The Shooting of Dan McGoo

1945 American film

The Shooting of Dan McGoo

Original Theatrical Release poster

Directed by| Tex Avery
Written by| Heck Allen
Based on| "The Shooting of Dan McGrew"
by Robert W. Service
Produced by| Fred Quimby
Starring|

* Bill Thompson
* Tex Avery
* Frank Graham
* Patrick McGeehan
* Sara Berner
* Imogene Lynn
* Pinto Colvig

Edited by| Fred McAlpin
Music by| Scott Bradley
Animation by|

* Ed Love
* Ray Abrams
* Preston Blair

Layouts by| John Didrik Johnsen
Backgrounds by| John Didrik Johnsen
Color process| Technicolor

Production
company

MGM Cartoons

Distributed by| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Release date

* March 3, 1945 (1945-03-03)

Running time

| 7 minutes 52 seconds
Country| United States
Language| English

The Shooting of Dan McGoo is a cartoon directed by Tex Avery and starring Frank Graham as the Wolf.[1] Both Bill Thompson and Avery himself voiced the lead character Droopy.[2][3] Sara Berner did the speaking voice of Lou, while her singing was provided by Imogene Lynn.[4] The cartoon was edited for a 1951 re-release.[5] It is a loose remake of Avery's 1939 cartoon for Warner Bros., Dangerous Dan McFoo.

## Plot

[edit]

The cartoon starts off as an adaptation of Robert W. Service's poem in spoof of The Shooting of Dan McGrew, complete with a literal depiction of a man with one foot in the grave. But when Dan McGoo turns out to be Droopy, it turns into a Droopy-versus-the Wolf/Wolf-goes-ape-for-the-girl gagfest.

The story begins in Coldernell, Alaska--Population 324 and getting smaller--a wild, rough town where gold is king while gambling, drinking, and shooting each other are the major activities. Droopy is "Dangerous Dan McGoo", a lone gambler, whose only love is the girl they call "Lou", played by Red (from Red Hot Riding Hood). The wolf drags himself into the Malamute Saloon from the 50-below cold and immediately pays for "drinks on the house".

In a gag, the wolf wants a drink of whiskey (Old Block Buster 4000 lb proof). After he chugs it down, the film shows his stomach being blasted from the drink. His eyes go red and smoke comes out of his ears. He flies around the room and comes back down to the bar. Leaning over to the bartender, he complains: "This stuff's been cut!". Droopy makes a little remark to the wolf about the price of the whiskey, as if it were the price of gasoline. The wolf resents his joke ("T'ain't funny, McGoo"--a play on a catchphrase from the radio show Fibber McGee and Molly) and draws out a giant switchblade knife, about to end Droopy's life, until he stops and hears the fanfare for the lady known as Lou making her appearance.

As always, the wolf falls for Lou and tries to drag her off, but not before he goes on a shooting spree against anyone who objects to it. He shoots at a man who hides behind the table, but the table, somehow, hides behind the would-be victim. Then he shoots at the drinkers at the bar, one at a time, dropped dead from their wounds; their ghosts, however, resumed their drinking. The mortician, named Rig R. Mortis, is present at the bar, tallying the victims; his business is thriving. The wolf shoots at a different table where the card players are sitting at, the group ran away with the whole table and made their exit. Then, he shoots at the bartender covering the painting. The latter gasps and hides under the bar, revealing the woman in the half-finished painting, it says, "I ain't got no body" in the middle.

The wolf, carrying Lou, tries to make good his escape, but Droopy was waiting for him. That was when "the lights went out! A woman screamed and two guns blazed in the dark!" When the lights go back on, Droopy is victorious and receives a kiss from Lou (which he reacts to with the same antics his foe did, earlier).

