The best Frank Graham’s comedy movies

Tired of always playing the same roles, Little Red Riding Hood, her grandmother and the Wolf demand a new version of the tale. The story then plays out in a more contemperary urban environment, with Little Red Riding Hood working as a pin-up girl in a night club.

The wolf escapes from prison but can't get away from police dog Droopy no matter how hard he tries. This is the first cartoon starring Droopy.

Yet another variation on the Three Little Pigs theme, this time told as WW2 anti-German propaganda (the US had just entered the war), with the wolf as a thinly-disguised Hitler.

A baseball game is going on in New York City, at the Polo Grounds (although the rooftop facade is more suggestive of Yankee Stadium), between the visiting "Gas-House Gorillas" and the home team, the "Tea Totallers". The game is not going well for the Tea Totallers, as the Gorillas, a bunch of oversized, roughneck players, are not only dominating the Tea Totallers, made up of old men, but intimidating the umpire by knocking him into the ground like a tent peg after an unpopular judgment. The Gorillas' home runs go screaming out of the ballpark (literally) and the batters form a conga line, with each hitter knocking a ball out.

It's snowy and cold outside, and warm inside where Jerry squeezes past a mousetrap to cavort under a present-laden Christmas tree. Mistaking the sleeping Tom for a plush toy, Jerry wakes him and a mad chase ensues.

The wolf escapes from Alka-Fizz prison, but the persistent Sergeant McPoodle (Droopy) of the Canadian Mounties follows his trail wherever he goes.

Jerry agrees to help an escaped circus lion, whose first need is food. But first they'll have to evade Tom, who heard the news bulletin and is armed with a shotgun.

Frederick "Tex" Avery directed some of the funniest cartoons ever made, but he relied primarily on situations and moving graphics, rather than on the personalities of familiar characters. Droopy, the phlegmatic basset hound, was one of the few characters Avery used regularly: His low-key presence was the perfect counter to the extreme takes, fast cuts, frenetic action, and general mayhem going on around him. Avery is also noted for "self-reflexive gags:" the characters know they're in a cartoon and often comment on the fact. In "Dumb-Hounded,"a sprinting wolf cuts a corner too sharply, skids past the sprocket holes at the edge of the film, and onto the blank screen. Droopy frequently turns to the camera and comments, "You now what? I'm happy."

Jerry crashes a vase onto Tom's head, which gets Mammy to throw Tom out. Jerry revels in his freedom, among other things turning Tom's picture into a Hitler caricature then spitting on it. But he soon tires of this, and under a flag of truce, hatches a plan with Tom. The abnormally talkative duo stage a grand chase, but whenever they're out of sight of Mammy, they fake it, pausing for patty-cake, a turkey leg, and a drum jam session. Eventually, Tom chases Jerry under a rug, then swaps in a tomato, which Mammy crushes. With Jerry apparently vanquished, Tom is rewarded with a pie, but when Jerry tries to claim his share, Tom shuts him out.

A hungry cat has the idea of giving "Jumbo Gro" fertilizer to a scrawny canary to make him a bigger meal, which leads to a race between the cat, the canary, a dog, and a mouse to see who can grow the biggest.

The king of the jungle, after a well-spent day terrorising the rest of the animals, is petrified by a mouse.

Horton the elephant agrees to watch over lazy Maisie bird's egg while she vacations. Much later, after...

It's spring, and Tom is much more interested in the female cat next door than in Jerry.

The big bad wolf starts out chasing Little Red Riding Hood but switches to Cinderella after seeing the film's title, and ends up being chased in turn by her fairy godmother.

To prove he's a true Indian Brave, Big Heel-Watha decides to catch a squirrel - but wouldn't you know it; Screwy Squirrel is the first one he sees...

Little Johnny Jones, to be born in the next year, is shown growing to a ripe, healthy old age, thanks to the efforts of his local public health officers. But without them, he might be one of the 5% or so that dies in the first year. The price for the public health service: about 3 cents a week.

Droopy and Gorgeous Gorillawitz (Spike) are competing for the title of King of Sports and for a kiss from the Queen of Sports. Spike cheats as much as possible but can never seem to beat Droopy.