Dangerous Dan McFoo

Even though I've seen many of Tex Avery's Warner Bros. cartoons and know what sorts of things to expect in them, "Dangerous Dan McFoo" was still a hoot. Set in a bar in the arctic, this one portrays a dog with Elmer Fudd's voice taking on an opponent who hones in on the dog's Katherine Hepburn-imitating hubby. Of course, the whole thing is an excuse for a series of gags, the same way that a Leslie Nielsen movie is.

However, there is one scene in this cartoon that I am surprised got past the censors: at one point when the opponent punches Dan, Dan puts his hand over his face, and it looks as though Dan is shooting his opponent the bird! I know that the people behind these cartoons liked the push the limits, but that one just blew my mind! Anyway, a really funny one. It appears on the website Daily Motion...and has French subtitles! The things that we see in life.

Note: this was one of the many WB cartoons released before 1948 that got stripped of its opening credits in the Blue Ribbon reissue.

This is a typical Tex Avery short: he takes an idea from anther source (here it's a poem by Robert W. Service, an idea he would use again at MGM), follow the basic concept and toss in every oddball sight gag or joke that could be shoehorned in in the 7 or 8 minute length. An interesting point here is that Arthur Q. Bryan does the voice for the title character, in the voice he would use as Elmer Fudd for a great many years. It really is strange hearing that voice from another character. Good cartoon, although the one Avery did at MGM was just a touch better than this one. Well worth seeking out. Recommended.

I watched this – it was included among the extras on Warners' DVD of DODGE CITY (1939) – as part of a 5-cartoon marathon to commemorate the 100th Anniversary from the birth of one of the most important figures in animation history: Tex Avery. It was actually remade – and considerably improved upon – by THE SHOOTING OF DAN McGOO (1945), a Droopy 'vehicle'; while remarkably similar in many respects to the later classic, one of my favorite Averys, it is a minor (if still highly enjoyable) effort – for one thing, because of an anonymous i.e. less sympathetic protagonist, but also its more primitive quality (Avery's Fred Quimby-produced MGM efforts being generally superior to his stuff at Warners).

A small dog is playing pinball with his friends and his girlfriend when a wolf arrives at the bar out of the cold night. However the wolf tries to hit on Dan's girlfriend which forces him to defend her honour in a impromptu fist fight.

With the `wacky' animation and exaggerated jokes this is the type of cartoon that I like the best. In this case there are quite a few off-the-wall moments that show good imagination but the plot lets it down by giving too few moments to show this humour off. The plot is essentially one fist fight which, while amusing, never offers more than the most basic jokes.

The characters are OK despite not being established faces and they manage to do well even if they are just characters written to be one thing – shy hero, gangster's moll etc. Overall this may not be hilarious but it is still enjoyable with a few good laughs scatter amongst a lot of pretty average material.

I ended up watching this because I picked up the blu ray for Dodge City-a Western from the same year this short was released. It is a funny short in large part because it basically does not have a plot. For such a short film it plays like a series of gags and parodies, i.e. Hepburn. It also had one of the darkest gags I have seen in a Tex Avery short. This short is not a classic by any stretch but if you like early American animation this is a good find.