If you thought that every possible scenario for a love story had gotten played out on screen, think again! One of the miscellaneous cartoons* from the Warner Bros. animation department - although at this time it was still Leon Schlesinger Studios - Friz Freleng's "Ding Dog Daddy" features a none-too-bright canine going around looking for love. He eventually finds it...except that his love interest is a statue guarded by a ferocious bulldog! OK, so most of the miscellaneous cartoons will probably never reach the quality displayed by Bugs, Daffy, Porky and the rest. But even so, I think that this cartoon is worth checking out. Aside from the cartoon's status as a WWII time capsule (the part about scrap metal reminds us that the government actually came up with ways for people to contribute to the war effort, rather than just encourage more consumption), an interesting point is the dog's voice. His voice is provided by Pinto Colvig, better known as the voice of Goofy in the Disney cartoons. Earlier in 1942, he had provided the voice of the title character in Chuck Jones's "Conrad the Sailor" (as a deckhand whom Daffy Duck torments). And I say that he did a very good job in both cartoons.
So, while this is far from their best cartoon, I still consider it worth seeing. I mean, there's some great battles between the main dog and the bulldog. Pretty funny.
*Annually, each director had to direct a certain number of cartoons starring Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Elmer. Then, each director got to direct a couple starring his own characters: Chuck Jones had Pepe Le Pew and Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote; Friz Freleng had Yosemite Sam and Sylvester/Tweety; Robert McKimson had Foghorn Leghorn and Hippety Hopper (and later the Tasmanian Devil), while Freleng and McKimson alternated between Speedy Gonzales. After completing all these, each director got to do one or two miscellaneous cartoons. "Ding Dog Daddy" was one example, but probably the most famous one was "One Froggy Evening".
So, while this is far from their best cartoon, I still consider it worth seeing. I mean, there's some great battles between the main dog and the bulldog. Pretty funny.
*Annually, each director had to direct a certain number of cartoons starring Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Elmer. Then, each director got to direct a couple starring his own characters: Chuck Jones had Pepe Le Pew and Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote; Friz Freleng had Yosemite Sam and Sylvester/Tweety; Robert McKimson had Foghorn Leghorn and Hippety Hopper (and later the Tasmanian Devil), while Freleng and McKimson alternated between Speedy Gonzales. After completing all these, each director got to do one or two miscellaneous cartoons. "Ding Dog Daddy" was one example, but probably the most famous one was "One Froggy Evening".