George and Junior

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox character | name = George and Junior | series = MGM Cartoons | image = 250px|''Red Hot Rangers'' | caption = George (left) and Junior (right), seen in ''Red Hot Rangers'' | first_major = Henpecked Hoboes | first_date = ({{Start year and age|1946|10|26}}) | last_major = George and Junior's Christmas Spectacular | last_date = July 23, 1995 | creator = Tex Avery | voice = '''George''': Dick Nelson (1946–1947)<ref name="gajvoice">{{Cite web|last=Scott|first=Keith|title="Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company|publisher=Cartoon Research|access-date=October 20, 2021|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/hello-all-you-happy-tax-payers-tex-averys-voice-stock-company/}}</ref> Wally Maher (1948) John Rubinow (1995) Benjamin Diskin (2019) '''Junior''': Tex Avery (1946–1948)<ref name="gajvoice"/> Tony Pope (1995) Stephen Stanton (2019) | species = Bears | gender = Male | designer = Irven Spence<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yowp |date=2012-02-02 |title=Tralfaz: Hound Hunters |url=https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2012/02/hound-hunters.html |access-date=2023-07-17 |website=Tralfaz}}</ref> }} '''''George and Junior''''' are cartoon characters, two anthropomorphic bears created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 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).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/84/mode/2up |page=84}}</ref>

==History== The cartoons would usually follow the misadventures of two bears inspired by George and Lennie from John Steinbeck's ''Of Mice and Men'':<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/MGM/Shorts/George_and_Junior/index.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120722032819/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/MGM/Shorts/George_and_Junior/index.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = July 22, 2012 |title=George and Junior| publisher =Big Cartoon Database|access-date=February 2, 2012}}</ref> George, the short, short-tempered, intelligent one (voiced by Dick Nelson<ref name="gajvoice"/>) and Junior, the tall, dim-witted, strong one (voiced by Tex Avery<ref name="gajvoice"/>). 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'' (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 with Tex Avery's ''Wolf and Red'' and ''Screwy Squirrel''.

Later, they were brought back to life by Pat Ventura on the Hanna-Barbera anthology franchise ''What a Cartoon!'' in the 1990s voiced by John Rubinow and Tony Pope, respectively.

''Lucky Ducky'' was originally planned to feature George and Junior.<ref>Adamson, Joe, ''Tex Avery: King of Cartoons'', 1975, Da Capo Press</ref>

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, while Junior is voiced by Stephen Stanton.

==Cartoons== {| class="wikitable" |- ! # !! Title !! Release date |- | 1 || ''Henpecked Hoboes'' || October 26, 1946 |- | 2 || ''Hound Hunters'' || April 12, 1947 |- | 3 || ''Red Hot Rangers'' || May 3, 1947 |- | 4 || ''Half-Pint Pygmy'' || August 7, 1948 |- | 5 || ''Look Out Below'' || April 9, 1995<ref>{{cite web |last1=Winfery |first1=Lee |title=From Hanna-barbera, 8 New Cartoons For Cable The Cartoon Network's New Stable Of Stars Includes Two Ducks, Two Bears, And Even Dino Of "Flintstones" Fame. - philly-archives |url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-12-27/entertainment/25853819_1_world-premiere-toons-johnny-bravo-famous-cartoon-characters |access-date=16 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002247/http://articles.philly.com/1994-12-27/entertainment/25853819_1_world-premiere-toons-johnny-bravo-famous-cartoon-characters |archive-date=4 March 2016 |date=27 December 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=George and Junior in "Look out below". |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=33&ti=26,33&Search_Arg=what%20a%20cartoon&Search_Code=TALL&CNT=25&PID=xMDJLZlX5z67WH6RZq0vAkhK6KN&SEQ=20131120135241&SID=4 |website=United States Copyright Office |access-date=16 October 2019 |date=9 April 1995}}</ref> |- | 6 || ''George and Junior's Christmas Spectacular'' || July 23, 1995<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crump |first1=William D. |title=Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476672939 |page=116}}</ref> |}

==Voice actors== * Dick Nelson (1946–1947, George)<ref name="gajvoice" /> * Tex Avery (1946–1948, Junior)<ref name="gajvoice" /> * Wally Maher (''Half-Pint Pygmy'', George) * John Rubinow and Tony Pope (''What a Cartoon!'') * 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 * ''Hound Hunters'' is on the DVD of ''Fiesta'' (1947) * ''Red Hot Rangers'' is on the DVD of Tycoon (1947)

In 2020, Warner Archive 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.

==See also== *''Of Fox and Hounds''

==References== <references/>

==External links== *[http://toonopedia.com/georgejr.htm George and Junior] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia.

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