DROOPY DOG

'Droopy Dog' is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic basset hound, created by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio in 1943. Essentially the polar opposite of Avery's other famous MGM character, the loud and wacky Screwy Squirrel, Droopy moved slowly and lethargically, spoke in a jowly monotone, and, though he didn't look like much, was shrewd enough to outwit his enemies.
The character first appeared, nameless, in Avery's 1943 cartoon ''Dumb-hounded''. Though he would not be called "Droopy" onscreen until his fifth cartoon, ''Señor Droopy'' (1949), the character was officially first labeled 'Happy Hound', a name used in the character's appearances in ''Our Gang Comics''. After the demise of the ''Droopy'' series in 1958, the character has been revived several times for new productions, often television shows also featuring MGM's other famous cartoon stars, Tom and Jerry.

Contents

History

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Later appearances

MGM filmography

DVD releases

See also

References

External links

History

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Droopy first appeared in the MGM cartoon ''Dumb-Hounded'', released by MGM on March 20, 1943 which is considered one of Avery's best works by animation scholars. Droopy's first scene is when he saunters into view, looks at the audience, and declares "hello all you happy people...you know what? I'm the hero." In the cartoon, Droopy is tracking an escaped convict and is always waiting for the crook wherever he turns up. Avery had used a similar gag in his 1941 ''Merrie Melodies'' short ''Tortoise Beats Hare'' short. In fact, this cartoon shows that early ideas about Droopy's personality were already germinating, as that film's Cecil Turtle is very similar in character to Droopy.
Droopy's meek, deadpan voice and personality were modeled after the character Wallace Wimple on the radio comedy ''Fibber McGee and Molly''; actor Bill Thompson, who played Wimple, was the original voice of Droopy. During his time in the service, the role was played by other voice actors, including Don Messick, who reprised the role in the 1990s. Avery's preferred gag man Heck Allen said that Tex himself provided the voice on several occasions, and "You couldn't tell the difference."^[1] Droopy himself was a versatile actor: he could play a Mountie, a cowboy, a deputy, an heir, or a Dixieland-loving everyday Joe with equal ease.
One of Droopy's traits is his incredible strength, given his dimunitive stature and unassuming looks and personality, but only when he was upset, and then he would monotone, "You know what? That makes me mad," prior to tossing the hapless villain of the piece over his head many times.
In most of his cartoons, Droopy matches wits with either a slick anthropomorphic Wolf (the Wolf character "portrays" the crooks in both ''Dumb-hounded'' and its semi-remake, ''Northwest Hounded Police'' (1946)) or a bulldog (alternately named "Spike" or "Butch") with a Gaelic accent. Two Droopy cartoons - ''The Shooting of Dan McGoo'' and ''Wild and Wolfy'' - also feature appearances from the curvy heroine of Avery's ''Red Hot Riding Hood'' (1943) as a damsel in distress being pursued by the Wolf. Three later Droopy cartoons - ''Three Little Pups'' (1953), ''Blackboard Jumble'' (1957), and ''Sheep Wrecked'' (1958) - feature a slow-moving southern wolf character. Voiced by Daws Butler in a dialect he later used for Hanna-Barbera's Huckleberry Hound, this wolf was a more deadpan character with a tendency to whistle "Jubalio" to himself.
Avery took a year-long break from MGM from 1950 to 1951, during which time Dick Lundy took over his unit to do one Droopy cartoon, ''Caballero Droopy'', and several ''Barney Bear'' cartoons. Avery returned in late 1951 and continued with Droopy and his one-shots until the Avery unit was dissolved by MGM in 1953. Michael Lah, an Avery animator, stayed on long enough to help William Hanna and Joseph Barbera complete ''Deputy Droopy'' after Avery had left the studio. Lah himself then left MGM, but returned in 1955 to direct CinemaScope Droopy cartoons costarring Spike and Jubalio Wolf. His short ''One Droopy Knight'' (1957) was nominated for the 1957 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons). However, by the time of ''One Droopy Knight's release in December 1957, the MGM cartoon studio had been closed for six months, a casualty of corporate downsizing.

