Screwy was the creation of Fred "Tex" Avery, who was looking to develop something akin to WB legends Daffy Duck & Bugs Bunny for MGM. Sadly, Screwy lasted just 5 shorts and was presumably killed off, only to return years later in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". Dark Horse Comics acquired a license to adapt Screwy for comics, which led to a 3-issue miniseries. Unfortunately, it must not have sold enough copies to warrant any continuation.
Anyway, let's go back to 1944 and the debut of Screwball Squirrel:
Typical Tex, but in this case, badly underappreciated.
Rating: A-.
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There was one more attempt to revive Screwball Squirrel made by Hanna-Barbera in the 1990s. Screwy was an added attraction in H-B's Saturday morning series Droopy, Master Detective on Fox Kids, which was itself a spinoff of H-B's Tom and Jerry Kids. Here, Screwy was voiced Charlie Adler. Droopy, Master Detective only ran for a single season. The character made no further appearances that I know of.
It's ironic that Tex Avery himself was not overly fond of the character. One interview stated that Tex would toss away fan mail without reading because he saw Screwy's picture drawn on it.
I read about the Screwy appearances on Droopy Master Detective. Also read that Slappy Squirrel on Animaniacs was based on Screwy. The mind boggles.
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