Blitz Wolf (1942)

To me, this movie is perfection.

People are voting emotionally.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

We all love to make fun of Adolf Hitler. He's the sort of political figure who's tailor-made for caricature, as Charles Chaplin discovered with 'The Great Dictator (1940).' But it also happens that he was a monster, one whose success spawned the most devastating conflict the human race has ever known. So it's with some uncertainty that comedy and propaganda combine in Tex Avery's 'Blitz Wolf (1942).' That same year, Jack Kinney's 'Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)' won an Oscar for showing Donald Duck's miserable life in "Nutzi" land, where he is continually battered into submission by the machinery of fascism, but Avery's cartoon is rather more open about its hatred towards Germany's leader. An opening title mocks convention by declaring that "the wolf in this photoplay is NOT fictitious. Any similarity between this Wolf and that (*!!*!) jerk Hitler is purely intentional!" Thus, the knives are sharpened, and Adolf Hitler's animated counterpart is about to receive his due.'Blitz Wolf' is styled around the tale of the Three Little Pigs (particularly the 1933 Disney Silly Symphony) – certainly the most offbeat version of the story you'll ever see – with the Big Bad Wolf having attained a characteristic moustache and a distinctive German accent. The first two pigs, having misguidedly entered into a peace treaty with the Wolf, are surprised to have their homes destroyed by his armies (this Wolf is too weak and cowardly to blow down houses himself, and instead uses mechanical beasts to do his dirty work). The third pig, his home a veritable steel fortress (a sign announcing "No dogs/Japs allowed!"), urges his brothers to help fight their collective enemy, both in combat and by purchasing war bonds. Not surprisingly, the remainder of the film consists of the Hitler-Wolf being continually shot and blasted from all angles, until he eventually wakes to find himself in the fiery dungeons of Hell. It gets a little bit repetitive, but, of course, Hitler deserves to be exploded as many times as possible.Whereas I found 'Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)' to be a highly rewatchable cartoon, even nearly seventy years later, Avery's take on Nazism isn't quite so fresh. There are some excellent word gags, such as a title on the Wolf's tank reading "Der Fewer (Der Better)," but there are also some self-referential signs that may elicit a disbelieving groan: "Gone with the Wind" when the first pig's house is blown away (despite the animators' acknowledgement of its corniness) and "Long darn thing, isn't it?" when we can clearly already see that the pigs' weaponry is rather lengthy. For the adults, there's also plenty of mischievous sexual innuendo at play, particularly in the comparisons made between the length of each army's cannons. One gag, with a suddenly-limp American cannon being rejuvenated by a dosage of Vitamin B1, was certainly more forward than I'm used to from 1940s children's cartoons. Overall, 'Blitz Wolf' is not the most intelligent of animated shorts, but it's an interesting historical document, and a bit of fun, too.

This MGM cartoon isn't shown today--and much of it is because the film was very timely during WWII but the significance of many of the references would simply be lost on today's audience. The other reason is that many people just don't care about history or have no desire to learn from it. And this is a real shame, as this movie would be a wonderful and simple way to explain the steps leading to WWII to kids. I am a history teacher and I plan on using it.In this re-telling of The Three Little Pigs, the setting is just before WWII. The wolf represents Hitler and the Three Pigs represent the nations of Europe and/or the USA. Two of the three pigs take no efforts to protect themselves from the wolf--having signed non-aggression pacts with the wolf in which he guarantees not to harm them. The third doesn't trust the wolf and not only builds a brick house, but arms himself with a massive arsenal! And, naturally, the wolf easily destroys the two pigs' homes and is only stopped thanks to the third pig.The cartoon is well-written, funny in places and easy watching. In other words, it's very watchable and tells an excellent message--one that might just be applicable to today as well.PS--It's hard to find this cartoon today. I saw it on youtube.com by typing "banned cartoons" and then watching it. There is nothing objectionable about the toon. Perhaps it was shelved because people objected to the images of a Hitler-like wolf!! People this overly sensitive are doomed to a fate much like the first two piggies! People you study your history to learn not to make the same mistakes again and again.

I was amused by the way some of the humor was aimed clearly over the heads of the younger end of the audience - and maybe some of the not-so-young-anymore realized they understood some of the humor, but knew better than to spoil their younger friends' innocence. It was fun watching the two naive piggies taunting their more serious kin, "You're diggin' a ditch - " and then freezing for a couple of seconds as they let the audience fill in the rest of the ditty in their heads.All in all, another excellent (and enjoyably over-the-top) Tex Avery creation. Though the wolf isn't as top-notch an incarnation of the enemy as some of the other war cartoons employed, it's well in keeping with the tone and background of this entry.

Among the many rarely-seen cartoons buried deep in the film vaults because of their depictions of racial stereotyping, risque content, animal abuse, and WWII propaganda, "Blitz Wolf" stands out as one cartoon that should at least air late at night when the kids are asleep and the adult cartoon fans can watch (or tape) it. With its adult-oriented gags and the Wolf as the most heartless, murderous dictator ever to come out of the 1940's (you know who I'm talking about), is it any wonder that it's rotting away in a film vault instead of being shown for historical content? Oh, well...