Northwest Hounded Police

These cartoon writers are unrelenting with their corny (and fun) puns. The first shot we see in here is an island prison with the following written above its big gates: "Alka-Fizz Prison - No Noose Is Good Noose." Inside the prison, the first sign we see is "Welcome: have a seat." They then show an electric chair.

Corny gives way to clever, however, as our favorite wolf is seen behind bars. With pen in hand, he literally draws a door next to him and then escapes through it! In no time, he has criss-crossed the United States, zipped up through Canada and is in the northern part of that country. It's there we see the Canadian Royal Mounted Police and, of course, our hero Droopy, known here as "Sgt. McPoodle." He has the assignment of catching the at-large criminal from Alka-Fizz. So, with his trusty little blue horse, he goes out in the heavy snow to track down the wanted wolf.

From that point, we get the normal story: Droopy always being a step ahead of the wolf, no matter what the latter does....and both characters are involved in some wild and very funny sight gags. Droopy even pops out of an eagle's egg on top of a mountain. There is nowhere the wolf can go - or do (plastic surgery!) to escape the intrepid "Sgt. McPoodle." Nobody, by the way, in the history of cartoons perhaps has more exaggerated reactions, either, than this wolf each time he sees his nemesis! His screams, facial and body stretched out in horror each time is a big part of the sight gags.

You'd think this one-joke cartoon would get monotonous but it doesn't. It's more good stuff from Tex Avery and the gang, just one of 24 cartoons in the "Complete Theatrical Collection" DVD with wonderful-looking restored visuals.

Tex Avery and Heck Allen remake 1943's DUMB HOUNDED with a mix of old and new gags, and even more outrageous reactions from Wolfie in this high-speed cartoon.

This is arguably Abery's peak period, coinciding with Hollywood's most prosperous year.That's hardly surprising. Hand-drawn cartoons were the most inherently expensive form of commercial film making, requiring an immense staff of highly-trained artists and technicians, and short subjects were always a tough sell. Even though film programs demanded them, they were usually available for a small fees from the distributors, so turning a profit on them was a calculation of longevity. When MGM was making a lot of money, they could be viewed as loss leaders. When finances tightened, they would be produced cheaper and cheaper, and then abandoned them. Even long time experts with immense back catalogues with eventually give up. In 1972, Walter Lantz would retire when calculations indicated that, even with TV resales, another season would take a decade to recoup its costs.

For the moment, though, the movies and cartoons were riding high, and Avery could pile a lot of funny gags into this one.

This animated short is a remake of one of Tex Avery's earlier shorts for Fred Quimby at M-G-M (Dog Gone Tired). An escaped convict (here just known as Joe)who just broke out of 'Alka Fizz Prison' tries to keep one step ahead of Droopy (known here as Sgt.McPoodle of the Mounties),but always manages to run into him,one way or another. This is easily one of the most side splitting,funny shorts that rolled out of the M-G-M animation studio. It manages to get most of it's laughs from the shocked reactions Joe has whenever he encounters McPoodle (including some equally deranged sound effects-i.e..car horns,screaming,elephants,etc.). As with any Avery M-G-M short,frantic,kinetic pacing is to be expected (along with some nice, surreal sight gags-i.e.Joe trying to run away from McPoodle & actually running off the side of the film). Pop this one into your DVD player & laugh yourself silly.

A wolf escapes from Alka-Fizz prison in San Francisco to the Canadian far north. Canadian Mountie Sergeant McPoodle (Droopy) is volunteered to pursue the dangerous criminal. I like Droopy. It's too bad that he is less known nowadays. This is a fun little short and it ends with a great gag.

As usual, the wolf (the bad guy) matches wits with a worthy adversary. In this case, it is Droopy, the slow talking hound who never seems to get flustered. As the wolf tries to make his escape, the little guy shows up around every corner. He's always one step ahead. In addition to the cleverness of this episode, we also have the great Tex Avery and his amazing takes by the wolf. When he sees the little Mountie for about the fifth time, his jaw drops, his eyes pop out, and he literally goes to pieces. The whole thing is just unfair. There are great sight gags all over the place. It is high speed animation at its best. I always looked forward to the Droopy cartoons before the feature films in my youth.