Deputy Droopy (1955) - MGM

Okay... where do I start to describe this particular cartoon and how it inspires me?

Well for starters this cartoon is a showcase for the talents of two of cartoon animations greatest talents; Tex Avery & Ed Benedict. For me, this cartoon is the perfect example of how to take an extremely simple premise, gag, or storyline and bend and twist it to the breaking point without making it feel boring, contrived, or overdone. In the hands of a much less talented director this short would have been a painful experience, but Tex knew exactly how to get a lot of mileage out of what would typically be a one-shot gag. Add to this the brilliant design sense and capabilities of one of my art heroes - Ed Benedict, who was in charge of the layout for this short, and you end up with a major turning point in Tex's work & the Droopy character. These two cartoon creating geniuses would go on to work together on many more shorts during this time period, and I feel they still hold up today as great examples of simple yet engaging cartoon shorts. This cartoon also seems to be significant since it marks a change in Tex's cartoons towards a much more "modern" visual style than what we had been accustomed to previously with Tex's work. To me, this had a lot to do with Benedict being involved on such a key level in these shorts. Here, Benedicts signature graphic approach to design & style was maintained and not watered down nearly so much as it had been on the multitude of Hanna-Barbera shorts that he worked on. As you can see from some of the grabs below the result is a cartoon loaded with scenes that are spilling over with appealing, strong poses that are just flat out wacky and hilarious in true Tex Avery Form while implementing a much more "modern" 7 graphic approach to design.