Amanda Banshee (voiced by Scott McNeil), whose continuous attempts to get rid of him often involve the most extreme of ways. Freddy is loosely based on both one of Tex Avery's earlier characters, Homer the Homeless Flea from "What Price Fleadom" (MGM 1948) and comedian Red Skelton's character, Freddy the Freeloader.

**Power Pooch**

A normal dog (voiced by Phil Hayes) gained superpowers after licking a superhero's shoe and became a superhero himself, albeit an incompetent one. Along with his blue cat sidekick Little Buddy (voiced by Lee Tockar), Power Pooch fights the crime in his town which usually involved him fighting Dr. Hydrant (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) and his bone-shaped henchman Boney. He is said to be based on Underdog (created by W. Watts Biggers and Joe Harris for Total Television, 1964), though the character he was based on wasn't created by Tex Avery.

**Maurice & Mooch**

Maurice the Chicken (voiced by Terry Klassen) outwits Mooch the Fox (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) who constantly tries to eat him. Maurice is based on the canary character from "King-Size Canary", and acts rather like the pig boy in "One Ham's Family".

**Genghis and Khannie**

Genghis the lion (voiced by Lee Tockar) is a warlord who leads his barbarian army across the world to conquer in the name of his Emperor (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) and meets a female panda cub named Khannie (voiced by Cree Summer) who tends to ruin his conquering plans through her innocent behaviour. A play on the name Genghis Khan. Genghis is based on the lion from "Slap Happy Lion" (MGM 1947) with his voice modeled after Sean Connery and Khannie's mannerisms were influenced from Shirley Temple.

**Einstone**

The cartoon stars the brilliant caveman Ughbert Einstone (voiced by Ian James Corlett) who is the world's first inventor. He tries to teach the other cave people how to be civilized with his inventions. A play on the name Einstein. Loosely based on Tex Avery's "The First Bad Man" (1955 MGM).

**Pompeii Pete**

Pete (voiced by Ian James Corlett) is a short bumbling Roman centurion from Pompeii who was buried in lava from the Volcanic eruption and 2,000 years later breaks free from his preserved state to live in the modern world. His over-interpretive behavior annoys a man named Dan (voiced by Alec Willows).

## Trivia

* After Warner Bros. bought rights to the Tex Avery reels in the late 1990s, animator, Spike Brandt, was given permission to use the Avery characters in *Tom and Jerry* direct-to-video movies in citra 2010, starting with *Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes*. Unlike this show, that usage in the *Tom and Jerry* movies are considered successful as they're closer to the source material.
* The only reason Tex Avery's name is used is because his daughter needed money to take her kids to college.

## Reception

*The Wacky World of Tex Avery* has been brutally and universally panned for its animation and humor. David Perlmutter in his book Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows described the show as an "insult" to the titular cartoonist, writing that "[it] lacked the masterful way Avery himself employed and often transcended the limits of his material." In other words, this show is considered "tantamount to blasphemy".