KEY CREW BEHIND THE STAR: Tex Avery (creator/director), Michael Lah (animator/director), Bill Thompson (voice), Heck Allen and Rich Hogan (writers)

CAREER HIGH: WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? (1988) - Droopy's small cameo as an elevator operator in Toon Town elevates him to superstar status all over again.

While Charlie Chaplin supposedly inspired many cartoon characters, Droopy may have been the only character who seems inspired by Buster Keaton. Both Droopy and Keaton maintained a deadpan expression and unique sense of calm despite the frenetic activity surrounding them.

Droopy was a sad faced dog. His pedigree was questionable and he was variously identified as a basset hound, a blood hound and a police dog. Originally, his features were quite detailed so that every line on his face added more weight to his drooping face. As he evolved, he became shorter and cuter, with merely a suggestion of those previous lines. Still later, when he ventured into Cinemascope, his small round body became more angular and less attractive.

He was a white dog with a small tuft of red hair on top of his head. His eyes were almost always half closed, giving the appearance of sleepiness or unconcern.

His voice was a rather mush-mouthed and nasal whimper. In Droopy's case, appearances were very deceiving. Droopy had the ability to move and think quickly, although this action usually took place off screen. Generally he was unemotional although he was allowed brief moments when he cut loose.

Just as a deep valley makes a mountain seem higher, Droopy's self control made the activity of his co-stars seem all the more desperate and fast. Much of the humor came from the actions and reactions of his co-stars to Droopy's lack of action and reaction. Droopy was often incredibly strong. His most amazing ability was being able to get anywhere and everywhere faster and in better shape than anyone else. One cartoon suggested that the reason for his almost magical appearances was because there were hundreds of Droopys. Audiences knew better. There was only one Droopy and he was generally a force for good in the world.

HELLO, FOLKS

The creation of Droopy is credited to Fred "Tex" Avery. In the 1930's, Avery set the style for Warner Brothers cartoons. Avery's style was marked by the fact that the rules concerning logic, gravity, time and space no longer applied. He felt that the funniest humor resulted in having cartoon characters do things that could not be duplicated by human actors. It was Avery who first started the use of signs that would pop up with questions like "Exciting, isn't it?" or "Silly, isn't he?

While at Warners, Avery created the lunatic Daffy Duck. After some false starts by other directors, it was Tex Avery who shaped Bugs Bunny into a superstar. (In the first Droopy cartoon, the Wolf frequently refers to Droopy as "Doc.") It was while he was at Warners that Avery explored the contrast between a character who was totally in control competing with a character who was completely out of control. He also experimented with characters having extreme reactions.

For a variety of reasons, Avery left Warners by early 1942 and took a directing position with MGM Studios. At MGM, the kings of the studio were William Hanna and Joe Barbera, whose award winning series of shorts with Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse had brought recognition to themselves and their studio. Avery wanted to follow their pattern of creating a character that would be acknowledged as his own. At the same time, he wanted to push the limits of cartoon animation. He was so successful in the latter goal that even Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry series began seeing elements of Averyism.

While at MGM, Avery tried to develop series for several characters including Screwy Squirrel, who starred in five films, and George and Junior, who were teamed for four films. He developed a wide array of one-shot characters who might have spun off into series of their own with little effort.

However, the most successful and best remembered of Avery's cartoon creations at MGM was Droopy. The stone faced basset hound first appeared in the third cartoon that Avery made for MGM, DUMB HOUNDED (1943).

"I think voices have an awful lot to do with the success of a cartoon character," Avery once stated in an interview. The character of Droopy was built on a voice. Avery was amused by a voice he head on the radio show, FIBBER MCGEE AND MOLLY. Bill Thompson did the voice of Wallace Wimple, a henpecked husband who referred to his wife as "Sweety Face, my big fat wife." What made the character of Wimple amusing was the meekness of his voice. Thompson did several other voices for the radio show. He is perhaps best remembered by animation fans for supplying the voice of the White Rabbit in Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND and the Little Ranger in the Donald Duck cartoons.

