Cartoon a Day: Blackboard Jumble

Blackboard Jumble
1957
Directed by Michael Lah
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection

Droopy is one of my favorite classic animated characters. So it's really strange that I never saw this cartoon until today. It was not a part of the rotation of Droopy shorts that aired on Chicago television as I was growing up. The only reason I can see for it being pulled from TV is one gag involving a confederate flag. But now, thanks to DVD, not only can we see this short but we can also experience it in it's widescreen form.

This Droopy short actually does not feature Droopy. Rather there are three kid versions of Droopy who terrorize a small schoolhouse. The Wolf, voice by the brilliant Daws Butler, is recruited to be their latest teacher.

The voice and animation of the slow-moving, whistling wolf are a perfect combination. I love his strange posture when he walks. The feet lead as the rest of the body seems to move much slower behind. The wolf is the real star of the short. Even though this is not directed by Tex Avery, his influence is still there. Some would say too much so as several gags are lifted straight out of Avery's "The Three Little Pups," which also features Butler's Wolf character. But even with recycled gags, it's still laugh-out-loud funny

Cartoon a Day: The Shooting of Dan McGoo

The Shooting of Dan McGoo
1945
Directed by Tex Avery
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection.

If, God forbid, there were ever a great calamity and only one of Tex Avery's cartoons from his time at MGM were to survive, "The Shooting of Dan McGoo" may as well be it. Just about everything that defines Avery's style during this period is in this cartoon.

This is the second outing for the character Droopy, and it isn't a cartoon that was a part of the kid show rotation in my hometown. Make no mistake, this is not a kids cartoon. Why the very first gag of the film involves a pun on some mature language. What follows are scenes of drinking, gambling, gun play, and a scantily clad dancing girl...and it's all very funny too. Avery's three great MGM era characters all appear in this cartoon, Droopy, the Wolf, and the dancing girl often known as "Red Hot Ridding Hood," here referred to as "Lou."

The sight gags are hilarious in this short. I love the little signs that speak directly to the audience, like the one that declares "Noisy, isn't it" as the camera pans across the violent saloon.

Another great sight gag involves a strategically placed bartender standing in front of a painting of women reclining. That gag seems pretty risque at first but actually has a pretty innocent payoff later in the film.


Of course, the highlight of the short is the performance by Lou, and the extreme reactions of the wolf as he watches. The animation of the wolf is so over the top, it's impossible not to laugh. What's even more amazing is that Avery's crew managed to pretty much remake this scene with even more extreme reactions in shorts like "Little Rural Ridding Hood." The animation of Lou the dancing girl is incredible. Yes, it is very adult in nature, but you will be hard pressed to find more believable looking dancing in the annals of animation history.

"The Shooting of Dan McGoo" may not be for younger viewers, but it's one of Tex Avery's quintessential works.

Cartoon a Day: Sheep Wrecked

Sheep Wrecked
1958
Directed by Michael Lah
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection

During Tex Avery's time at MGM he came up with several great characters. Among them a slow moving hound dog, a high-kicking dancing girl, and two very different versions of the Big Bad Wolf. Probably more famous is the bulging eyed, waggling tongue version of the wolf that ogles the girl in many of Avery's shorts. But just as funny, in a different way, is the laid back version of the wolf that appeared in the 1950's. "Sheep Wrecked" is a great short featuring this character going against Droopy presented in beautiful CinemaScope (woo-hoo).

The design of this laid back wolf is just perfect. The body curves into an odd pear shape with the feet leading as he walks while the rest of his body seems to lag a few inches behind. The constant whistling and Daws Butler's wonderful voice work make for a character that makes you laugh before he even does anything.

One of the things that is so interesting about this short is the fact that it is presented in wide screen. The backgrounds, however, are very minimal. Not exactly sprawling landscapes, but it seems to work perfectly with the wide screen format. It almost creates the illusion that you are looking at something grander than you really are.

This is probably one of my favorite of the later Droopy cartoons, and certainly one of my favorite featuring the laid back wolf. But my favorite of his appearances, "Billy Boy," remains unreleased on DVD...memo to Warner Brothers.

