Droopy's Double Trouble

Droopy works at a large mansion. When the master is away, the house needs another hand to help. Droopy calls in his strong-handed identical twin Drippy who is warned to guard against strangers. Droopy reluctantly helps his freeloading friend Spike who doesn't know that he has a twin. This is one of the best Droopy cartoons. It is the most memorable and hilarious slapstick fun.

This is different in that we get two Droopy dogs: he and his twin brother "Drippy."

In this story, Droopy is working for a butler in a big mansion and the butler is going to be away for a few days. He needs a replacement and Droopy gets Drippy to handle the chores. Drippy sounds like Droopy but is a lot more physical. You can tell by the little derby on his head which tough guys apparently used to wear in the 30s and 40s. You can also tell when Drippy enters the mansion by punching holes through the door!

No stranger is allowed in the house is the rule number one, Drippy is told. Guess who wants to hide in the house for a few days? Yup, our old friend "Spike." My favorite bad guy-bulldog also has a derby and speaks with an Irish accent in this cartoon! He made me laugh just listening to him. He's always funny as it is but an Irish brogue, he's really good! Spike's first plan is to hoodwink Drippy into giving him food. He gets his answer quickly, belted a few hundred yards with Drippy's only remark being "no strangers."

The gag for most of the cartoon is Drippy doing his job of making sure there are "no strangers" while Droopy being a nice guy and trying to help the big dog. All the time, the poor bulldog has no idea Droopy has that slugger for a twin brother. All he knows is that one minute everything is good, the next minute he's getting clobbered. Whatever.....it's funny material and I actually felt sorry for poor, clueless Spike who takes some brutal (but laugh- out-loud) beatings!

p.s. His double-take at the end of the cartoon is one of the best I've seen.

This short is an energetic little cartoon that introduces a twin brother of Droopy's for the first (and only) time to hilarious, if predictable effect. Good effort that makes Droopy a more interesting character. Well worth watching, even if it isn't one of Avery's best. Recommended.

While as a kid of the late '70s, I remember watching many classic M-G-M cartoons on the "Tom and Jerry" show on my local station, including many Droopys but I don't remember this one so I think this was my first time viewing this particular one right now on the DVD of Royal Wedding. In this one, Droopy works as a butler at the mansion and when his superior tells him to get someone to work with him, Droopy calls his brother Drippy. Drippy has a similar personality to his brother except he's much more direct in enforcing the rules which in this case is "no strangers". So then Droopy's friend Spike shows up...Directed by Tex Avery, lots of hilarious physical gags abound concerning Spike's confusion between the actions of Droopy and Drippy. And when Spike reacts at the end, well, if you know Avery, you wouldn't be surprised, I'll tell you that! So that's a high recommendation of Droopy's Double Trouble.

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. 'Droopy's Double Trouble' is another Droopy/Spike pairing, not one of their best but among their funniest. It introduces Droopy's identical twin brother Drippy, a more anarchic and violent version of Droopy (and as can be expected he epitomises trouble) and a wildly entertaining one, his treatment of Spike here is brutal.

Droopy, as usual, is so well established in personality and is high on the humour and charisma scale, though deliberately milder to usual, and Drippy adds to the conflict effortlessly. Spike is even funnier and more interesting, if not given as much of a chance to show off his scheming and tricks, and one actually feels sorry for him with his brutal but admittedly hilarious treatment by Drippy.

Typically, 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.

Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious about 'Droopy's Double Trouble'. It's hilarious, imaginative content, mainly centring around the treatment of Spike, that has enough variety to stop it from being too predictable in the humour, even if the premise is even easier to foresee than most Droopy and Spike pairings. Story-wise it is very obvious, pretty much the only thing not quite so good here.

It is no surprise either that the animation is superb. 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.

Can never fault the voice acting in the Droopy cartoons, Bill Thompson (who gets the lion's share of the material) and Daws Butler were always independently excellent voice actors.

All in all, great if not quite one of my favourites. 9/10 Bethany Cox