"The old radio show had a funny little mush-mouth fellow, so we said, 'hell, let's put a dog to it.' It was the voice! We thought so much of it. It was a steal; there ain't no doubt about it... Bill Thompson, who did the voice... couldn't give us exactly the voice he did for the show, for legal reasons, but he came close." Avery told animation historian Joe Adamson. (Avery, himself, occasionally provided the voice for Droopy.) DROOPY ON SCREEN

In DUMB HOUNDED, Droopy was still in an early stage of development although most of the key elements of the character were evident. A wolf convict escapes from Swing Swing Prison and the police bloodhounds are sent to track down the crook. The prison gate opens and a loud, frantic mass of dogs pours out. Following this flood, is a slow moving, sad faced little hound walking on all fours. "Hello, all you happy people. You know what? I'm the hero," comments the dog directly to the audience. There is no doubt that he is a dog. Later, he embarrassingly re- appears from behind a fire hydrant and engages in "dog talk" with another dog.

By the middle of the cartoon, Droopy has given up his dog like habits and walks on his hind legs rather than on all four legs. He even takes a moment out to read a Dick Tracy comic book.

As the Wolf goes to greater and greater extremes to escape from Droopy, he discovers something unusual. No matter how fast he runs, no matter how far he goes, no matter what devices he uses, Droopy always appears at the same spot the Wolf has reached. In fact, while the Wolf is out of breath, Droopy is calm and relaxed as if he had been waiting for the Wolf to finally show up. When questioned about his almost magical appearances, Droopy answers, "Let's not get nosy, bub." (Later, Droopy again addresses the audience directly and states, "I surprise him like this all throughout the picture.")

Droopy eventually captures the Wolf by tossing a huge boulder off a high building that smashes the crook flat. When he is given his cash reward, Droopy indulges in an uncharacteristic moment of uninhibited joy and then quickly returns to his natural sad state and tells the audience, "I'm happy."

Unknowingly, Avery developed the character that would be remembered long after many other characters had been forgotten. Droopy is elaborately detailed in this first cartoon. Emphasis is given to making his face look sad with heavy bags under the eyes and drooping jowls. He is an oddly proportioned shape in the beginning of the film but eventually takes on the short build more familiar to cartoon fans.

It wasn't until 1945 that Droopy made his next appearance in THE SHOOTING OF DAN MCGOO. It was a parody of the Robert Service poem. The Wolf tries to steal Droopy's girlfriend, the sexy redhaired human female character who in recent years has been dubbed "Red." While they appeared in several Droopy cartoons, the Wolf and Red also appeared in their own cartoons noted for their sexual suggestiveness.

In the early Droopy cartoons, Droopy was an unlikely aggressor. He usually represented the forces of law and order and needed to bring the Wolf to justice. In NORTHWEST HOUNDED POLICE (1946) Droopy is identified as Sgt. McPoodle of the Mounted Police but he still behaves like Droopy in a revamping of the earlier DUMB HOUNDED. In SENOR DROOPY (1949) Droopy from Guadalupe battles the Wolf in a bullfighting arena, The Chili Bowl, for the hand of the live action actress, Lina Romay.

SPIKING THE FORMULA

WAGS TO RICHES (1949) changed the Droopy format. A new character, Spike the Bulldog, was introduced. This Spike was quite different from the tough, but good-hearted Spike in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. It was clear that Spike was the aggressor. This change allowed Droopy to be more innocent and even more passive. Basically, like Bugs Bunny, Droopy could now sit back and allow his enemy's own actions to defeat him.

When their master dies, Droopy is left the entire estate. However, if Droopy dies, the whole inheritance goes to Spike. Naturally, Spike uses every trick he can think of from filling a room with gas and giving Droopy a cigar to covering Droopy's mouth with cream and trying to get him declared a mad dog.

Interestingly, this cartoon was remade by Hanna and Barbera in 1956 after Avery had left the studio. Hanna and Barbera took animation drawings made for the original and made new cels and backgrounds for them so that the film could be made in Cinemascope. Even though Avery is still credited as director on the remake, the simplified drawing style and subtle changes in composition and pacing make the cartoon unfunny in comparison to the original.

Avery continued to produce Droopy cartoons into the Fifties including DROOPY'S GOOD DEED (1951) where Spike and Droopy compete for the honor of being Best Scout and a chance to meet the President. DROOPY'S DOUBLE TROUBLE (1951) introduced Droopy's look-alike brother, Drippy, who has a powerful punch, as Spike discovered in a series of mistaken identity gags.