Cartoon a Day: Dumb-Hounded

Dumb-Hounded
1943
Directed by Tex Avery
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection

During his time at MGM, Tex Avery's most famous creation was a miserable looking little hound dog named Droopy. "Dumb-Hounded" marks his first appearance. The character became a bit more upbeat over the course of his 24 film career, but in this short he lives up to his name.

In this short a killer (the Wolf) has escaped from prison so the authorities send out the hounds, with Droopy bringing up the rear. The Wolf runs from Droopy but every time he turns around the little hound is right there waiting for him. Pretty much the same premise was used in another Droopy short, "Northwest Hounded Police," a little bit later.


This, like many Avery shorts, can best be described as innovative. The gags were original, though many of them have since been used by many other cartoon makers. The reactions of the Wolf each time he spots Droopy are completely unique each time, though they aren't quite as extreme as Avery would make them in some later shorts.

The characters realizing that they are in a movie was also an different twist. Droopy addresses the audience at the beginning of the film and tells them he's the hero and the Wolf runs completely off of the film in one of the film's best gags.

I don't think there's a Droopy cartoon that I don't like, with a wild short like this one the series got off to great start.

Cartoon a Day: Northwest Hounded Police

Northwest Hounded Police
1946
Directed by Tex Avery
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection

Ah, Droopy, the perfect start for the week. "Northwest Hounded Police" is one of the earliest Droopy shorts. The premise is simple, the wolf has escaped from prison and is hiding out in the great white north of Canada. So the mounties are called in and they send out their finest...Droopy. For the rest of the short, no matter where the wolf runs, Droopy is there.



This short is all about the classic Tex Avery style reactions. Things actually start pretty calm as the wolf reacts to Droopy's constant presence. But thing build in intensity as the short continues.

I'm not quite sure what it is that keeps Tex Avery's cartoons so funny even after repeated viewings. I've seen this cartoon many times, but I was laughing out loud, and very loudly, again tonight. My wife told me to quiet down because I was keeping the kids up.

Perhaps it's just that Avery seems to be pulling out all the stops with each reaction of the wolf, yet the next one is even more extreme. You just can't help but burst out in laughter.

Cartoon a Day: Deputy Droopy

Deputy Droopy
1955
Directed by Tex Avery and Michael Lah
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection

Let's finish off the weekend with some Droopy. Thing is, this hilarious short actually has very little to do with the character of Droopy. His role could've been played by anybody in this short which gets it's humor from one basic gag repeated over and over in slightly different forms.


Droopy is deputy to a pistol packin' sheriff and they are given the task of guarding a shipment of gold. Two crooks have their eyes on that gold and see Droopy as an easy obstacle to gettin' their hands on the loot. The sheriff tells Droopy that he'll be in the next room and if there's any trouble just make any sort of noise and he'll come in shootin'. So the crooks need to be as quiet as they can to keep the sheriff from catching them.

As the short progresses, the crooks get injured in various ways, sometimes by Droopy and sometimes by their own stupidity. Each time they get hurt, they quickly run to the outskirts of town to scream in pain, safely out of earshot of the sheriff. This happens over and over and over again. There are slight variations (the one where the crooks screams into a milk bottle and then the other one takes it outside to release the sounds is a favorite of mine), but it is pretty much the same gag...and it works!

The animation style is a bit different than some of the earlier Droopy shorts. Droopy doesn't looks as...well, Droopy in this one. There are a lot more straight lines in his design than the round, kind of frumpy look he started with. The design of the crooks also feature a lot unique curves and angles which are used to great comic effect in some of their reactions.

This is a cartoon with a simple premise taken to hilarious extremes!

Cartoon a Day: Senor Droopy

Senor Droopy
1949
Directed by Tex Avery
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection

Like I said a few days ago, many of our favorite cartoon characters have fought the bull, including one of my favorites, Droopy. "Senor Droopy" features both Droopy as a bullfighting challenger against the champion, the wolf. The winner of the match can anything he wants in all of Mexico. The prize Droopy wants is actress Lina Romay.



