Droopy fin limier

The Wolf has escaped from prison, and the cops have set the blood hounds on his trail. Also Droopy. No matter where the Wolf runs to, Droopy is always there.

Tex Avery was not a fan of series characters, but there is something in Droopy's stoic passivity that kept him going for 19 cartoons. Of course, the outsized reaction of the Wolf to Droopy's monotone made the cartoons work, but that's not all there is to it. There's Avery's wild gags, including one when the Wolf runs off the film. Anyway, lots of fun!

In March 1943's "Dumb-Hounded," the MGM Tex Avery-directed cartoon introduced the character Droopy, a sleepy-eyed basset hound who wasn't christened by his well-known name until his fifth film, 1949's 'Senor Droopy.' The dog was a departure to Avery's earlier more energetic personalities such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, with Droopy possessing a slow, lethargic manner, including his distinctive monotonic voice. Droopy was first spoken by actor Bill Thompson, whose distinctive voice was the character Wallace Wimple's in the popular radio comedy 'Fibber McGee and Molly.' After Thompson enlisted in WW2, several actors, including Avery, assumed the voice of the hound in Droopy's 24 original cartoons.

In "Dumb-Hounded," Droopy's introduction sees him trailing a pack of bloodhounds chasing an escaped convict in the form of a wolf. Droopy's first words, spoken into the camera, are "Hello, all you happy people-you know what? I'm the hero." The hound continually frustrates the wolf by turning up at the world's most remotest locations, including the North Pole, before the escapee does. Film reviewer Dave Sindelar observed, "Most of the humor involves the juxtaposition of Droopy's terse one-liners with the wolf's extreme reactions and reality-bending attempts to get away." Droopy's appearances in MGM cartoons ended in 1957 when the studio shuttered its animation department. But incarnations of Droopy continued to be seen on television, appearing on the Cartoon Network and in 'The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show.' Droopy also has had a number of feature film cameos, including 1988's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."

The Wolf escapes from Swing Swing Prison. The police sends out the bloodhounds. Droopy is the self-declared hero of the piece. He is the slowest of the bloodhounds, but he is the most dogged. He relentless tracks The Wolf, no matter where he goes. Droopy is sure to follow.

This is a really good MGM Tex Avery cartoon. On top of that, this introduces a great original character in Droopy. He's drawn a little shaggy in this. It's an early rendition. He really should not be that energetic at the end. All that can be fixed. He's not quite refined, but the foundation is here. This is a classic first edition.

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.