Of Fox and Hounds

1940 film

December 7, 1940 (1940-12-07)

Running time

9:19LanguageEnglish

Of Fox and Hounds is a 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies directed by Tex Avery.^[1] The short was released on December 7, 1940, and introduces Willoughby the Dog.^[2] Avery performed the voice of Willoughby, and Mel Blanc voiced George the Fox and the bear's yells. The short is an attempt to duplicate the success of the 1940 Bugs Bunny short A Wild Hare by giving another anthropomorphic animal the same unflappable demeanor.^[3] The names of Tex Avery, Dave Monohan, Carl W. Stalling, and possibly Charles McKimson intentionally draft numbers in the credits.

Plot

The film focuses on a sly fox, George, and a lovable but dim-witted hound, Willoughby, who repeatedly asks George where the fox went, never suspecting that his "friend" George is the fox. Invariably, George the Fox tells Willoughby that the fox is on the other side of a rail fence, which is actually at the edge of a steep cliff. Willoughby's line, "Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?" long ago became a catchphrase,^[4] as did "Thanks a lot, George, thanks a lot!"

Voice cast

Mel Blanc as George the Fox
Tex Avery as Willoughby the Dog

Home media

Disc 1 of the Region 2 PAL 5-DVD set "La collection Tex Avery," published in France in 2010, along with two other bonus Warner Brothers cartoons by him, Dangerous Dan McFoo on Disc 2 and with Aviation Vacation on Disc 4.
The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 2, Side 9

References

^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 110. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 104–106. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
^ Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. p. 67. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.
^ "Tex Avery".

External links

Of Fox and Hounds at IMDb
Extensive critical analysis of Of Fox and Hounds by Steven Hartley

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)