Tex Avery’s Droopy – The Complete Theatrical Collection

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Tex Avery’s Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection (DVD)

A dog may be man’s best friend, but a cartoon fan’s bestfriend is Droopy, the diminutive basset hound created byanimation legend Tex Avery. No matter the challenge, deadpan Droopy remains unflappable. Yes, there are jowly folds, but no flaps. Not ever. Droopy speaks slowly but thinks fast. He moves slowly but pops up quicker than a dog can lick a dinner dish, anywhere he needs to be. He’s the ideal counterpoint to Avery’s trendsetting sight gags, extended reactions and hilarious unpredictability. All 24 of the theatrical Droopy cartoons – with The Wolf and bulldog Spike joining the fun – are showcased in this one-of-a-kind 2-disc Collector’s Set. You’ll be happier than a flea in a doghouse.

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Frederick “Tex” Avery directed some of the funniest cartoons ever made, but he relied primarily on situations and moving graphics, rather than on the personalities of familiar characters. Droopy, the phlegmatic basset hound, was one of the few characters Avery used regularly: His low-key presence was the perfect counter to the extreme takes, fast cuts, frenetic action, and general mayhem going on around him. Avery is also noted for “self-reflexive gags:” the characters know they’re in a cartoon and often comment on the fact. In “Dumb-Hounded,”a sprinting wolf cuts a corner too sharply, skids past the sprocket holes at the edge of the film, and onto the blank screen. Droopy frequently turns to the camera and comments, “You now what? I’m happy.” Some of the later films in the collection, made by animators Dick Lundy and Michael Lah, lack Avery’s manic panache. The last cartoons in the collection were designed for the CinemaScope format: Droopy’s pudgy form looks lost in those vast frames, and the flattened graphics pioneered by the UPA studio distort his rounded shape. But those are minor caveats. Fans have waited impatiently for Tex Avery’s seminal cartoons to be released on DVD in the US, and this collection is a must-have for anyone interested in animation.(Unrated, suitable for ages 6 and older: cartoon violence, alcohol and tobacco use, risqué humor) –Charles Solomon