Big Bad Wolf - MGM/Tex Avery's Big Bad Wolf

MGM/Tex Avery's Big Bad Wolf

Created by animation director Tex Avery, this variation of the Big Bad Wolf's cartoons included many sexual overtones, violence, and very rapid gags, and never became as popular as the Disney incarnation, but was more popular with an older crowd (especially soldiers in World War II).

After debuting in Blitz Wolf (1942)—as Adolf Wolf, the Three Pigs' Hitler-like foe—the Avery Wolf returned as a Hollywood swinger in Red Hot Riding Hood (1943), memorably aroused by Red's song and dance performance. Further girl-chasing roles came to the Wolf in Wild and Wolfy, Swing Shift Cinderella and Little Rural Riding Hood; simultaneously, the Wolf was used as foe against Avery's Droopy, a role he would keep into the 1950s. He would later reprise the role in the "Droopy and Dripple" segments of Hanna-Barbera's Tom & Jerry Kids (1990).

The Avery Wolf was voiced by Frank Graham in Red Hot Riding Hood and throughout most of the 1940s, with famed voice actor Daws Butler providing the howling. Throughout most of the 1950s, Butler and Paul Frees switched off at providing the Wolf's voice. In modern-day appearances, the Wolf was voiced by Frank Welker.

The Avery Wolf's actual name has varied over time. It was seldom given in the 1940s, but a 1945 studio announcement called him Wally Wolf. In modern-day appearances, the Wolf's name is often given as Slick Wolf or Slick McWolf.

The Avery Wolf was referenced in the film The Mask (1994), when Stanley/The Mask (performed by Jim Carrey) briefly transforms into him while watching Tina Carlyle perform in a Red Hot Riding Hood-like performance, howling and whistling at her and then banging his head with a mallet. The Mask also changes into his wolf-like form on occasion in the spin-off animated series of the same name, particularly in the animated crossover featuring Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.