Droopy Leprechaun

Tex Avery was not a series creator. He preferred to seek out new ideas and new situations, so much so that he ended his last Screwy Squirrel short with Screwy dead.

Yet if there was one Tex Avery character made for a Tex Avery series, it was Droopy. Droopy was the straight man to Avery's insane world. While Avery's other characters would compete to see who could have the most impossible reaction to a situation -- his wolves were subject to eyeballs that bulged out six feet -- Droopy was small, stoic and slightly depressed.

To watch him wandering around Ireland under the direction of Michael Lah, without any cartoonish reaction around him is a waste of time. Avoid this one.

It's quite the average Droopy cartoon, where he tours Ireland and gets chased by Butch because he was wearing a Leprechaun hot and, therefore, made Butch thinks he was priceless.

It's really not much of a story here and not much laughs.

Grade C-

Droopy takes a commercial flight to Ireland and winds up taking a solo sightseeing tour, buying a little leprechaun hat from a lady on a street corner, and then visiting "Shillelagh Castle." En route, our favorite Irish dog, Butch, spots him and thinks he's just seen his first real leprechaun!

Butch follows him into the castle, where Droopy sees a painting "The Mad Duke," who supposedly haunts the castle. The guy looks just like Butch, so Butch jumps into a suit of armor and spooks poor Droopy. The two then go at it, both thinking the other guy is someone else - either the Mad Duke or the valuable leprechaun.

Sooner or later, one of them figures it out.

This was the last of the Droopy cartoons, at least the ones in "The Complete Theattrical Collection" DVD package that came out recently. I am sorry to see it end. These were some of the best cartoons I've ever watched. This DVD set is recommended for anyone who loves to laugh

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Michael Lah's six solo-directed Droopy cartoons were a mixed bag. While 'Mutts About Racing' and especially 'Sheep Wrecked' were great if not quite classic, 'Blackboard Jumble' was disappointing and gets my clear vote as the weakest MGM Droopy cartoon. His final outing, and the final MGM one for Droopy, 'Droopy Leprechaun' is not a high point for either, slightly disappointing as the first Droopy cartoon 'Dumb-Hounded' from 1943 was one of the Droopy masterpieces. With that being said, it is not a disgrace in any way.

'Droopy Leprechaun' does lack Avery's unique visual style, creativity and wild wackiness. It is pretty predictable in terms of story, for Droopy standards, and while every component is executed well and solidly it all feels a little unimaginative, with the humour being very amusing and well timed but never hilarious or "pitch perfect" and at times plain in some of the backgrounds.

Have nothing to complain with Droopy, he is still a very well established character that amuses and is delightfully charismatic even when playing straight. Spike in the foil role is also well characterised and pits off against him very well, crafty but taking the butt of the laughs well.

Animation is not as good as Avery's but is at least well drawn and there is some clever use of Cinemascope. A lot of the gags and humour, while not hilarious or original, are still very funny and very well-timed and the dialogue, in a cartoon more dialogue heavy to the usual Droopy cartoon, is very witty.

The voice acting is hard to fault from Bill Thompson. Best of all is the music score. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.

In conclusion, the MGM Droopy cartoons series doesn't end on a high but it is a solid and worthy end. 7/10 Bethany Cox