History WesternAnimation / Droopy

Droopy is a pathetically tiny, very melancholic, slow-moving dog. His DeadpanSnarker comments often form a sharp contrast to the zaniness of other characters around him and makes them appear even wilder. The plot of his cartoons are very similar. He is usually given some kind of mission that he needs to accomplish and allows him to be pitted against one of his two main antagonists: Wolfie the Wolf or Spike the bulldog. At first the odds seem against him, because he's such a tiny and slow dog. Yet Droopy is intelligent and always master of the situation. If he gets really mad, he can even showcase enormous strength and beat up those who underestimate him.

* BigBallOfViolence: Happens often.

--> ''Y'know what? That makes me mad!''

* CatchPhrase:
** ''Hello, all you happy people.''
** ''You know what? I'm happy.''
** ''You know what? That makes me mad.''

* PerpetualFrowner: Droopy rarely smiles.

* PreAsskickingOneLiner: ''Y'know what? That makes me mad!''

--> '''Droopy''': Hello, Mr. Fox. Now can I catch you?
--> '''Fox''': Ah, as they say in America... (Brooklyn accent) Are you kiddin'?

* TheStoic: Droopy doesn't show too much emotion, [[NotSoStoic but when]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes he does]]...

** Creator/{{Gotlib}} 's comic book character ''Gai-Luron'' is basically a copy of Droopy: a bassoon hound with a melancholic expression and DeadpanSnarker comments.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: The result when he drives the antagonist crazy in "Thanks a Latte":
-->'''Droopy:''' Ya know what? He forgot his latte.

--> '''Droopy''': ''You know what? I'm the hero''.

'''Droopy''': ''[taking out a mallet]'' Why, haven't you heard? I'm the hero. ''[wallops him]''

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Subverted by the Big Bad Wolf dog catcher in "Three Little Pups", who is introduced like an over-the-top stage villain with an evil sneer, and goes right to work trying to snag Droopy and his fellow pups with great relish. After failing to blow Droopy's house down and a few seconds of furious, but fruitless effort to force open Droopy's door, the wolf instantly and permanently drops the hamminess and turns into a laid-back MellowFellow who never loses his chill again, in this short or in any of the others he appears in.

The character has appeared in other works since the end of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, with a renewed series by Creator/{{Filmation}} in the early 1980's, a cameo in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' (and each of the subsequent WesternAnimation/RogerRabbitShorts), and appearances in several ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' spinoffs such as ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryKids'' (which in turn spawned a Droopy-centric spinoff, ''WesternAnimation/DroopyMasterDetective'') and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTales''.

* ArtEvolution: The image above is Droopy's first appearance, where's he's drawn with more emphasized jowls, baggy eyes and in generally looks more, well, droopy. He even has a belly button. As time went on and [[NoBudget MGM began slashing budgets]] for cartoons, he was redesigned to be smaller and more geometric, making him [[LimitedAnimation easier to animate]].

* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover to the VHS tape "Here Comes Droopy" depicts a scene from ''Out-Foxed'', which is not on the tape. Averted when the same cover was reused for the "Compleat Tex Avery" laserdisc, which does indeed have the cartoon.

* CreepyMonotone: Droopy speaks in monotone all the time.

* DogsLoveFireHydrants: In ''Dumb-Hounded'' Droopy walks behind a hydrant and after a brief pause, walks out with a look of embarassment on his face.

* UglySpouseSentence: In "The Chump Champ", Droopy and Butch (here named Gorgeous Gorrilawitz) are competing in a sports event, with the winner being crowned King Of Sports. As part of the prize, the King Of Sports will receive a kiss from the Queen Of Sports, which is likely a separate event occurring for women. After being crowned King Of Sports (which he did by showing the announcer a forged document stating that Droopy cheated to win the events), Gorgeous Gorillawitz excitedly watches as the Queen Of Sports is slowly revealed. Slowly the curtain is pulled up, showing the Queen Of Sports has a thin, lithe, attractive body... and then her face is revealed, which looks like WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} [[{{Butterface}} with make-up on]], much to Gorgeous' shock. The Queen Of Sports excitedly runs towards Gorgeous, eager to give him the kiss, only for Gorgeous to scream in terror and run away, with the Queen Of Sports in hot pursuit and still as eager.

* {{Bowdlerization}}: If some of the gags from ''Droopy's Good Deed'' seem to end rather abruptly, there's a good reason for it: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfN3bGYyR9I original payoffs]] each involved Spike (and a hapless old rich guy) getting turned into a {{Blackface Style Caricature}} from the various mishaps.

* {{Bowdlerization}}: If some of the gags from ''Droopy's Good Deed'' seems to end rather abruptly, there's a good reason for it: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfN3bGYyR9I original payoffs]] each involved Spike (and a hapless old rich guy) getting turned into a {{Blackface Style Caricature}} from the various mishaps.

* ''The Shooting of Dan [=McGoo=]'' (1945)

* ''Out-Foxed'' (1949)

* TakeOurWordForIt: In the Droopy cartoon ''The Three Little Pups'', one scene ends with the pursuing dogcatcher swallowing Droopy's TV set whole. A couple of scenes later, Droopy and his brothers are watching tv again, and he says to us "Now, don't ask how we got the television set back." Probably just intended as a wink toward cartoon continuity, but the implication was it happened the "natural" way.

* BornLucky: Its rare for anything to go wrong for Droopy in stark contrast to just how bad the luck of his foes is.

* ''Caballero Droopy'' (1952)

** ''Hello, all you happy people!''
** ''You know what? I'm happy!''
** ''You know what? That makes me mad!''

* SurprisinglySuperToughThing: "The Three Little Pups" has Droopy’s brick doghouse. While it obviously holds against the Wolf trying to blow it down, it also manages to survive against an axe, hammer, having its door rammed by a log, and enough explosives to level a town. Lampshaded by the Wolf in the cartoon.
-->'''"Now there’s a well-built doghouse, man."'''

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The MellowFellow wolf antagonist is established as being from the DeepSouth, not only due to his accept and repeatedly whistling "The Year of Jubilo", but also due to him admiring the Confederate flag during ''Blackboard Jumble''.

Droopy is a pathetically tiny, very melancholic, slow-moving dog. His DeadpanSnarker comments often form a sharp contrast to the zaniness of other characters around him and makes them appear even wilder. The plot of his cartoons are very similar. He is usually given some kind of mission that he needs to accomplish and allows him to be pitted against one of his two main antagonists: Wolfie the Wolf or Spike the bulldog. At first the odds seem against him, because he's such a tiny and slow dog. Yet Droopy is intelligent and always master of the situation. If his BerserkButton is touched he can even showcase enormous strength and beat up those who underestimate him.

* BerserkButton: Whatever you do to Droopy, don't ever, EVER deface a picture of the girl he loves...or take away his son's milk.

''Droopy'' is a cartoon character created by Creator/TexAvery during [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons his years with MGM]] (1942-1954). This low-key basset hound was his most popular recurring MGM character, and remains an icon of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Subverted by the Big Bad Wolf dog catcher in "Three Little Pups", who is introduced like an over-the-top stage villain with an evil sneer, and goes right to work trying to snag Droopy and his fellow pups with great relish. After failing to blow Droopy's house down and a few seconds of furious, but fruitless effort to force open Droopy's door, the wolf instantly and permanently drops the hamminess and turns into a laid-back GoodOldBoy who never loses his chill again, in this short or in any of the others he appears in.