Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Wags to Riches" is an American 7-minute cartoon from 1949, so this one has its 70th anniversary next year and it is not one by Disney or Warner Bros, but by MGM and Tex Avery and while many of theirs do not have recurring characters, we got one of their trademark figures here: Droopy. And the usual approach for him is that he is not really in the center of it all, but Spike is, the other dog hoping he could inherit a fortune from Droopy in the event of the latter's (untimely) death, so Spike actually tries all kinds of ways to kill Droopy and it backfires each and every time obviously because Droopy is a real talent when it comes to survivalism. This is basically the key approach here and it is many really short films packed into one. These very short films are funny, some more some less, but the best thing here was maybe the first 90 seconds, the introduction to the whole scenario and how we see how Spike (thinks he) fits the descriptions from his owner in the man's will. But even after that it is a pretty funny, highly creative little work. I'm personally not the biggest Droopy fan, but if you like him more than I do, then maybe you will appreciate this one even more. Still i give it a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out, especially to those who love old cartoons. Go for it. And yes this one was successful enough to get remade even. And it also got referenced far more frequently in other works than you'd expect from a cartoon from around that time. Both these facts show the success and how appreciated it was, still is. Positively recommended.