Avery not only kept speeding up the pacing of the cartoons, but soon discovered such work often required him to spend all Saturday and Sunday at the studio to get the precision he required. In 1952, due to extreme overwork, Avery had to take a recuperation period of almost a year. During this rest period, ex-Disney director Dick Lundy stepped in to direct one Droopy cartoon, CABALLERO DROOPY (1952) where Droopy and the Wolf battle for the privilege of serenading a pretty girl.

Avery returned to MGM and directed THREE LITTLE PUPS (1953) which started as a parody of THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. The Three Little Pups were Snoopy, Loopy and Droopy who kept getting interrupted from watching their TV program by a new Wolf character. This Wolf character was a dog catcher in this film and his voice was supplied by Daws Butler. It has been suggested that this slow talking Southern Wolf character was the vocal inspiration for Huckleberry Hound, also voiced by Daws Butler. At one point, Avery considered turning this short into a series, but never did.

Avery made several more standard Droopy cartoons like DRAG-A-LONG DROOPY (1954) with Droopy as a sheepherder and HOMESTEADER DROOPY (1954) where his infant son must rescue him from Dishonest Dan the Wolf. These were considered part of the "Western" Droopys that were a homage to Avery's upbringing in Texas. MGM animation writer Heck Allen, who wrote these two Droopy shorts among others, was also fond of Westerns and became a Western novelist after he left animation.

The last Droopy cartoon fully directed by Avery was DIXIELAND DROOPY (1954). It was the story of John Pettibone (Droopy), an obscure musician whose love of Dixieland music lifted him from the depths of the City Dump to the heights of the Hollywood Bowl. This success was thanks to Pee Wee Runt and his musical fleas who lived on Pettibone.

Like many studios producing theatrical cartoon shorts, MGM was in trouble in the mid-Fifties when demand and revenue for the cartoons was greatly diminished. In 1955, Fred Quimby retired as producer and Hanna and Barbera were appointed his successor. Avery left MGM and went to Walter Lantz Studios. Before he left, he co-directed one last Droopy cartoon, DEPUTY DROOPY (1955) where two bank robbers try to rob the town safe without making any noise to wake the sheriff. Avery co-directed his last Droopy with Michael Lah, who had animated many of Avery's Droopy cartoons.

While Avery was at MGM, there were several Droopy cartoon projects that were either abandoned or rejected by management. Some of those lost Droopy cartoons included DROOPY DOG RETURNS, DROOPY'S DOG LICENSE and DROOPY'S SERENADE.

DROOPY WITHOUT TEX

Lah went on to direct six more Droopy cartoons, all in Cinemascope, that were released in 1957 and 1958. One of his cartoons, ONE DROOPY KNIGHT (1957) was nominated for an Academy Award. Droopy is a brave knight who tries to defeat a dragon for the hand of the princess. His competition is a bulldog named Butch. Butch is similar to Spike and appears in four of Lah's cartoons. The last MGM Droopy cartoon was Lah's DROOPY LEPRECHAUN (1958). While vacationing in Ireland, Droopy is mistaken for a leprechaun by Butch, who wants to catch him and make money.

In 1957, MGM decided to close its cartoon studio. The cartoons already in production, like the last three Droopy shorts, were completed and released in 1958. Hanna and Barbera went on to greater fame in television.

The MGM Droopy cartoons often popped up in Tom and Jerry cartoon packages shown on TV. The Saturday TOM AND JERRY show on CBS in 1965 sometimes plugged a Droopy cartoon in between two Tom and Jerry classics.

Droopy was revived in 1980 for THE TOM AND JERRY COMEDY SHOW. MGM leased some of their characters to Filmation, the studio responsible for THE ARCHIES and FAT ALBERT. Filmation wanted to recapture some of the wild chases and extreme reactions that had made the MGM cartoons classics. Unfortunately, it was a poorly executed attempt lacking in pacing and humor. One segment of the show was devoted to the new adventures of Droopy. Droopy was often in conflict with Slick the Wolf, a pale imitation of Avery's earlier vibrant character. As a seque, Droopy would sometimes recite a poem. Voice artist Frank Welker did the voices for Droopy and Slick. The show only lasted one season.

