. . . opens each of his pictures with the catch-phrase, "Hello, all you greedy people." This is because greed always has been at the center of most if not all of "Leo's" film offerings. Each episode featuring this diminutive canine seems to focus on greedy individuals attacking the lap dog, and MILLIONAIRE DROOPY is no exception to this rule. Just as director Gus van S-a-n-t did a shot-for-shot color remake of PSYCHO, Michael L-a-h does a shot-for-shot widescreen P-a-n-a-vision remake of WAGS TO RICHES. Both versions of PSYCHO involve a greedy wench getting her just desserts, and both iterations of WAGS TO RICHES concern a greedy hound dog getting caught up in all of his own mercenary snares. Hard to believe that the same studio that released 24 Droopy's also foisted off scores of the iniquitous "Crime Pays" episodes around the same time.
7 Reviews
'Wags to Riches' but in Cinemascope and considerably less rich
TheLittleSongbird10 October 2017
Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.
As has been said, Tex Avery wasn't responsible for directing 'Millionaire Droopy', which basically just uses his drawings for 'Wags to Riches' and putting them against considerably less detailed backgrounds and in Cinemascope. 'Millionaire Droopy' is enjoyable enough but just doesn't feel necessary and just isn't the same and doesn't compare with the far more richly rewarding 'Wags to Riches'. That cartoon may not have had the most original of stories, but was incredibly well made and was far more inventive and funnier in execution.
The animation is a mixed bag. The drawings are creative as is the use of Cinemascope but some of the backgrounds look rather plain and it just lacks the care and the wonderful wackiness of the cartoon it's a remake of.
'Millionaire Droopy' is well-timed and funny, but doesn't feel as imaginative or as inspired this time round. Solid but not spectacular. The story is formulaic and lacks Avery's unique style.
However, 'Millionaire Droopy' is entertaining and enjoyable. Really liked the drawings and the way the Cinemascope was used.
Droopy's personality continues to be very well established and he is very high on the humour and charisma factors. The conflict is one that one is entertained by but feels sorry for as well, the chemistry is great. The voice acting is hard to fault. Best of all is the music score. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.
Overall, vastly inferior and unnecessary but enjoyable enough. 6/10 Bethany Cox
As has been said, Tex Avery wasn't responsible for directing 'Millionaire Droopy', which basically just uses his drawings for 'Wags to Riches' and putting them against considerably less detailed backgrounds and in Cinemascope. 'Millionaire Droopy' is enjoyable enough but just doesn't feel necessary and just isn't the same and doesn't compare with the far more richly rewarding 'Wags to Riches'. That cartoon may not have had the most original of stories, but was incredibly well made and was far more inventive and funnier in execution.
The animation is a mixed bag. The drawings are creative as is the use of Cinemascope but some of the backgrounds look rather plain and it just lacks the care and the wonderful wackiness of the cartoon it's a remake of.
'Millionaire Droopy' is well-timed and funny, but doesn't feel as imaginative or as inspired this time round. Solid but not spectacular. The story is formulaic and lacks Avery's unique style.
However, 'Millionaire Droopy' is entertaining and enjoyable. Really liked the drawings and the way the Cinemascope was used.
Droopy's personality continues to be very well established and he is very high on the humour and charisma factors. The conflict is one that one is entertained by but feels sorry for as well, the chemistry is great. The voice acting is hard to fault. Best of all is the music score. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.
Overall, vastly inferior and unnecessary but enjoyable enough. 6/10 Bethany Cox
A Total Ripoff: The Same Cartoon As ''Wags To Riches' Except In Widescreen
ccthemovieman-124 June 2007
This is the same cartoon as "Wags To Riches," which was distributed in 1949. I am even surprised that the folks who put out this tremendous DVD collection of Tex Avery Droopy cartoons would even add to the package, knowing it's the same cartoon we saw on the other disc in this two-disc set. In fact, as IMDb points out, Avery had nothing to do with this one. Why should he? It's the EXACT same story!
"Wags To Riches" was one of the more popular Droopy cartoons ever made, even to this day, so perhaps that's why it was re-shown in a different format to a new set a kids seven years later. This "cinemascope" was a big deal in the mid-1950s." It was something brand new as movies always had that box-shaped screens.
I did not rate this any stars as it is literally a repeat.
