''George and Junior'' are cartoon characters, two anthropomorphic bears created by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. All of the George and Junior shorts were directed by Tex Avery in the 1940s. They appeared in four cartoons: '' Henpecked Hoboes'' (1946), ''Hound Hunters'' (1947), ''Red Hot Rangers'' (1947), and ''Half-Pint Pygmy'' (1948).

History

The cartoons would usually follow the misadventures of two bears inspired by George and Lennie from

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

's ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...

'': George, the short, short-tempered, intelligent one (voiced by Dick Nelson) and Junior, the tall, dim-witted, strong one (voiced by Tex Avery). George would usually come up with a plan to fix their current situation. Junior would accidentally mess it up somehow, then George would get angry and say "Bend over, Junior", and, when Junior does so, George delivers a hard kick to his rear end.

Appearances

The characters' looks and voices were altered for their fourth appearance. A gray-purple version of George made a headshot cameo appearance during the final scene of the 1988 film ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'' (the octopus from ''Half-Pint Pygmy'' also made a cameo as a bartender at The Ink and Paint Club). Junior was planned to have a cameo in the film, but was later dropped for unknown reasons. They would later make appearances in

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

with Tex Avery's ''Wolf and Red'' and ''

Screwy Squirrel Screwy Squirrel (also known as Screwball Squirrel) is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Among some of the more outrageous cartoon characters, Screwy's feats include pulling ob ...

''. Later, they were brought back to life by Pat Ventura on the

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

anthology franchise ''

What a Cartoon! ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons; by th ...

'' in the 1990s voiced by John Rubinow and

Tony Pope Anthony J. Pope (March 22, 1947 – February 11, 2004) was an American voice actor. He appeared in over 100 titles during his three-decade career, including as the voice of Goofy from 1977 to 1988 before Bill Farmer took over the role in 1987. ...

, respectively. '' Lucky Ducky'' was originally planned to feature George and Junior. Adamson, Joe, ''Tex Avery: King of Cartoons'', 1975, Da Capo Press In 2019, both George and Junior make an appearance as zoo catchers in the fourth season of '' The Tom and Jerry Show'' episode called "Shadow of a Doubt". They also make various cameos in the series. In the show, George is voiced by

Ben Diskin Benjamin Diskin (born August 25, 1982) is an American actor. Early life Diskin was born on August 25, 1982 in Los Angeles County, California to a Jewish family. Career In 1991, Diskin won the "Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Pictur ...

, while Junior is voiced by

Stephen Stanton Stephen Walter Stanton (born August 22, 1961) is an American voice actor and visual effects artist. His roles include Sasha Nein in ''Psychonauts'' and '' Psychonauts 2'', Grand Moff Tarkin in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, Ben Kenobi in '' Star ...

Cartoons

Voice actors

* Dick Nelson (1946–1947, George) *

(1946–1948, Junior) * Wally Maher (''Half-Pint Pygmy'', George) * John Rubinow and

(''

'') * Ben Diskin and Stephen Stanton ('' The Tom and Jerry Show'')

Comics

List of comics appearances

* ''Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel'' #1 (plus ''Wolf and Red'') (1995) (Dark Horse Comics) * ''Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel'' #3 (plus ''Wolf and Red'') (1995) (Dark Horse Comics) (Junior only) * ''Comics and Stories #2 Featuring Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel'' (1996) (Dark Horse Comics)

Home media

* ''Henpecked Hoboes'' is on the DVD of

Till the Clouds Roll By ''Till the Clouds Roll By'' is a 1946 American Technicolor musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a fictionalized biopic of composer Jerome Kern, portrayed by Robert Walker (actor, born 1918), Robert Walker. Kern was involved with the ...

* ''Hound Hunters'' is on the DVD of ''Fiesta'' (1947) * ''Red Hot Rangers'' is on the DVD of

Tycoon A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

(1947) In 2020,

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

released the cartoons ''Hound Hunters'' and ''Red Hot Rangers'' uncut and digitally restored as part of the ''Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1'' Blu-Ray.

References

External links

George and Junior
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

. {{Of Mice and Men Characters created by Tex Avery Animated film series MGM cartoon characters Animated characters introduced in 1946 Film characters introduced in 1946 Film series introduced in 1946 Anthropomorphic bears Male characters in animated films Animated duos Comedy film series Of Mice and Men Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio film series