''Dixieland Droopy'' is a 1954
animated short subject
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
in the ''
Droopy'' series, directed by
Tex Avery and produced by
Fred Quimby for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The soundtrack version of this cartoon without dialogue as part of ''
Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery Too!: Volume 1: The 1950s'' soundtrack album by Scott Bradley Disc 1, 9th track in 2006.
Plot summary
An unseen narrator (John Brown) tells the story of a
Dixieland-music-loving dog named John Pettybone (Droopy, voice of
Bill Thompson). Pettybone's one love is listening to a record of Dixieland jazz, specifically "
Tiger Rag", and pretending to conduct the music. Unfortunately, the manager of the dump where Pettybone lives is not a fan of Dixieland, and he evicts the hapless dog from the dump.
Pettybone travels to several locations (a cafe, an
organ grinder, an
ice cream truck and a
merry-go-round
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
) in an attempt to play his music, but is thrown out each time. Pettybone is heartbroken when his record is accidentally smashed, but his luck changes when he discovers a
flea circus with a group of
fleas called "Pee Wee Runt and his All-Flea Dixieland Band". He goes in the circus tent with its sign saying that dogs aren't allowed inside. As Pettybone hoped, the fleas choose to go with him and for him to be their conductor, but the flea circus owner is not pleased by Pettybone taking his fleas and demands them returned. Pettybone refuses to comply, and so is pursued by him throughout the city, with the fleas playing all the time (putting the fur of Pettybone's rear back on him after a meat market owner cuts it off, stopping when Pettybone slows and creeps quickly to go through a hospital zone and restarting by his command after doing so, slowing down as he is slowed by tar and even taking a smoke break).
The pursuit continues with the owner chasing Pettybone inside Jazza Plaza, where Pettybone ultimately escapes the owner by hiding inside a theatrical agent's office. The agent does not approve of dog acts, and demands for Pettybone to leave, but upon inadvertently starting up the flea band's music once again and hearing it, he mistakenly believes that Pettybone is making the music himself. Pettybone becomes famous as "John Pettybone, Dog of Mystery", and realizes his dream of playing the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...
.
As the cartoon concludes with a close-up of the flea circus band, the narrator states no one ever discovered the secret to Pettybone's music and never will. Because only Pee Wee Runt knew and would never tell as he, the trumpeter, Pee Wee Runt, reveals, "For you see, he - that flea, Pee Wee - is me! See?"
See also
*
Pee Wee Erwin
*
Pee Wee Hunt
References
External links
*
''Dixieland Droopy''at the
Big Cartoon DataBase
1954 animated films
1954 short films
1954 films
1950s American animated films
1950s animated short films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films directed by Tex Avery
Droopy
American animated short films
Films scored by Scott Bradley
Films with screenplays by Henry Wilson Allen
Dixieland
Jazz films
Films set in Los Angeles
Animated films about insects
Films produced by Fred Quimby
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films
Animated films about music and musicians
1950s English-language films
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