 |
| Cartoon Stars Re-Animated title card |
I've covered a lot of Golden Age animation studios in this little series of mine. Walter Lantz, Fleischer Studios, Famous Studios, UPA, Terrytoons, etc. But the three I've steered away from are Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM. And there's a good reason for that. All three of those studios had cartoon stars that still maintain some level of cultural ubiquity. Disney's Mickey Mouse and friends are cultural icons. 90% of Warner's Looney Tunes characters are still well-known. And MGM's lead duo act, Tom and Jerry, are cartoon icons worldwide.
But not every star character is still enjoying the limelight. MGM has a character, created by one of the greatest minds in theatrical cartoons, who does not appreciate the same fame as Tom and Jerry do.
That's right, all you happy people, it's time to talk about Droopy.
 |
| Droopy, as he appeared in his first cartoon |
Droopy was a cartoon character created for MGM animation by the one and only Tex Avery. He's generally depicted as a small, white, anthropomorphic basset hound who speaks in a jowly monotone voice. His character and voice are based on a character named Wallace Wimple on the radio show Fibber McGee and Molly. The voice actor who played Wimple even voiced Dropy in his first cartoon.
Avery was the one who created and developed characters like Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny while working at Warner's and was in many ways responsible for developing the Looney Tunes signature madcap style. Then he moved to MGM, where he pushed what he had started at his previous studio even further. His cartoons only got wilder, crazier, more unhinged and more adult. While at MGM he created characters like Red Hot Riding Hood and Screwy Squirrel.
And yet, in the middle of it all was this intentionally subdued white hound dog.
Droopy first appeared as an unnamed character in the 1943 cartoon Dumb-Hounded. In this cartoon, he is shown constantly being one step ahead of a similarly unnamed Wolf character who has escaped from prison and is going to greater and greater lengths not to get sent back. Droopy would always be there wherever he'd run, and the Wolf would react with wild takes only capable in a cartoon.
In many ways, Droopy was the most subdued part of the cartoon. And yet he caught on.
Droopy would go on to star in twenty-four cartoons, though he didn't get a name until his fifth cartoon Senor Droopy. Early materials like production materials and even some comic books had him labelled Happy Hound, but that obviously didn't stick. When given a full name in the cartoons, it's usually something along the lines of “Droopy Poodle” or “Droopy McPoodle”, despite the fact that he's clearly a basset hound (best guess: “Poodle” sounds wimpier than “Hound” and serves to underscore his understated nature).
 |
| Poster for Senor Droopy |
Now, Droopy seems to fall into basically two molds in his cartoons. He's either more or less an understated punchline, showing up for a laugh when you least expect him like in Dumb-Hounded, or he's an underdog hero who quietly outsmarts his foes like in cartoons like Homesteader Droopy. Droopy will spend most of the cartoon calm and unpertured, using his wits to counter his adversaries. That is, until one specific slight rouses his ire in certain cartoons and he gives the villain a comical thrashing. Usually, coupled with the phrase “You know what? That makes me mad”. It's not a lot of versatility, but MGM got more out of it than you might expect.
Mind you, Droopy doesn't work as an underdog or a punchline unless he has less subdued characters to work off of. Droopy had two. One was the Wolf. The other was a bulldog character with an Irish brogue named Spike, who was later renamed Butch (the Tom & Jerry cartoons already had a bulldog named Spike). Pretty much every cartoon is based on a pattern of the Wolf or Butch overreacting to things in wild ways and Droopy underreacting to things.
 |
| Droopy with the Wolf |
 |
| Droopy with Spike, aka Butch |
Droopy continued to appear even after MGM got out of the business of making new cartoons. Usually, he was connected in some way to Tom & Jerry, who were MGM's big cartoon stars. In 1980, there were Droopy shorts created by Filmation for The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show. In the 1990s, Hanna-Barbera made the show Tom & Jerry Kids, which not only featured a pint-sized version of the cat and mouse duo, but also Droopy now paired with a son named Dripple. The Droopy and Dripple cartoons usually featured father and son matching wits with the Wolf, now named McWolf. The cartoons also regularly featured a variant of Tex Avery's Red character, named Missy Vavoom. Droopy and Dripple were then spun off into their own show Droopy, Master Detective in which they play a pair of not-quite-hardboiled gumshoes. Droopy was also the only MGM character to appear in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Tom & Jerry are strangely absent). And not only that, he also appeared in all three of the Roger Rabbit shorts Disney made (Tummy Trouble, Roller Coaster Rabbit, and Trail Mix-Up). For a brief period, starting in 1992, he served as a host character for the newly launched Cartoon Network. Beyond that, he's mostly appeared in Tom & Jerry projects, starting with a cameo in 1992's Tom & Jerry the Movie (note for people who click on the link: Tom and Jerry talk in that movie. It can be jarring if you're not expecting it) and then appearances in every straight-to-video Tom & Jerry movie since. Other than Droopy, Master Detective, he hasn't really had any starring roles.
 |
| Droopy with his son, Dripple |
It's great that Droopy still appears in things and I still think the character is funny when used right. However, since he's often at his best as someone who punctuates the wild takes of other characters, he might be a bit of a limited comedic tool. It happens. Some characters are just only good at a couple of things. And some characters have a surprising amount of range (Believe it or not, one of the characters with the most range among WB's Looney Tunes is Sylvester. But I digress). I wouldn't mind seeing the occasional new Droopy short, but I doubt he could carry another series. Droopy, Master Detective feels like a bit of an anomaly.
 |
| Droopy, Master Detective |
Still, chalk the character up as another part of the lasting legacy of Tex Avery.
