Dixieland Droopy (1954) User Reviews

this might get me interested in Droopy

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 23 May 2007]

First, I should identify that while I know who Droopy is, I don't really know his cartoons. I think that I saw some of them when I was really young, but I didn't take to them (I best remember him from his appearance in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"). Well, "Dixieland Droopy" just might get me interested in his cartoons. It portrays the deadpan dog as a jazz fan who annoys everyone with his record, until finally the record breaks. But when he comes across some be-bop fleas, things change.

The whole chase scene is a real hoot, although I get the feeling that they may have been aping a Sylvester-Tweety or Wile E. Coyote-Road Runner pursuit. Still, this is a pretty enjoyable cartoon. It appears that Tex Avery made some interesting stuff after he left Termite Terrace (that was where they made the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons).

"Dixieland Jazz" was invented in New Orleans in . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 19 July 2022]

. . . 1917. DIXIELAND DROOPY claims that it originated in a dump, and anyone familiar with New Orleans would attest to this film's authenticity. Though thoughtless young whippersnappers drifted away from classic polyphonic "Hot Jazz" to bebop in the 1930's and 1940's, astute showmen such as the one featured in this film realized the importance of preserving The Old Sound of Traditional Jazz by the late 1940's and early 1950's, when DIXIELAND DROOPY and its hero John Milton Petty-Bone came along. Droopy and his smoking flea service can still be found performing in the French Quarter at Preservation Hall most Monday and Wednesday nights.

The music elevates what would have been a cheap UPA style cartoon...

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 30 September 2023]

In 1954, Tex Avery was past his prime and the heart wasn't in it, anymore. Not to say that his final cartoons were not enjoyable (I still have a good time watching "Cellbound" or "Deputy Droopy") but the last cartoon to capture the zany magic of the director was undoubtedly "Magical Maestro", a masterpiece that owed a lot to its use of music.

In a way, "Dixieland Droopy" manages to emerge from the relative averageness of the last Averyan offerings thanks to its continuous use of the same jazzy sound and even the beginning of the cartoon has that uses of drums that accompanies Leo's roaring, announcing something great to come... I can at least say that it's one of my favorite Tex Avery's openings... but then the animation shows its limitations and when Droopy, more diminutive than ever, shows his cute little nose, we know a long time has passed since "Dumbhounded".

But then starts the short's catchphrase "All right boys, a-one, a-two" and strangely enough, the magic operates all through the first part where Droopy keeps using the music in the most inadequate place... and as a kid, I remember anticipating with thrills the moments where the people in the calm tea-room started bouncing in the air, when that monkey went all free-style with a face that makes me laugh just thinking about it... and then the carrousel moment had me in tears.

It's rather simplistic but it works... then comes the part with the fleas, nothing new after "The Flea Circus" and the short tries to sustain the last three minutes with a Roadrunner-type pursuit, punctuated with "a-one, a-two" but it's truly the music that saves the day, so much that the last part where the narrator reveals that he was Pee-Wee Runt all the way is so delightful you'd forget Avery just recycled the same images that introduced the band. Never mind...

I have a little fondness for this cartoon because of its use of jazz music, perhaps my first immersion, and maybe because hazard made it the first ever image I saw from a Tex Avery short (the butcher part with the tail moving back to Droopy's bottom)... my father put the 'Play' button at the wrong moment and that was the first image I saw, funny the things you remember as a kid...

Not the best cartoon from the master but it contains at least two or three laughing-out-loud moments and that's enough (the monkey part being the most hilarious one).

One Of The Most Original and Feel-Good Cartoons I've Ever Seen

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 20 June 2007]

Need a lift? Watch this cartoon. You'll feel a lot better.

This a different kind of Droopy cartoon, right from the opening scene. This is the "true story" of John Pettybone, a jazz player who rose from the junkyard to the Hollywood Bowl. Droopy plays Mr. Pettybone. We get a narrator, the kind I used to hear in film noirs or in short features, explaining the story for us, or at least the background information.

Everywhere Droopy plays his recording - a recording of his Dixieland music - he, and the disc, get thrown out. He runs the gamut from ice cream trucks, jukeboxes, organ grinders, merry-go-rounds, you name it. Nobody wants to hear his jazzy record.

When all seems lost, our musical friend finds a real Dixieland band at the local circus: "The Musical Fleas, featuring Pee Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland Band.

You have to love the creativity of these writers!

What happens after this is even wilder. This is one of the funnier, most original and great- looking (colors are fantastic) and great-sounding cartoons I have ever had the pleasure of watching. The Dixieland music will have your feet jumping: guaranteed.

If you get the opportunity, see this on the Droopy DVD package with the restored picture. It's fantastic.

One of the best Droopy's and a somewhat atypical Tex Avery cartoon

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 15 August 2001]

This short by Avery is somewhat different from his normal approach of firing as many sight gags at the audience as possible as rapidly as possible. There is actually something of a story here and the jokes principally flow from the premise of a dog who loves Dixieland jazz. There are some beautiful scenes hee and the connection of music and animation is great, particularly in one portion of a chase sequence! Most recommended

Delightful

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 26 June 2011]

I am a big animation fan, and I like Droopy a fair bit. Dixieland Droopy is one of his best, and also one of his most original and different. The animation is wonderful, very colourful in the colours, slick in the background art and all the characters are well drawn. The music is energetic, rousing and one of the biggest reasons why the cartoon works so well. Something special is made with the story too, it is very well paced without feeling rushed or short changed, is different in that it is based on a true story and the material that forms whether it's physically or verbally is both funny and original. The sound effects are also to be credited, they are authentic-sounding and don't sound out of place. Droopy is a sheer delight and voiced marvellously by Bill Thompson. Overall, Dixieland Droopy is delightful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Delightfulland Droopy

[uncatema · 10/10 · 26 January 2019]

If the viewer cannot enjoy this Droopy cartoon, the viewer has no soul or simply doesn't get it. A true classic.

A boring jazzman role.

[OllieSuave-007 · 4/10 · 2 February 2018]

Droopy takes on a jazzman role, and what results is a narrated dixieland jubilee with a boring plot-line and lesser laughs. There's almost nothing to laugh about and the story is very basic.

Not of the funner or better Droopy cartoons. Below average.

Grade D-

Must love Droopy Cartoons to love this

[ShelbyTMItchell · 9/10 · 7 June 2018]

Droopy plays John Irvin Pettibone the Dixieland leader who loves the music but nobody else does. And calls for that of in his humble beginnings to that of stardom at the Hollywood Bowl. And gets kicked out of the dump he lives in

He tries to get people interested from a Merry Go Round , A diner, and a monkey dancing on a music box just to name a few.

His record gets broken and all is lost. Until a band called Pee Wee Runt, a pun on musician Pee Wee Hunt in the circus as "John" goes to the flea circus hence the pun as there is a no dogs sign there

The owner of the circus chases him in at least most of the short cartoon. To get back the fleas now in Droopy. Will he get to play his music and become a success?

All ends well as someone who also doesn't like dogs a talent agent signs him after changing his mind. And becomes a success story.

Remembered this and really so cute of a cartoon.