This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

"Screwball Squirrel" is an animated short film from 1944, so two more years until this one has its 75th anniversary. Of course, the name "cartoon" is more accurate as it runs for slightly over 7 minutes as they usually did/do and the name of director Tex Avery is inevitably linked to the Golden Age of Cartoons back then. It's a production by MGM and looking at the production companies Hanna Barbera were also involved. I believe this is the very first of several cartoons starring Screwy Squirrel and probably also the most famous. Still, even if this cartoons is still relatively well-known today, I believe it is for a reason that Screwy has long been forgotten by almost everybody. I believe that reason is that this simply was not a funny watch by any means. There are many interesting ways in which the animators played with the audience, not just from the visual side, but also from the audible side. What we hear as soundtrack or sound effects is referenced in the film on more than one occasions. I think this is a good watch for aspiring animators because it is as fast as it is witty and creative. But it simply isn't fun really unfortunately compared to many other works by WB or Disney from that times, works that may not have been as intelligent as this one here, but were 5 times more entertaining. The train scene at the very end is the perfect example. It's just nothing remotely memorable at all when they were trying to go for fun for once. It's your choice what you prefer. I myself give this one a cautious thumbs-up. It is probably worth seeing. But just once.

I think that screwball squirrel was a really funny character,he's a orange squirrel that talks like he has a cold,this cartoon is similar to tom and jerry because this dog that screwball calls meat head is always chasing him and screwball would always beat the living crap out of him with baseball bats and all sorts of objects that can be used as weapons.For a cartoon that was released in the 1940's it's really hilarious and more funny than them crappy cartoons they show today.Tex Avery the creator of this cartoon made a whole lot of funny cartoons during the same time,but i find this one to bee the funniest,it's a shame that he didn't continue with this funny cartoon character this cartoon only had about 4 or 5 episodes than went off the air. Screwball Squirrel is such a underrated cartoon character,but is unforgettable.

Screwball Squirrel (1944) has to be the greatest single cartoon character ever created. If Tex Avery is forever to be remembered for one thing, it's this creation. He stretched the bounds of decency (and sanity) with this cartoon. No matter what came beforehand or afterwards, animation was never the same again.This was the first in several animated shorts based upon Screwy a.k.a. Screwball Squirrel. The cartoon opens up with a thumper like character frolicking through the woods. He happens to come across the title character. He takes the rabbit by the hand and cold cocks him offscreen and hijacks the show. A collection of sight gags, pratfalls and a lot of physical abuse takes place during the rest of the show. A real funny short that has to be seen to be believed. Take note that the show was created during the height of World War II so a lot of humor from that era is worked into the short. But besides the nitpicking it's truly a classic character and an extremely funny one at that. Watch Tex Avery change the face of animation forever.Highly recommended!A+It's going to be real hard to find an unedited copy of this short. Just keep your eyes open and you'll find it!

MGM asked Tex Avery to develop a running character to rival Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera's Tom & Jerry, and Avery, who was gag-oriented as a director, developed a character suited to his style of animated comedy, Screwy Squirrel.The cartoon features Avery's brand of superbly-timed and edited gags revolving around the chase theme universal to cartoons, but two gags display Avery's aversion to running characters and also hurt the cartoon's quality. Both involve a saccharine-sweet squirrel straight out of Disney central casting who is viciously pummeled to death, first by Screwy, later by both Screwy and the dog who's been chasing him throughout the short. The gratuitous nature of these assaults is repellent and unfortunately common to cartoons of the 1940s; unlike the physical gags elsewhere in the cartoon, these scenes are not done for laughs, but for sadistic joy and as such are unnecessary and ugly. This is not the best entry in the five-short series for Screwy Squirrel, but it is a good start.