As an animator in the 1930’s and 1940’s, Tex Avery basically had two choices: Emulate the formula that had allowed Disney to dominate the young medium, with cute animals and doe-eyed kids…or go in the complete opposite direction. He chose Plan B.

Frederick Bean Avery was born 107 years ago on February 26, 1908, in Taylor, Texas…which easily explains his more famous nickname. Attempts to explain his unique outlook on the animated short, and what it could do, are not as simple. One theory reaches into a day when the young animator was horsing around with some coworkers at Walter Lantz’s studio in the early ‘30s. A thumbtack flew into his left eye, costing him his sight in that eye. Avery’s lack of depth perception could help explain the crazy proportions and physics he brought to his characters, taking the rubbery “squash and stretch” nature of cartoons to extreme places.

Avery’s most famous work came after leaving Lantz, when he moved to Warner Bros. and later to MGM. At Warner, he was assigned to his own production unit and oversaw a team of animators while developing the studio’s “Looney Tunes” series. Staffed with animators like Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones, the Avery unit pushed the “Looney Tunes” shorts to the top of the field, elbowing Disney’s tamer fare out of the way. (Is it any coincidence that Disney seemed to lose interest in the short and turned to feature-length animation in the ‘30s?) The Warner shorts under Avery brought a crazy style of action, and developed the studio’s top-flight characters. First, Avery’s crew took a pre-existing (and rather bland) Porky Pig, and made him a genuine star. Then they developed wackier foils for the studio’s straight characters, like Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny – both of whom started out in much more manic forms. (The phrase “What’s up, doc?” had supposedly been popular around Avery’s North Dallas High School.)

While Avery was successful at Warner Bros., he clashed with management and disliked the working conditions. (His crew nicknamed their first bungalow “Termite Terrace.”) In 1941, he moved over to MGM, where his frantic style was less restrained. He developed new stars, most notably Droopy. His MGM cartoons were fast-paced and silly, with extreme violent gags. His characters frequently broke the fourth wall, directly addressing the audience. He also played with sexuality about as much as it was possible to. While not his most famous, his most iconic character might be the MGM Wolf, a lust-crazed character who was always chasing down a curvy redhead designed to keep the dads in the audience paying attention.

Avery was unrestrained but overworked at MGM, and took a year off in 1950 to recover from fatigue. In 1953, he returned to the Lantz studio, his original employer. He didn’t stay long, only directing four cartoons, but this brief stop still produced a legacy character, as he helped develop the mute penguin Chilly Willy. He ended his career doing TV commercials and working with Hanna-Barbera. He died of liver cancer in 1980 at age 72.

He has received countless plaudits, but probably the best that can be said about him is that his work is still influencing the medium he loved. In a direct line tracing from Roger Rabbit through Ren & Stimpy to SpongeBob SquarePants, animators have never stopped leaning on the Avery style. Roger Rabbit might be the biggest tribute: In a movie developed by Disney and featuring characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Avery’s creations…Bugs, Daffy, Droopy, and his sexy redhead (in fakeout form)…are right there too, adding their own opposing, but just as influential, perspectives to Toontown's landscape.

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