Dumb-Hounded

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. 'Dumb-Hounded' is a remarkable debut for Droopy and to this day is among his better cartoons. Droopy looks different in 'Dumb-Hounded, but for so early on his personality is so well established and he has everything that makes him a great character in the first place.

Luckily the Wolf is a very worthy foil, with just as interesting and funny a personality as Droopy. What could have been a tired one-joke cartoon turned out to be an 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 once again.

'Dumb-Hounded' is over-the-top in a wonderful way, a long way from dumb (in fact very clever), creative and full of inspired visual gags and hilariously droll asides and puns. There is enough variety to stop it from being repetitious.

It's 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 and Frank Graham.

Overall, classic Droopy debut that makes one happy, that always entertains and never insults the viewer. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is the first Droopy cartoon, though he was referred to as 'Happy Hound' and he looks slightly different. However, his voice is Droopy (Bill Thompson) and the film is pure Droopy in style. If you get the 2-disk DVD set, it naturally is the first film in the collection.

The short begins with the wolf escaping from prison. Soon after, the dogs are released to look for him. However, the entire episode consists of Droopy in particular chasing the wolf--and magically appearing where ever the wolf goes. Many of the gags are exactly the sort of thing you'd expect from Tex Avery and the silly way the cartoon pokes fun of the genre makes it a great cartoon. So, despite the Droop-meister not being exactly what you'd expect, it's great. Well written and wonderfully animated.

This short is an early look at Droopy. He's drawn a bit differently, but is recognizable all the same. In many ways this is the archetypical Tex Avery short-the visual gags are among his most outrageous ever, all the trademarks are here-signs, asides to the audience, the lot. Avery would re-visit this theme again, more than once. An incredible cartoon. Glad to see it's in print. A must-see for anyone interested in animation. Most highly recommended.

I love the opening to this cartoon; an introduction, if you will, to the great character named "Droopy." Here he was called "The Happy Hound" but that changed quickly into the name we Droopy fans are all familiar with.

Anyway, we see a bunch of dogs racing out of "Swing Swing Prison," chasing an escaped convict. Trailing the pack is a very slow hound, who turns to us with his very downcast voice, asks, "Hello, are you happy people? You know what? I'm the hero." Then, he just slowly saunters away. That's his introduction to us. Bill Thompson does a fantastic job with our hero's depressing-sounding voice.

One of the most endearing aspect of these cartoons is Droopy giving asides to us, the audience. They're almost always hilarious. An early example in here: he and another dog bark at each other and the other dog walks away. Droopy turns to us and explains, "Just dog talk" and moves on.

The gag in this story is the escaped convict being dogged by Droopy everywhere he tries to hide from the cops. The dog appears out of nowhere, even hundreds of miles away - in a flash. (You really have to see it to appreciate the humor.)

This isn't just a cartoon which provides sight gags. It has that, plus a lot of puns, funny "asides" to the the viewers, comments on people and society, a sexy woman who gives us a good song....just a ton of entertainment from start to finish. Even when the jokes are corny, they admit it on screen to us!

Droopy is omnipresent. He never says much or does much--he is just there. When the escaped convict wolf meets him, he doesn't need to do anything. His very presence is enough. Tex Avery pulls out all the stops here with his vibrating, eye popping animation.