Wags to Riches

The short film about Droopy the dog and the catch to inherit some money. It's a short film that aired before the main feature. It's a quick film almost forgettable but somewhat comforting after all these years.

When the rich millionaire's will is read, everything is left to Droopy. However, if Droopy dies, it all goes to Spike. So Spike tries to arrange that. None of which work. This being a Tex Avery cartoon, they all fail in disastrous and funny ways.

This is an average Tex Avery cartoon. By that, I mean it is an excellent one, with its constant barrage of brilliantly executed gags. Had a less well known cartoon director at some other studio directed this, it would be ranked among te gems of that studio's cartoons. This being Avery at MGM, it requires its own grading system. And so, while urging you to see this, I must note that among Avery's output, it is average.

This cartoon was re-done about seven years later as Millionaire Droopy with little changed, for reasons I can only guess at. Millionaire Droopy is the ultimate "cheater" short, in my opinion. A "cheater" is a short where much of the short is comprised of cribbed scenes from other cartoons, with some new animation as a framing device around it to make a "new" cartoon. This was done so that distribution contracts could be adhered to when they fell behind the production schedule (as they inevitably did), as a cheater required less time to produce than a completely new short did. While a good cartoon, Wags To Riches wasn't good enough to be cloned! Good to see it's in print, though. Well worth watching. Recommended

This is a fun little Droopy carton where the melancholy dog and his nemesis Spike battle over who keeps the fortune that a millionaire has left Droopy. It's lots of laughs seeing Spike try to eliminate Droopy so he could have the fortune. Plenty of slapstick stuff.

Grade A

A late millionaire leaves his fortune to one of his two dogs, Spike and Droopy. It's Droopy but in case of Droopy's death, the estate would be next turned over to Spike. It's obvious what Spike plans to do to Droopy. This is standard Spike vs Droopy. I like it. It's pretty good. I would have liked for something more violent in its climax. It's fine.