Música Maestro

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).

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).

Need a lift? Watch this cartoon. You'll feel a lot better.

This a different kind of Droopy cartoon, right from the opening scene. This is the "true story" of John Pettybone, a jazz player who rose from the junkyard to the Hollywood Bowl. Droopy plays Mr. Pettybone. We get a narrator, the kind I used to hear in film noirs or in short features, explaining the story for us, or at least the background information.

Everywhere Droopy plays his recording - a recording of his Dixieland music - he, and the disc, get thrown out. He runs the gamut from ice cream trucks, jukeboxes, organ grinders, merry-go-rounds, you name it. Nobody wants to hear his jazzy record.

When all seems lost, our musical friend finds a real Dixieland band at the local circus: "The Musical Fleas, featuring Pee Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland Band.

You have to love the creativity of these writers!

What happens after this is even wilder. This is one of the funnier, most original and great- looking (colors are fantastic) and great-sounding cartoons I have ever had the pleasure of watching. The Dixieland music will have your feet jumping: guaranteed.

If you get the opportunity, see this on the Droopy DVD package with the restored picture. It's fantastic.

This short by Avery is somewhat different from his normal approach of firing as many sight gags at the audience as possible as rapidly as possible. There is actually something of a story here and the jokes principally flow from the premise of a dog who loves Dixieland jazz. There are some beautiful scenes hee and the connection of music and animation is great, particularly in one portion of a chase sequence! Most recommended

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