Screwball Squirrel (1944)

METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIO
Screwball Squirrel (1944)
original production animation drawing
pencil on untrimmed animation sheet, image size: 6" x 6.75"

This original final animation drawing of title character Screwy Squirrel was created by an M-G-M Studio animator in production of the animated cartoon directed by Fred "Tex" Avery, and a cel painting was made directly from it. This was the first of Screwy's three cartoons, and in this scene he pushes back against the closing camera iris to stop the cartoon from ending so that he can continue to thrash Meathead for another minute of screen time. The animator wrote the studio designation “134” at lower right to indicate this original's place in the scene. M-G-M Studio stamp denoting production and scene number appears at the bottom.