Later appearances

In 1980, Filmation produced a series of lower-budget Droopy shorts for television as part of a new Tom and Jerry show, with Frank Welker and producer Lou Scheimer alternating as the voice of the hound.
In the 1990s, Hanna-Barbera offering ''Tom & Jerry Kids'', Droopy had a young son named Dripple—possibly an older version of the infant we see in ''Homesteader Droopy''. The mild success of the show provided perhaps the most Droopy merchandise: plush toys, gummy snacks, figurines, etc. Tom & Jerry Kids had a spin-off series, ''Droopy, Master Detective''. He also had cameos in two theatrical features: as an elevator operator in ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (where he was voiced by the film's animation director Richard Williams), and in ''Tom and Jerry: The Movie'' (voiced by Messick). Droopy also had cameos in all three subsequently-produced Roger Rabbit shorts, ''Tummy Trouble'', ''Roller Coaster Rabbit'', and ''Trail Mix-Up'' (played by Williams in the first short and by Corey Burton in the latter two). Droopy also appears in the 2006 cartoon series ''Tom and Jerry Tales''. voiced by Don Brown.
A three-issue Droopy comic book miniseries was released in the mid-1990s by Dark Horse Comics.
Matt Groening has stated that he based ''The Simpsons'' character Hans Moleman on Droopy.
Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's news parody ''The Daily Show With Jon Stewart'', has taken to imitating Connecticut senator and 2000 Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman with Droopy Dog's voice and mannerisms.
In the eary 2000s, Droopy appeared in a Cartoon Network short entitled ''Thanks a Latté,'' in which he works at a coffee shop, and tricks a greedy wolf into giving him a tip. During the same period, Droopy was also featured in an episode of Adult Swim's Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, seeking a settlement after a cosmetic surgeon injected him with too much botox.
In a 2004 episode of the Comedy Central animated series ''Drawn Together'', "Clara's Dirty Little Secret", the character Foxxy Love listens to a book on tape entitled: ''Clara's Story: How I Kissed a Black Girl, as read by Droopy Dog'' on headphones. The character Toot Braunstein listens for a moment as well, hearing the voice of Droopy reading a sentence that begins, "As her buttery maple pelvis gyrated..."
In the manga and anime series ''Dragonball'', by Akira Toriyama, Droopy makes a surprise guest appearance as the abbot of the Buddhist monastery that hosts the "Strongest Under Heaven" Martial Arts tournament. Before the fights begin, Abbot Droopy delivers, in his trademark deadpan, this bit of Zen Wisdom: "Woof."

MGM filmography

#	Release date	Producer	Director	Title
1	March 20 1943	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Dumb-Hounded''
2	March 3 1945	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''The Shooting Of Dan McGoo''
3	November 3 1945	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Wild And Woolfy''
4	August 13 1946	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Northwest Hounded Police''
5	April 9 1949	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Señor Droopy''
6	August 13 1949	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Wags To Riches''
7	October 12 1949	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Out-Foxed''
8	November 4 1950	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''The Chump Champ''
9	March 31 1951	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Daredevil Droopy''
10	May 05 1951	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Droopy's Good Deed''
11	November 17 1951	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Droopy's "Double Trouble"''
12	September 27 1952	Fred Quimby	Dick Lundy	''Caballero Droopy''
13	December 26 1953	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''The Three Little Pups''
14	February 20 1954	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Drag-A-Long Droopy''
15	July 10 1954	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Homesteader Droopy''
16	December 4 1954	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery	''Dixieland Droopy''
17	October 28 1955	Fred Quimby	Tex Avery Michael Lah	''Deputy Droopy''
18	September 21 1956	William Hanna Joseph Barbera	Tex Avery	''Millionaire Droopy''
19	May 17 1957	William Hanna Joseph Barbera	Michael Lah	''Grin And Share It''
20	October 4 1957	William Hanna Joseph Barbera	Michael Lah	''Blackboard Jumble''
21	December 6 1957	William Hanna Joseph Barbera	Michael Lah	''One Droopy Knight''
22	February 7 1958	William Hanna Joseph Barbera	Michael Lah	''Sheep Wrecked''
23	April 4 1958	William Hanna Joseph Barbera	Michael Lah	''Mutts About Racing''
24	July 4 1958	William Hanna Joseph Barbera	Michael Lah	''Droopy Leprechaun''

DVD releases

On May 15, 2007, Warner Home Video (whose corporate sibling Turner Entertainment now owns the rights to the character) released all of Droopy's MGM cartoons on DVD as ''Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection''.^[2] The seven Droopy cartoons produced in CinemaScope were released in their original widescreen versions, instead of the pan and scan versions regularly broadcast on television.^[3]

See also

★ ''Tom and Jerry Kids Show''

★ ''Droopy, Master Detective''

References

1. Adamson, Joe, ''Tex Avery: King of Cartoons'', De Capo Press, 1975
2. Warner Home Video product information for ''Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection (DVD)''
3. Back of DVD box for ''Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection''.

External links

★ Tex Avery Tribute Website

★ Droopy entry at Toonopedia.com