Editing Droopy (section)

==History==
===Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer===
Droopy first appeared in the [[MGM]] [[cartoon]] ''Dumb-Hounded'', released on March 20, 1943. Droopy's first scene is when he saunters into view, looks at the audience, and declares, "Hello, all you happy people ... you know what? I'm the hero." In the cartoon, Droopy is tracking an escaped convict and is always waiting for the crook wherever he turns up. Avery had used a similar gag in his ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' short ''[[Tortoise Beats Hare]]'' (1941) starring [[Bugs Bunny]], which in turn was an expansion/exaggeration of the premise of his ''[[The Blow Out]]'' (1936) with [[Porky Pig]]. In fact, this cartoon shows that early ideas about Droopy's personality were already germinating, as that film's [[Cecil Turtle]] has similarities to Droopy.

Droopy's meek, [[deadpan]] [[voice]] and personality were modeled after the character Wallace Wimple on the [[radio comedy]] ''[[Fibber McGee and Molly]]''; actor [[Bill Thompson (voice actor)|Bill Thompson]], who played Wimple, was the original voice of Droopy. During his time in the [[United States Navy|US Navy]] during World War II, the role was played by other voice actors, including [[Don Messick]], who reprised the role in the 1990s. Avery's preferred gag man [[Henry Wilson Allen|Heck Allen]] said that Avery himself provided the voice on several occasions, and "You couldn't tell the difference."<ref>Adamson, Joe, ''Tex Avery: King of Cartoons'', Da Capo Press, 1975.</ref> Droopy himself was a versatile actor: he could play a [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|Mountie]], a cowboy, a deputy, an heir, or a [[Dixieland]]-loving everyday Joe with equal ease. The same voice was used for Big Heel-Watha in the [[Screwy Squirrel]] cartoon of the same name and for a Pilgrim who chases a turkey modeled after [[Jimmy Durante]] in Avery's 1945 short ''[[Jerky Turkey]]''.

One of Droopy's more surprising traits is his incredible strength, given his diminutive stature and unassuming looks and personality, but this was usually reserved for when he was upset (with a few rare exceptions, where he very easily moved his adversary without harming him), at which time he would say in a monotone voice "You know what? That makes me mad" prior to thrashing the hapless villain of the piece. One such occasion was in ''Señor Droopy'', where he did this to a bull. It happened again in ''One Droopy Knight'', where a dragon was Droopy's victim. In the second case, he also broke the dragon's tail off and knocked him very far away with it like a baseball bat (apparently, it regenerated like a lizard's tail, given the unharmed dragon later became Droopy's servant/pet). This was also once done by a baby version of Droopy in the Western-themed short ''Homesteader Droopy''. One example of Droopy showing his strength without being provoked was in ''The Chump Champ'' in which [[Spike and Tyke (characters)|Spike]] (as "Gorgeous Gorillawitz") stuffs an anvil in a speed bag. Droopy easily punches the bag several times but when Spike takes a swipe at it, half of him shatters to the ground. Another [[running gag]] that occurred during many of Droopy's cartoons was whenever Droopy's adversaries chopped down a tree. As the tree started coming down and was about to crush the unsuspecting Droopy, the adversary would run far the opposite way, point to the sky, and shout, "TIM.....". Then, in a moment of surprise, the tree would change direction and end up crushing the adversary instead and he would finish by saying, ".....ber" while still pointing to the sky with a look of confusion on his face.
In most of his cartoons, Droopy matches wits with either a slick anthropomorphic [[Wolf]] (the Wolf character "portrays" the crooks in both ''Dumb-hounded'' and its semi-remake, ''Northwest Hounded Police'' (1946)) or a bulldog named "[[Spike and Tyke (characters)|Spike]]", sometimes silent, sometimes sporting a [[Gaels|Gaelic]] accent. Two Droopy cartoons&nbsp;– ''[[The Shooting of Dan McGoo]]'' and ''[[Wild and Woolfy]]''&nbsp;– also feature appearances from the [[Red (animated character)|curvy cutie]] of Avery's ''[[Red Hot Riding Hood]]'' (1943) as a damsel in distress being pursued by the Wolf. Three later Droopy cartoons&nbsp;–''Three Little Pups'' (1953), ''Blackboard Jumble'' (1957), and ''Sheep Wrecked'' (1958)&nbsp;– feature a slow-moving southern wolf character. Voiced by [[Daws Butler]] in a dialect Butler later used for [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s [[Huckleberry Hound]], this wolf was a more deadpan character with a tendency to whistle "[[Kingdom Coming]]" (aka "Jubalio") to himself (much like Huckleberry would sing "[[Oh My Darling Clementine]]" to himself).