Like many classic cartoon characters, Droopy got another shot in the spotlight with WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? (1988). His small cameo as an unperturbed elevator operator brought laughter from audiences who remembered his earlier adventures. Animator- Director Richard Williams supplied Droopy's voice.

Droopy's success led to cameos in the two Roger Rabbit shorts. In TUMMY TROUBLE (1989), he again reprises his role as an elevator operator but this time at the hospital. In ROLLER COASTER RABBIT (1990), he has a brief moment as a melodramatic villain who has tied Jessica Rabbit to the rollercoaster track.

Recently Droopy appeared in animated form as a singer in a Hawaiian shirt for a promotion by McDonalds where customers could get a little plastic figure of the famous hound.

DROOPY'S PACK

The Wolf was Droopy's first and perhaps best antagonist. He was an unnamed character who had made a previous appearance in Avery's BLITZ WOLF (1942). The Wolf was everything that Droopy was not. He spoke in a deep, rough, forceful voice. He was physically more impressive and seemed more creative. Unfortunately he lacked self control, especially concerning women. Some of the funniest and most memorable animation moments have been the Wolf's reactions to beautiful women. In fact, outside the Droopy cartoons, the character made an impression in a handful of Avery cartoons that dealt quite openly with sexual desire. (In these shorts, he was often called "Wolfie.") He may have inspired two other characters: another unnamed wolf who spoke in a Southern drawl and matched Droopy's pacing for unconcerned behavior and Slick the Wolf, a Filmation character meant to suggest the original Wolf but without class and style.

The Droopy cartoons, especially with the Wolf, featured an attractive young human woman who in recent years has been christened "Red." She had many names and hair colors over the years but there was no mistaking her smoldering sexuality. She was a talented singer and had no difficulty arousing the Wolf and Droopy. (She was also the inspiration for Jessica Rabbit.)

Spike, the Bulldog, later became Butch, the Bulldog. This name change may have been to avoid confusion with another MGM Spike (also a Bulldog) appearing in the Tom and Jerry series. Spike was less of a frightening threat to Droopy than the Wolf. Despite his size and guile, it was obvious that Spike was foredoomed to failure since he seemed to lack the intelligence of the Wolf. Spike, though, was a more active threat to Droopy and instigated action.

OTHER MEDIA

Droopy was one of the least merchandised of cartoon superstars. He did appear in OUR GANG and TOM AND JERRY comic books from Dell. Interestingly, sometimes he was labeled "Happy Hound" rather than Droopy. The name was supposed to be in contrast to his constant expression of sadness.

Like most cartoon superstars, he has some of his best adventures on videotape. Because of the revived interest in the character, thanks to WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, Turner Home Entertainment, who owns the MGM cartoon characters, has begun a new licensing campaign to take advantage of this new found world wide fame. They are promoting him in a gaudy Hawaiian outfit as a "party animal." McDonald's released a set of four MGM cartoon plastic figures and Droopy was one of them.

SUPERSTAR QUALITY

Droopy's unique deadpan makes him one of the most unforgetable cartoon superstars. Proof that less is more, Droopy has proven the old fable that slow and steady can still win the race. As long as the world continues to speed up, Droopy will remain a beacon to audiences who want to watch this amazing hound create his own time. And you know what folks, the audiences are happy.

CREATOR QUOTES

"You'd never see the little fellow get there, but he'd just be there." - Tex Avery

"(DIXIELAND DROOPY) was a cutey-cutey. This was almost a (Chuck) Jones." - Tex Avery

"We previewed (THE THREE LITTLE PUPS) and even (producer Fred) Quimby was enthused. He said, 'Yes, sir, them thing are funny. Every time he opens his mouth, he gets a laugh.'" - Tex Avery

"(Tex) did Droopy a lot of times... Occasionally when (voice actor Bill) Thompson wouldn't show up, or we had to have a line or something, Tex'd just go record it. Couldn't tell the difference." - Heck Allen, storyman on Droopy cartoons

"I hate to say it, but I've never come up with a character as popular as Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck. The closest I got was Droopy." - Tex Avery

"I told (Tex), ...'Let's make some more Droopys.' He couldn't get enthusiastic about them until I laid them out, then he got excited." - Michael Lah, animator and later director on Droopy