Editing Tex Avery (section)

=== "Termite Terrace" ===
Later in 1935, Avery applied for a job at Leon Schlesinger Productions (the company later known as [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]]). Avery reportedly managed to convince producer [[Leon Schlesinger]] that he was an experienced director, a false claim. In Avery's own words:<ref name="Barrier"/>

{{blockquote|quote='Hey, I'm, a director.' Hell! I was no more a director than nothing, but with my loud mouth, I talked him into it.}}

By 1935, when Avery was hired, the Schlesinger studio had only two full-time, regular film directors: [[Friz Freleng]] and [[Jack King (animator)|Jack King]]. Avery became the third regular director.<ref name="Barrier"/> The staff of the Schlesinger studio had become too large to be housed in a single building, at the [[Warner Bros.]] [[backlot]] on Sunset Boulevard. The new Avery unit of the studio was granted their own building, a five-room [[bungalow]]. The unit staff dubbed their quarters "Termite Terrace", due to its significant [[termite]] population.<ref name="Barrier"/><ref>[http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/2005_03_01_blogarch.html International Animated Film Society] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808033044/http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/2005_03_01_blogarch.html |date=August 8, 2007 }}</ref> "Termite Terrace" later became the nickname for the entire Schlesinger/Warner Bros. studio, primarily because Avery and his unit were the ones who defined what became known as "the Warner Bros. cartoon".

Avery was granted exclusive use of four animators: [[Bob Clampett]], [[Chuck Jones]], [[Sidney Sutherland|Sid Sutherland]], and [[Virgil Ross]]. The first animated short film produced by this unit was ''[[Gold Diggers of '49]]'' (1935), the third ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' film starring [[Beans (Looney Tunes)|Beans]]. Beans was also featured in the film's title card, signifying that he was the intended [[protagonist]]. The film had a [[Western (genre)|Western]] setting and cast Beans as a [[gold mining|gold miner]]. Also featured in the film was a redesigned [[Porky Pig]], making his second appearance.<ref name="Barrier"/> The Avery unit was assigned to work primarily on the black-and-white ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' instead of the [[Technicolor]] ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'', but was allowed to make color ''Merrie Melodies'' beginning with ''[[Page Miss Glory (1936 film)|Page Miss Glory]]'' from 1936. Avery was also noted to be the first to stray away from using song breaks in color cartoons starting with the 1937 short [[Uncle Tom's Bungalow|''Uncle Tom's Bungalow'']], later saying that "We were forced to use a song, which would just ruin the cartoon. You'd try like a fool to get funny, but it was seldom you did."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yowp |date=2021-11-27 |title=Tralfaz: Fedora! For Dora! |url=https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2021/11/fedora-for-dora.html |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Tralfaz}}</ref>
[[File:Tex Avery - Looney Tunes - Haunted Mouse, The (1941) (restored HD version).webm|thumb|right|upright=1|''[[The Haunted Mouse]]'' (1941)]]
Avery stopped using Beans following ''Gold Diggers of '49'', but continued using Porky as a star character. According to Michael Barrier, Beans was more of a [[straight man]].<ref name="Barrier"/> However, Porky had to be redesigned again. The early Porky was decidedly "piglike" in appearance. In Michael Barrier's description, Porky was very fat, had small eyes, a large snout, and pronounced jowls. He was like a porcine version of [[Roscoe Arbuckle]]. Starting with ''[[Porky the Rainmaker]]'' (1936), his fourth animated short starring Porky, Avery introduced a cuter version of Porky. The new design gave Porky more prominent eyes and a smaller snout. The jowls were replaced by chubby cheeks. Porky's body now had a rounder shape; its defining trait was not fatness, but softness.<ref name="Barrier"/> Barrier notes that the new design by Avery departed from the "Disneyish" [[Realism (arts)|realism]] in the previous drawing style. Porky became a less realistic pig and looked more like a cartoon character.<ref name="Barrier"/>

According to [[Martha Sigall]], Avery was one of the few directors to visit the ink and paint department — where he would answer questions and was always in good humor — as he liked to see how his cartoons were developing. When some of the artists humorously criticized the wild action in his animated shorts, Avery would take time to explain his rationale.<ref name="Sigall">Sigall (2005), p. 48-49</ref> He recalled that while working at Warner Bros., the animators had a great deal of liberty, and were subject to very little censorship.{{sfn|Cohen|2004|p=37}}