Dixieland Droopy

First, I should identify that while I know who Droopy is, I don't really know his cartoons. I think that I saw some of them when I was really young, but I didn't take to them (I best remember him from his appearance in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"). Well, "Dixieland Droopy" just might get me interested in his cartoons. It portrays the deadpan dog as a jazz fan who annoys everyone with his record, until finally the record breaks. But when he comes across some be-bop fleas, things change.

The whole chase scene is a real hoot, although I get the feeling that they may have been aping a Sylvester-Tweety or Wile E. Coyote-Road Runner pursuit. Still, this is a pretty enjoyable cartoon. It appears that Tex Avery made some interesting stuff after he left Termite Terrace (that was where they made the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons).

Droopy takes on a jazzman role, and what results is a narrated dixieland jubilee with a boring plot-line and lesser laughs. There's almost nothing to laugh about and the story is very basic.

Not of the funner or better Droopy cartoons. Below average.

Grade D-

If the viewer cannot enjoy this Droopy cartoon, the viewer has no soul or simply doesn't get it. A true classic.

In 1954, Tex Avery was past his prime and the heart wasn't in it, anymore. Not to say that his final cartoons were not enjoyable (I still have a good time watching "Cellbound" or "Deputy Droopy") but the last cartoon to capture the zany magic of the director was undoubtedly "Magical Maestro", a masterpiece that owed a lot to its use of music.

In a way, "Dixieland Droopy" manages to emerge from the relative averageness of the last Averyan offerings thanks to its continuous use of the same jazzy sound and even the beginning of the cartoon has that uses of drums that accompanies Leo's roaring, announcing something great to come... I can at least say that it's one of my favorite Tex Avery's openings... but then the animation shows its limitations and when Droopy, more diminutive than ever, shows his cute little nose, we know a long time has passed since "Dumbhounded".

But then starts the short's catchphrase "All right boys, a-one, a-two" and strangely enough, the magic operates all through the first part where Droopy keeps using the music in the most inadequate place... and as a kid, I remember anticipating with thrills the moments where the people in the calm tea-room started bouncing in the air, when that monkey went all free-style with a face that makes me laugh just thinking about it... and then the carrousel moment had me in tears.

It's rather simplistic but it works... then comes the part with the fleas, nothing new after "The Flea Circus" and the short tries to sustain the last three minutes with a Roadrunner-type pursuit, punctuated with "a-one, a-two" but it's truly the music that saves the day, so much that the last part where the narrator reveals that he was Pee-Wee Runt all the way is so delightful you'd forget Avery just recycled the same images that introduced the band. Never mind...

I have a little fondness for this cartoon because of its use of jazz music, perhaps my first immersion, and maybe because hazard made it the first ever image I saw from a Tex Avery short (the butcher part with the tail moving back to Droopy's bottom)... my father put the 'Play' button at the wrong moment and that was the first image I saw, funny the things you remember as a kid...

Not the best cartoon from the master but it contains at least two or three laughing-out-loud moments and that's enough (the monkey part being the most hilarious one).

I am a big animation fan, and I like Droopy a fair bit. Dixieland Droopy is one of his best, and also one of his most original and different. The animation is wonderful, very colourful in the colours, slick in the background art and all the characters are well drawn. The music is energetic, rousing and one of the biggest reasons why the cartoon works so well. Something special is made with the story too, it is very well paced without feeling rushed or short changed, is different in that it is based on a true story and the material that forms whether it's physically or verbally is both funny and original. The sound effects are also to be credited, they are authentic-sounding and don't sound out of place. Droopy is a sheer delight and voiced marvellously by Bill Thompson. Overall, Dixieland Droopy is delightful. 10/10 Bethany Cox