Wild and Woolfy

Well, someone had to say it, because Droopy keeps showing up in this cartoon about how Woolfy is now a western bandit who kidnaps Red after she's only finished half of a song. A posse is assembled and they take after the villain, with Droopy popping up -- mostly -- on his little blue horse throughout the short subject.

This being a Tex Avery cartoon, of course the real issue is how many gags he can cram into its length. This being Avery's peak period, the answer is a whole lot. My favorite is the one where they're crossing the river, although you may prefer some other. There are so many of them, after all.

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. Generally like the Droopy cartoons and the character himself a lot, his best cartoons are classics and among Avery's best. 'Wild and Woolfy' is not one of the best Droopy cartoons, and is not as good as the previous cartoons 'Dumb-Hounded' and 'The Shooting of Dan McGoo'. It's wonderfully wild fun, even if the basic story is predictable and Droopy is more of a barely seen supporting character.

With that being said, his contribution is still memorable and shows off his remarkably well-established personality beautifully.

The Wolf is a villain that has menace and great comic timing, the girl is beautiful and sexy and the horse steals the cartoon (one of the funniest horses easily in cartoondom). 'Wild and Woolfy' is endlessly inventive and hysterically funny in typical Avery-style cartoon.

Tex Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.

Some of 'Wild and Woolfy' is over-the-top and weird in a delicious way, it is also incredibly clever, imaginatively creative and full of inspired visual gags, play on words and hilariously droll asides and puns. The strangeness was an enormous part of its charm. There is enough variety to stop it from being repetitious.

'Wild and Woolfy' is beautifully and brilliantly animated as usual. 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.

Voice acting is very good from Bill Thompson, Pinto Colvig and especially Paul Frees.

Overall, great and wonderfully wild cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is perhaps the cartoon that best summarizes Tex Avery's style of direction, exemplifying superbly-timed gags, the chase, the use of puns for maximum effect, and the unexpected appearences of a protagonist thought lost earlier in the short.

More than a few viewers probably first saw this cartoon when it was mistakenly inserted into a Warner Brothers cartoon reel used in television syndication in the 1960s and '70s; how an MGM cartoon got mixed into a Warner Brothers reel is intriguing, even though Avery did spend much time at Warners.

The Wolf rides into town and encounters Droopy at several points, having the waiter dispose of the annoying dog over and over. When the Wolf sees the Girl dancing on stage, he kidnaps her and an angry posse takes off in pursuit. The Wolf loses the posse, but when he tries to collect his kiss of the Girl, guess who? "You've been a-doggin' me all through this picture," the Wolf says, demanding to know who Droopy is; when he gets his answer the Girl gets her freedom from the Wolf - or does she?

A "wanted poster" on a cactus sets up this story: the big bad wolf is wanted and the reward is $5,000, which would be untold thousands today. We then see the notorious bandit - and his horse who also is wearing a mask! - hold up a stage. Unfortunately, it turns out to be only the "Good Rumor Man" (they love puns in these cartoons) stagecoach, carrying ice cream. The bandit - and the horse - ask for "Neapolitan" and "Tutti Fruitti," respectively.

It's this kind of insanity that makes me love these Tex Avery Droopy cartoons. They are so full of great dialog in addition to the sight gags that I constantly laugh throughout most of them. The absurdity of a horse asking for a tutti-fruitti ice cream bar is just one example.

Of course, you know who is going to catch this bandit: little Droopy, with a cowboy hat on that is bigger than him. The action will take place at the "Rigor Mortis Saloon" where customers are invited to "come in and get stiff." Ouch!!

As with the "Dan McGoo" cartoon, we get the beautiful woman singing a song on stage and the wolf's eyeballs flying out but that part is very short. The chase begins when this varmint grabs that sexy singer and rides off with her out of the saloon. A posse is quickly formed and we a corny horse race....but you know who will win this "race" to get the villain.

My favorite character in this story was the bandit's horse, who was really funny. All in all, more good silly, corny animated fun....and another great restoration job on this Droopy "Complete Theatrical Collection" DVD. The colors in here look fantastic. For fans of this cartoon, I highly recommend this DVD.

Another Droopy cartoon that is full of the dog's simpleness, calmness, and slow yet witty personality. He is sharp as nails and drives a ruthless outlaw crazy, showing up in places he least expects it.

It's non-stop fun and action (even some adult-oriented fare!). Some laughs, and plenty of witty spoofs and gags.

Grade B+