Droopy Dog

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Droopy Dog in the opening sequence.

Droopy Dog was a low-key animated movie character created by Tex Avery for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio in 1943—essentially the polar opposite of his other famous MGM character, the loud and whacky Screwy Squirrel. Originally known as Happy Hound until 1949, this mournful Basset hound spoke in a jowly monotone and, though he didn't look like much, was shrewd enough to outwit his enemies—the conniving Butch the Irish bulldog and the thieving, nasty wolf (not the Jubalio wolf, although Droopy and several of his lookalike relatives faced him too, in Three Little Pups and Blackboard Jumble). Avery had used this same gag in 1941 on his Tortoise Beats Hare short for Warner Bros. In fact, this film shows that early ideas about Droopy's personality were already germinating, as that film's Cecil Turtle is very similar in character to Droopy.

1 History
- 1.1 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- 1.2 Later appearances
2 MGM filmography

[edit] History

[edit] 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. 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.

Probably his most famous short is Northwest Hounded Police, in which Droopy quite literally appears everywhere that an increasingly more frustrated crook attempts to run, until, exhausted, the bad guy turns himself in (this is very reminiscent of Dumb-Hounded). Droopy was a versatile actor: he could play a Mountie, a cowboy, a deputy, an heir, or a Dixieland-loving everyday Joe with equal ease.

What made the character even more hilarious 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.

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.

[edit] Later appearances

In the 1970s, Filmation produced a series of lower-budget Droopy shorts for television, 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, Rollercoaster 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 short-lived Droopy comic book series was released in the mid-1990s by Dark Horse Comics. In 2004, Droopy was a client on an episode of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law ("Droopy Botox", July 18, 2004) after receiving a bad face-lift, which he learned to like. Also in 2004, Droopy appeared in Comedy Central's Drawn Together in voice form as the narrator of a book-on-tape (Clara's Story: How I Kissed a Black Girl by Princess Clara) that the character Foxxy Love listens to in the episode "Clara's Dirty Little Secret".

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.

Further reading at the Tex Avery Tribute website, http://www.texavery.com

[edit] MGM filmography

Directed by Tex Avery

Dumb-Hounded (1943)
The Shooting Of Dan McGoo (1945)
Wild And Woolfy (1945)
Northwest Hounded Police (1946)
Señor Droopy (1949)
Wags To Riches (1949)
Out-Foxed (1949)
The Chump Champ (1950)
Daredevil Droopy (1951)
Droopy's Good Deed (1951)
Droopy's "Double Trouble" (1951)

Directed by Dick Lundy

Caballero Droopy (1952)

Directed by Tex Avery

The Three Little Pups (1953)
Drag-A-Long Droopy (1954)
Homesteader Droopy (1954)
Dixieland Droopy (1954)
Deputy Droopy (1955, directed by Avery and Michael Lah)
Millionaire Droopy (1956, remake of Wags to Riches, supervised by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera)