Little 'Tinker (1948) User Reviews

All Or Nothing At All

[boblipton · 6/10 · 30 July 2022]

A skunk tries to find love using a book of instructions. However, when the ladies find out he's a skunk....

It's Tex Avery and Heck Allen taking on Pepe LePew, using their own style of doing things. Thus, there's a sequence in which the skunk tries painting himself to look like a fox; there's a sequence in which he pretends to be Frank Sinatra that recalls SWOONER CROONER; and so forth. But Avery and Allen ornament the basic gag with their outrageous comic curlicues.

everything but the name

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 30 July 2022]

B. O. Skunk can't get the stink off. It makes it impossible to get any girl. He uses one Frankie suit and starts crooning like Frank Sinatra. At first, it works like a charm and all the girls swoon.

This is Pepé Le Pew without the aggressive inappropriate sexual conduct. That makes him much better especially in today's climate. The Frank Sinatra bit is a dated but it's of a time. B. O. Is a good character although his name is horrible. Pepé has him beat on that front.

Minor Effort......Yet Could Be a "Prototypical" Avery Effort

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 11 April 2018]

OTHER THAN THE central character of a love starved skunk who has no problem with trans-species relationships, there is nothing to distinguish this entry into MGM's animation department. That's no to say that it isn't interesting, enjoyable and full of yuks, for it is.

FILLING THE ONE reel of cartoon with such a slim premise is made possible with Director Avery's inclusion of multiple examples of two of his favorite tools. Those would be the sight gag and its literary cousin, the play on words or "pun", if you will.

WELL, ANYWAY THE cartoon was not meant to be the main event; but rather a sort of warm up for the movie going public of the day. It was supposed to get the program progressing along to the feature film in a happy, ,receptive mood.

AND WE BELIEVE that Mr. Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery did well achieve this end!

A romantic themed cartoon from Tex Avery.

[Captain_Couth · 27 June 2004]

Little Tinker (1948) is about a lonely skunk who's looking for someone to fall in love with. The Skunk is so desperate that even Cupid tries to help him "score" by enlisting his "Book of Love", Lil 'tinker does everything he can to find his soul mate. The cartoon is funny but sad and melodramatic. Watching him pull out every trick in the book trying to find true love.

Not as wild as most of Tex Avery's films. A quick change of pace for the

man. Showing that he's not all slapstick and parodies. Hopefully he

didn't give up on his bread and butter animation!

Recommended.

B

simply adorable!

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 7 June 2006]

This is a wonderful Tex Avery cartoon for MGM and is full of the usual weirdness that make Avery cartoons among the best shorts ever made. This movie is hilarious but also quite endearing and cute--an odd happening in an Avery toon, but the results are still wonderful.

An adorable little skunk is sad because he can't find a girlfriend. Every time he comes near any animal, it runs in terror. He's so sad and desperate that he decided to try a book for advice. Most of the film concerns his dressing up as "Frankie" (to the younger crowd, this is a reference to Frank Sinatra and the hysterical reaction women had to him in the 1940s). When he begins to croon, the animals go wild and do crazy stuff--such as kicking themselves in the head, burying themselves and shooting huge kisses across the stage at him (all vintage Avery reactions when someone falls for another person).

Later, his disguise is revealed and he is once again hated by all. So, he goes back to the book and is told to try camouflage. He then paints himself up as a fox and meets and cute female box and all seems perfect until they accidentally fall into the lake. His disguise washes off and he is heart-broken,...until it is revealed that she, too, is a skunk disguised as a skunk. And, they live happily ever after.

The film is just adorable, well-made and sweet while STILL being funny and not too sappy. A great cartoon.

A cartoon for Valentine's

[ja_kitty_71 · 10/10 · 19 November 2007]

I loved this cartoon. It is so cute, and it's funny at the same time. You know, during the beginning and middle of this cartoon, I do feel sorry for the little skunk. Nobody loves him until the end, that is. The scenes with The Curdina-Bunny and The Frank Sinatra parody were especially hilarious. Who would have thought Frankie was quite a stud back then? I am sure he wasn't that lanky either.