The gags in "Senor Droopy" are great, classic Tex Avery, and the animation is brilliant. Here's what makes this cartoon unique...the wolf is Droopy's enemy, yet he is also against the bull, just like Droopy. So many of the great gags done at the bull's expense are actually courtesy of the bad guy of the cartoon. The wolf gets away with many of the things that you would expect from the lead character. For the first half of the cartoon, he's the one in the Bugs Bunny role




Of course, eventually the bull starts to get the upper hand, and in a way, the other enemy of the short takes on that lead role. Suddenly the wolf is the one falling victim to the gags. Then in one final burst of energy, it's Droopy that ends up winning out in the end. It's an odd story structure but it works so well for the Droopy character.



The final gag of the short is a real classic. When Droopy wins the match an asks for his prize (Lina Romay) he's told "she wouldn't want you," but then the final shot is of the real actress with the animated Droopy sitting on her lap. "Oh no?" she says in response.

Cartoon a Day: The Three Little Pups

The Three Little Pups
1953
Directed by Tex Avery
Available on: Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection

It's about time we had some Droopy action on this blog. "The Three Little Pups" is Tex Avery's take on the the three little pigs. We have a house of straw, a house of sticks, and a house of bricks, only this time around they're dog houses. And, of course, there is a wolf who also happens to be the city dog catcher.

Droopy is often up against a wolf in his cartoons, but I think this is my favorite version. This is not the hormones raging wolf we see in other Avery shorts. This one is a laid back, slow moving, whistling Dixie fellow. A large part of what makes this wolf so funny is the brilliant voice work by Daws Butler. Butler was the voice of many classic characters, but this may be one of his finest moments. Perhaps why this wolf works so well is because it is the complete opposite of the wolf from earlier Tex Avery shorts.

Being that this is a Tex Avery film you can expect many crazy moments. Being a puppeteer, I am especially fond of the sequence in which a hand puppet cat drags the wolf around the yard. Another great moment is where the wolf accidentally swallows a TV set. When the set shows up in the next sequence, Droopy stares at the camera and says "Now don't ask us how we got the television set back."

And I can't neglect the sequence in which the wolf has to change his pants several times due to a dog attack and a guided missile. It's a great example of Avery being able to stretch a gag for a few extra laughs.

This cartoon was in the regular rotation on the Tom and Jerry TV program that played every afternoon on channel 32 in Chicago when I was a kid. Whenever this one came on, everyone rushed in to see it.

The Gospel According to Droopy

A few weeks ago I was at a prayer meeting at 6:30 AM…that's worthy of a blog post for me right there. I don't do 6:30 in the morning without a little extra effort, brothers. At this meeting my associate pastor felt led to read a passage that was on his heart from the book of John. Chapter 10 verses 1 -4 says:

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."

He continued reading through Chapter 10, on into verses 11-13, which says:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep."

My pastor shared that what was on his heart was that too often we are the "hired hand." The wolf is coming and what do we do? We scatter, we care nothing for the sheep. Christ is the shepherd, and we are the sheep, but we are called to be more like Christ. We are striving to be like the shepherd. So when trouble, the wolf, comes, do we act as the shepherd would or do we act as the hired hand would.

Of course, in my deep theological mind this took me to images of a Droopy cartoon, 1958's "Sheep Wrecked." In this short, Droopy plays the shepherd as the Wolf (voiced by the great Daws Butler) is trying to get in and get himself a meal. That's really all there is to plot, it's just a set up for numerous gags where something blows up in the Wolf's face. But it is interesting to note that Droopy, like Bugs Bunny or the Road Runner, isn't just playing defense here. By the end of the movie, it's clear that he's the one playing offense as he turns all the wolf's plans back on himself. This reminds me a great passage from Mark Batterson's book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" in which he describes coaching his son's basketball team. These fourth-graders were still learning the fundamentals of the game, so at times they didn't know if they were on offense of defense. Batterson often found himself yelling from the sidelines, "You're on offense! You're on offense!" Batterson then writes, "Sometimes I wonder if the cloud of witnesses sitting in the celestial bleachers is yelling "You're on offense! You're on offense!"

I'm so glad we have a shepherd, not a hired hand, and that he's on offense.