Synopsis
Droopy inherits a fortune, but the will says that if he meets an untimely death all the money will go to Spike, who spends the entire film trying to make this happen.
Wags to Riches
Cast
Studios
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Un Cador Cousu D'Or, Erben oder Sterben?, Scherzi da ricchi, 麻犬变凤凰
Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USA
Releases by Country
USA
13 Aug 1949
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
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Lightning in a bottle. Rapid fire gags that all hit, a cruel streak so wide you could Tokyo drift a parade through it, a surrealist's eye for formalism, and an understanding of character so deft that you could build a Swiss clock around it. This would easily be the crown jewel in any other director's oeuvre. I doubt it cracks Tex Avery's top thirty.
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Droopy inherits a millionaire’s fortune, but should he die, too, the other dog, Spike, will get it all. That gives Spike ideas, and the rest of the cartoon consists of Spike trying to murder Droopy in a series of increasingly baroque — and inept — ways. It’s not a bad setup for a Tex Avery cartoon, but screenwriters Jack Cosgriff and Rich Hogan make the mistake of giving Droopy very little agency in his own cartoon. It’s not unusual for him to be off-screen for considerable amounts of time in these cartoons, but we’re always certain that he’s persisting. Here, he seems to survive by luck alone, which is simply less satisfying.
The animation, however, is great, as usual. And…
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Another all time classic ‘Wags to Riches’ has Spike try multiple times to murder an oblivious Droopy. Droopy has been bequeathed a fortune that Spike expected to inherit. Besides all the great Tex Avery sight gags, there is some unsuccessful animation in this one. Spike has a hole in his head at one point, after tying to use a camera gun to off Droopy. Spike stumbles around the room and we’re meant to see ‘through’ the whole. While this would work great in limited animation, just sliding Spike’s head cell over the background, in 1949 the animators try too hard to movie Spike around the room and animate the background inside his head. A lot of effort for an effect…
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Spike spends the entire short trying to kill Droopy, so he can inherit millions, while Droopy spends the entire short oblivious to the constant attempts on his life.
Classic Tex Avery.
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Interesting that Droopy (despite having very few lines) is voiced by Don Messick instead of Bill Thompson in this one and he wouldn't voice his character again until 40+ years later for Tom and Jerry Kids.
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Solid Droopy cartoon, if a bit forgettable, but I think much of that stems from Spike being the real center here, and Spike not being terribly interesting to me. He's a very "generic cartoon dog" sort of character.
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Spike tries to murder Droopy so he can claim his inheritance. Somehow, the payoffs (read: comeuppances) are never as clever or as complex as the setups promise. Later remade (read: cannibalized) in CinemaScope.
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Reminded me a lot of something you'd see on Tom and Jerry but with dogs. Droopy is very relatable.
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Standard Tex. Lots of funny gags and some really funny animation in some places.
The lighter and shotgun gags are classic.