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Droopy.JPG|thumbnail|right|A version of ''Droopy'' redesigned by [[William Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera]].]] -->
Avery took a year-long break from MGM from 1950 to 1951, during which time [[Dick Lundy (animator)|Dick Lundy]] took over his unit to do one Droopy cartoon, ''Caballero Droopy'', and several ''[[Barney Bear]]'' cartoons. Avery returned in late 1951 and continued with Droopy and his one-shots until the Avery unit was dissolved by MGM in 1953. Michael Lah, an Avery animator, stayed on long enough to help [[William Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera]] complete ''Deputy Droopy'' after Avery had left the studio. Lah himself then left MGM, but returned in 1955 to direct [[CinemaScope]] Droopy cartoons costarring either Spike (now called Butch because of the same-named bulldog in Hanna and Barbera's [[Tom and Jerry]] cartoons) or the "Kingdom Coming"-whistling wolf. The opening title card was replaced with a newly drawn sequence in which Droopy gives his deadpan greeting: "Hello, all you happy people." Seven Droopy cartoons were created under the H-B production stable. One of these, ''One Droopy Knight'' (1957), was nominated for the 1957 [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film|Best Short Subject (Cartoons)]]. However, by the time of ''One Droopy Knight'''s release in December 1957, the MGM cartoon studio had been closed for six months, a casualty of corporate downsizing.

===Later appearances===
In 1980, [[Filmation]] produced a series of lower-budget Droopy [[short film|shorts]] for television as part of its ''Tom and Jerry'' TV series ''[[The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show]]''. In the 1990s [[Hanna-Barbera]] series ''[[Tom & Jerry Kids]]'', Droopy had a young son named Dripple (voiced by [[Charlie Adler]]), an older version of the infant we see in ''Homesteader Droopy''. The mild success of the show provided perhaps the most Droopy merchandise: plush toys, gummy snacks, figurines, etc. In 1993, ''Tom & Jerry Kids'' had a spin-off series, ''[[Droopy, Master Detective]]'', which cast Droopy and son as film noir style detectives. Droopy also had cameos in two theatrical features: as an elevator operator in ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' (where he was voiced by the film's animation director [[Richard Williams (animator)|Richard Williams]]), and in ''[[Tom and Jerry: The Movie]]''. Droopy also had cameos in all three subsequent [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney]]-produced [[Roger Rabbit]] shorts, ''[[List of Who Framed Roger Rabbit media#Tummy Trouble|Tummy Trouble]]'' (again he's an elevator operator), ''[[Roller Coaster Rabbit]]'' (he plays a bad guy dressed as [[Snidely Whiplash]]), and ''[[List of Who Framed Roger Rabbit media#Trail Mix-Up|Trail Mix-Up]]'' (he plays a scuba diver), and the 1992 animated TV special ''[[Little Rosey|The Rosey and Buddy Show]]''.<ref name="Rosey Buddy">{{cite web|last1=Bollettieri|first1=Spencer|title=15 Bizarre Celebrity Cartoons You've Never Heard Of|url=https://www.cbr.com/bizarre-celebrity-cartoons/|date=November 25, 2024|publisher=CBR|access-date=May 1, 2025}}</ref> Droopy also appears in the 2006 cartoon series ''[[Tom and Jerry Tales]]'', and has appeared in almost every ''Tom and Jerry'' direct-to-video movie, beginning with ''[[Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring]]'', either as an ally or an enemy.

Droopy appeared on various [[Cartoon Network]] specials and bumpers throughout the 1990s. When the network launched on October 1, 1992, Droopy was the host of the special "Droopy's Guide to the Cartoon Network", which served as an orientation for the new channel.<ref>{{Citation |title=Droopy's Guide to the Cartoon Network (1992, COMPLETE) | date=September 18, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLlWBWSvXDo |language=en |access-date=2022-03-03}}</ref> In 1997, Droopy appeared in the faux cartoon [[blooper reel]] bumper ''Bloopers of the Cartoon Stars''. Here, he says his signature line "I'm so happy" while actually smiling.<ref>{{Cite Youtube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF51aUEaUAc |title=Cartoon Network - Bloopers of the Cartoon Stars (1997, USA) |date=July 23, 2021 |last=CartoonNetworkTwo 2.0}}</ref>

In June 1999, Droopy appeared in a Cartoon Network short entitled ''Thanks a Latté'', in which he works at a coffee shop and forces a stingy wolf into giving him a tip. In said short, the character is depicted with a bald head and was voiced by [[Jeff Bergman]]. The short aired on Cartoon Network's sister channel [[Boomerang (TV network)|Boomerang]] until 2015. During the same period, Droopy was also featured in [[Adult Swim]]'s ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law]]'' in the episode "Droopy Botox", voiced by [[Maurice LaMarche]]. He is seen seeking a settlement after a cosmetic surgeon injected him with too much [[Botulinum toxin|botox]] (a [[running gag]] in this episode was the fact that Droopy was often seen crying despite having a huge grin frozen on his face, a reverse of the classic cartoons where a sad-faced Droopy often said, "You know what? I'm happy"). A memorable Cartoon Network promotional spot featured Droopy (voiced by Don Messick) and Shaggy from Hanna-Barbera's ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' parodying a dialog scene between Jules and Vincent in ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''.

A three-issue Droopy comic book miniseries was released in the mid-1990s by [[Dark Horse Comics]].