"Wags To Riches" was one of the more popular Droopy cartoons ever made, even to this day, so perhaps that's why it was re-shown in a different format to a new set a kids seven years later. This "cinemascope" was a big deal in the mid-1950s." It was something brand new as movies always had that box-shaped screens.
I did not rate this any stars as it is literally a repeat.
Despite now knowing what I know about this short, I rather enjoyed Millionaire Droopy
tavm13 May 2013
Watched this CinemaScope cartoon on the High Society DVD. Then looked this up on IMDb and found out that Tex Avery's animation on Wags to Riches was used on this cartoon with the backgrounds changed to reflect the different size and shape of the screen. Okay, so that constitutes a rip-off since that essentially means they used the same animation from a previous short and shoe-horned it into new footage of backdrops without any info in the credits. Still, I laughed at what I saw here and it's been so long since I last watched these vintage M-G-M cartoons so on that note, Millionaire Droopy is recommended if you haven't seen the previous cartoon I mentioned here.
It's not bad, but it's been done already
Horst_In_Translation23 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
"Millionaire Droopy" is an American color cartoon from 1956 that features Tex Avery's Droopy in the center of a story where one dog tries to kill the other so that he can inherit a fortune. Obviously he never succeeds and all his attempts backfire because Droopy for whatever reason, surely no physical, is too big of an opponent for him. This was an enjoyable watch I guess. The problem here, however, is that this short film was done back in 1949 already and they changed only very few things visually for this version from 1956 that made no impact at all and don't ann anything new of value at all. It's not better, it's not worse in terms of story, jokes, animation or anything else. It's hardly different, but copying destroys a lot on the scale of creativity, so I have to take one star away from the 3 out of 5 I gave the original and it is a negative deal breaker even, so this one here gets only 4 out of 10 and I don't really recommend checking it out unless you really really love these old cartoons. Watch Wags to Riches instead of these 7 minutes we got here.
An identical copy of Wag the Dog.
OllieSuave-0074 February 2018
This cartoon is an identical copy of Wag the Dog, where the melancholy dog Droopy and his nemesis Spike battle over who keeps the fortune that a millionaire has left Droopy. It's lots of laughs seeing Spike go through so many lengths to to try to eliminate Droopy so he could have the fortune. Plenty of slapstick stuff.
A Big Disappointment!
JohnHowardReid5 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Bill Thompson (voice of Droopy).
Producer/directors: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera. Animation drawings adapted from those supervised by Tex Avery for "Wags to Riches" (1949). Animators: Michael Lah, Grant Simmons, Walter Clinton, Bob Cannon. Music: Scott Bradley. In CinemaScope and Technicolor. An M-G-M production, released 21 September, 1956. 7 minutes.
COMMENT: For years I've been wanting to see "Millionaire Droopy". A CinemaScope cartoon directed by Tex Avery, the man who invented a car as long as an airfield. Wow! What wouldn't he do with all that extra extra width of the CinemaScope screen at his disposal? The answer, alas, is nothing! And to add insult to injury, despite his name on the credits, he didn't direct this cartoon at all. Hanna and Barbera simply got hold of the animation drawings for "Wags to Riches", superimposed them on plain backgrounds, and that was it!
Mind you, the cartoon still packs in a few laughs, but Avery it ain't! (Available on a Warner Brothers DVD, "Tex Avery's Droopy". Rating 10/10).
Producer/directors: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera. Animation drawings adapted from those supervised by Tex Avery for "Wags to Riches" (1949). Animators: Michael Lah, Grant Simmons, Walter Clinton, Bob Cannon. Music: Scott Bradley. In CinemaScope and Technicolor. An M-G-M production, released 21 September, 1956. 7 minutes.
COMMENT: For years I've been wanting to see "Millionaire Droopy". A CinemaScope cartoon directed by Tex Avery, the man who invented a car as long as an airfield. Wow! What wouldn't he do with all that extra extra width of the CinemaScope screen at his disposal? The answer, alas, is nothing! And to add insult to injury, despite his name on the credits, he didn't direct this cartoon at all. Hanna and Barbera simply got hold of the animation drawings for "Wags to Riches", superimposed them on plain backgrounds, and that was it!
Mind you, the cartoon still packs in a few laughs, but Avery it ain't! (Available on a Warner Brothers DVD, "Tex Avery's Droopy". Rating 10/10).
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