One more thing I would like to mention: I am also a hopeless romantic. I mean, I love a good romance-neither in a movie or a cartoon. Also, I thought this short would be perfect for Valentine's Day, along with Pepe le Pew cartoons. Pepe's my favorite cartoon character, and Valentine's Day is another favorite holiday of mine.

Tex Avery goes romantic

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 2 November 2017]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'Little 'Tinker' is a romantic-themed cartoon that is perfect for Valentine's Day and will have anybody in the same position or has been in the same position swooning, at the same it is also very classic Avery, meaning while not violent or deranged it is hilarious, creative and there is a wild wackiness. It's up for debate as to whether 'Little 'Tinker' is one of his all time greats, but the brilliance of its quality is hard to deny.

The main character is one that is very easy to root for, there are all the classic jokes of the bad effects skunks leave on others but this is a character where one is happy when he's happy and feel for when he's hated. The romantic element to 'Little 'Tinker' is adorable and very touching.

Despite how this may sound, 'Little 'Tinker' is also a hilarious cartoon and has moments of pure Avery lunacy in terms of the wild humour that he is so well known for. It is hard to pick a favourite funny moment, because the cartoon is full of them and everything works.

It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed. The use of pre-existing music, such as the famous 'Lucia Di Lammermoor' sextet (which old-animation fans will recognise straight away regardless of their stance on opera).

All in all, a brilliant cartoon and an Avery classic. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Tainted love

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 20 April 2018]

"Little 'Tinker" is another Tex Avery MGM cartoon and this one is from 1948, so it has its 70th anniversary this year. The protagonist here is a little skunk that is madly in love with basically all the animals from the forest, but his smell makes it fairly hard for them to appreciate his efforts. Like many other times with Avery, it is about a character that really only appears in this one film and never again. The voice cast includes a few fairly well known names that lovers of these old cartoons will immediately recognize. Sadly, the outcome here is a bit on the underwhelming side though. The protagonist is cute in his off-stage scenes and the ending is kinda sweet too, even if it feels a bit forced to be happy, but the weaknesses prevail. The music and coolness factor did almost nothing for me, the plays on words are fairly mediocre and it just wasn't funny or entertaining or sweet enough in my opinion. Avery's films are usually more about coolness really than about emotion, but this one comes short in both fields. It does not live up to the premise in the seven minutes from start to finish. the good animation alone os not really enough for me to give this one a thumbs-up as honestly most cartoon works from this Golden Age of Animation, not just by MGM, look very nice. My suggestion is to skip this one.

A cartoon that doesn't stink

[slymusic · 13 February 2008]

"Little Tinker" is a very funny cartoon involving a lonely, smelly skunk who yearns for true love. This may sound like a Warner Bros. cartoon featuring a certain familiar French skunk, but it isn't. This cartoon was made at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and directed by perhaps the king of cartoon exaggeration: Fred "Tex" Avery. This film hums with energy as the poor skunk seeks out just about every small animal he can find for their affections. He does win out in the end, but only after a lot of searching and experimenting.

My favorite moments from "Little Tinker" include the following (DON'T read on until after you have seen this cartoon). A little gray bunny sniffs the skunk's flower and then lets out a hilarious scream before scurrying to the nearest hole and zipping it up. When Cupid appears, he gives his own hilarious reaction to the skunk's scent before strapping on a gas mask. An owl drops dead after being smooched by the skunk. The skunk makes a mockery of the Italian language while serenading a raccoon with the famous Sextet from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." During the skunk's act of camouflaging himself into a fox, we hear a jazzy, energetic rendition of "Sweet and Lovely." And finally, watch for all the puns & wordplay with the various signs & labels in this cartoon.

"Little Tinker" is probably a cartoon that has been overshadowed by the various Warner Bros. cartoons featuring Pepe Le Pew, but I would suggest that you give this cartoon another look. It has a fair number of funny moments & wild sight gags, and it bustles with energy, which is all we could count on from director Tex Avery.