Le Meurtre de Dan McGoo

Droopy takes on an outlaw in a saloon, with hilarious spoofs and gags - unique even for a cartoon. The quick wit, adult-fare humor, and classic slapstick comedy that children would appreciate all blend in well in this cartoon. It's great entertainment for the entire family, even it is just under eight minutes!

Grade A-

Using Robert Service's words, we go to the gold rush where people are shooting each other at an alarming pace. The worst of the bunch is Dangerous Dan McGoo. But he has a worthy adversary in Droopy, who never seems to get rattled (as a matter of fact he seems barely alive). It's quite entertaining with on of Tex Avery's beautiful women and all the slapstick one can squeeze into eight minutes.

Tex Avery and Heck Allen transform Robert W. Service's "The Shooting of Dan McGee" into one of Avery's high-speed, gag-filled cartoons.

It's the second time Avery had tackled the poem. He had directed DANGEROUS DAN MCFOO for Schlesinger in 1939. Now, at the height of his powers, with a much larger budget, and the clout of his success with his unit at MGM, he could direct this one pretty much as he wished, with much more risque gags.

Yet, despite this cartoon's brilliance, I pause to wonder why he remade it. This was the year he remade DUMB HOUNDED as NORTHWEST HOUNDED POLICE. Was he running his creative well a bit low, and so redid the movie he had been thinking about for half a dozen years? Never mind. It's a great cartoon.

This is a remake from another cartoon Tex Avery had done earlier at another studio. That short was called "Dangerous Dan McFoo." Both that one and this one, as stated in the cartoon's opening, are "based upon 'The Shooting Of Dan McGrew' from 'The Spell Of the Yukon and Other Verses' by Robert W. Service."

This cartoon has an edge to it the previous didn't have, right in the opening scene were we see a sign stating the town is called "Coldernell" That that fast and you'll get my drift. Seconds later we see the gallows announcing a double-header and then a little noose for kids!

The first saloon scene where "a bunch of the boys are shooting it up" was fantastic and kudos to the restoration team to worked on this "Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection." It was scenes like this that make you appreciate how good these cartoons look.

This was an outstanding effort and certainly better than Avery's first cartoon about this story (which also was good). Of course, he had six more years of animated experience so it is no surprise this one topped the original. I can't say enough good things about this: the dialog, the humor and the artwork are all spectacular.

I don't mean to overly gush, but this is one of the best cartoons I have ever seen - period, and I've seen hundreds of them.

This is the second Droopy cartoon and its style is very unusual. Unlike the typical Droopy short, this one is, in part, narrated as if a poem (see the info from IMDb about this). However, despite this weird approach, the film is still very exciting and worth seeing.

Like the original "Dan McGrew" poem, this one is set in the wild days of the gold rush. But, unlike the poem this one features the insane stylings of Tex Avery as well as the very sexy lady character featured in several of the Avery cartoons--and Droopy is lucky enough to win her by the end of the cartoon.

Funny. Well written, great direction and it has one of the world's best cartoon characters, Droopy. Original and worth seeing.