## Voice cast

[edit]

* Bill Thompson (line reused from Big Heel-Watha), Pinto Colvig (howling; reused from Red Hot Riding Hood)[6] and Tex Avery ... Droopy[7]
* Frank Graham ... Wolf, Bartender, Narrator[7]
* Sara Berner ... Lou (dialogue)[7]
* Imogene Lynn ... Lou (vocals)[7]
* Patrick McGeehan ... Piano Player (line reused from What's Buzzin' Buzzard)[8][7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 76–77. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
2. ^ "Didn't Tex Avery do a lot of the voices in his cartoons?". News From ME. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
3. ^ ""Hello All You Happy Tax Payers": Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
4. ^ Daily Variety, March 10, 1945, pg. 10
5. ^ http://www.cartoonresearch.com/mgm.html \- Jerry Beck's Cartoon Research
6. ^ Scott, Keith (3 October 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media.
7. ^ a b c d e “Pretty Long Wait, Wasn’t It?”: TEX AVERY’S VOICE ACTORS (Volume 3)
8. ^ Yowp (2021-04-26). "Tralfaz: The Eyes Have It". Tralfaz. Retrieved 2021-06-03.

## External links

[edit]

* The Shooting of Dan McGoo at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Tex Avery

Short subjects|

| Walter Lantz|

* Towne Hall Follies (1935)
* The Quail Hunt (1935)
* I'm Cold (1954)
* Crazy Mixed Up Pup (1955)
* The Legend of Rockabye Point (1955)
* Sh-h-h-h-h-h (1955)

|

Warner Bros.|

* Gold Diggers of '49 (1935)
* Plane Dippy (1936)
* Page Miss Glory (1936)
* The Blow Out (1936)
* I'd Love to Take Orders from You (1936)
* I Love to Singa (1936)
* Porky the Rain Maker (1936)
* The Village Smithy (1936)
* Milk and Money (1936)
* Don't Look Now  (1936)
* Porky the Wrestler (1937)
* Picador Porky (1937)
* I Only Have Eyes for You (1937)
* Porky's Duck Hunt (1937)
* Uncle Tom's Bungalow (1937)
* Ain't We Got Fun (1937)
* Egghead Rides Again (1937)
* A Sunbonnet Blue (1937)
* Porky's Garden (1937)
* I Wanna Be a Sailor (1937)
* Little Red Walking Hood (1937)
* Daffy Duck & Egghead (1938)
* The Sneezing Weasel (1938)
* The Penguin Parade (1938)
* The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1938)
* Cinderella Meets Fella (1938)
* A Feud There Was (1938)
* Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas (1938)
* Daffy Duck in Hollywood (1938)
* The Mice Will Play (1938)
* Hamateur Night (1939)
* A Day at the Zoo (1939)
* Thugs with Dirty Mugs (1939)
* Believe It or Else (1939)
* Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939)
* Detouring America (1939)
* Land of the Midnight Fun (1939)
* Fresh Fish (1939)
* Screwball Football (1939)
* The Early Worm Gets the Bird (1940)
* Cross-Country Detours (1940)
* The Bear's Tale (1940)
* A Gander at Mother Goose (1940)
* Circus Today (1940)
* A Wild Hare (1940)
* Ceiling Hero (1940)
* Wacky Wild Life (1940)
* Of Fox and Hounds (1940)
* Holiday Highlights (1940)
* The Crackpot Quail (1941)
* The Haunted Mouse (1941)
* Tortoise Beats Hare (1941)
* Hollywood Steps Out (1941)
* Porky's Preview (1941)
* The Heckling Hare (1941)
* Aviation Vacation (1941)
* All This and Rabbit Stew (1941)
* The Bug Parade (1941)
* The Cagey Canary (1941)
* Wabbit Twouble (1941)
* Aloha Hooey (1942)
* Crazy Cruise (1942)

Paramount Pictures|

* Down on the Farm (1941)
* In a Pet Shop (1941)
* In the Zoo (1941)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|

* Blitz Wolf (1942)
* The Early Bird Dood It! (1942)
* Dumb-Hounded (1943)
* Red Hot Riding Hood (1943)
* Who Killed Who? (1943)
* One Ham's Family (1943)
* What's Buzzin' Buzzard (1943)
* Screwy Squirrel (1944)
* Batty Baseball (1944)
* Happy-Go-Nutty (1944)
* Big Heel-Watha (1944)
* The Screwy Truant (1945)
* The Shooting of Dan McGoo (1945)
* Jerky Turkey (1945)
* Swing Shift Cinderella (1945)
* Wild and Woolfy (1945)
* Lonesome Lenny (1946)
* The Hick Chick (1946)
* Northwest Hounded Police (1946)
* Henpecked Hoboes (1946)
* Hound Hunters (1947)
* Red Hot Rangers (1947)
* Uncle Tom's Cabaña (1947)
* Slap Happy Lion (1947)
* King-Size Canary (1947)
* What Price Fleadom (1948)
* Little 'Tinker (1948)
* Half-Pint Pygmy (1948)
* Lucky Ducky (1948)
* The Cat That Hated People (1948)
* Bad Luck Blackie (1949)
* Señor Droopy (1949)
* The House of Tomorrow (1949)
* Doggone Tired (1949)
* Wags to Riches (1949)
* Little Rural Riding Hood (1949)
* Out-Foxed (1949)
* The Counterfeit Cat (1949)
* Ventriloquist Cat (1950)
* The Cuckoo Clock (1950)
* Garden Gopher (1950)
* The Chump Champ (1950)
* The Peachy Cobbler (1950)
* Cock-a-Doodle Dog (1951)
* Daredevil Droopy (1951)
* Droopy's Good Deed (1951)
* Symphony in Slang (1951)
* Car of Tomorrow (1951)
* Droopy's Double Trouble (1951)
* Magical Maestro (1952)
* One Cab's Family (1952)
* Rock-a-Bye Bear (1952)
* Little Johnny Jet (1953)
* The T.V. of Tomorrow (1953)
* The Three Little Pups (1953)
* Drag-a-Long Droopy (1954)
* Billy Boy (1954)
* Homesteader Droopy (1954)
* The Farm of Tomorrow (1954)
* The Flea Circus (1954)
* Dixieland Droopy (1954)
* Field and Scream (1955)
* The First Bad Man (1955)
* Deputy Droopy (1955)
* Cellbound (1955)
* Millionaire Droopy (1956)
* Cat's Meow (1957)

Characters|

* Big Bad Wolf
* Bugs Bunny
* Butch
* Cecil Turtle
* Chilly Willy
* Daffy Duck
* Droopy
* Elmer Fudd
* George and Junior
* Porky Pig
* Red
* Screwy Squirrel
* Willoughby

Related|

* Casper's First Christmas
* The Kwicky Koala Show
* The Tex Avery Show
* The Wacky World of Tex Avery
* Tex Avery Screwball Classics

* v
* t
* e

Robert W. Service's "The Shooting of Dan McGrew"

Films|

| Features|

* The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1915)
* The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1924)

|

Shorts|

* Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939)
* The Shooting of Dan McGoo (1945)

Related|

* Songs of a Sourdough

* v
* t
* e

Robert W. Service

Works|

* "Bob Smart's Dream" (1906)
* Songs of a Sourdough (1907)
* "The Cremation of Sam McGee"
* "The Shooting of Dan McGrew"

Film adaptations|

| Features|

* My Madonna (1915)
* The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1915)
* The Lure of Heart's Desire (1916)
* The Spell of the Yukon (1916)
* The Law of the Yukon (1920)
* The Roughneck (1923)
* Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo (1924)
* The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1924)
* The Trail of '98 (1928)

|

Serials|

* Clancy of the Mounted (1933)

Shorts|

* Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939)
* The Shooting of Dan McGoo (1945)

Other adaptation|

* War War War

Related|

* The Spoilers (1942 film)
* Robert Service High School

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