Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939) User Reviews

'Dangerous Dan' Not So Dangerous

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 16 March 2007]

We first see "Dangerous Dan" and it's not who except to see, but a meek little guy who sounds like Elmer Fudd. In fact, as Mr. Reynolds states in another review here, it IS the voice of Mr. Fudd (Arthur Q. Ryan). The barmaid at the "Malibu Bar" where the action takes place, also is a weird. She looks like Betty Boop, talks like Katharine Hepburn, but is supposed to be Bette Davis. What the.....? Whoever she is, she Dan's girl...but the wolf who just entered the bar doesn't care. He's the obvious villain.

The rest of the cartoon is a boxing match between the two foes, complete with a referee and a very strange way to announce each new round. It was fairly interesting but the very end was lame. The cartoon was a feature in the DVD of the Errol Flynn film, "Dodge City."

DANGEROUS DAN McFOO (Tex Avery, 1939) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 3 March 2008]

I watched this – it was included among the extras on Warners' DVD of DODGE CITY (1939) – as part of a 5-cartoon marathon to commemorate the 100th Anniversary from the birth of one of the most important figures in animation history: Tex Avery. It was actually remade – and considerably improved upon – by THE SHOOTING OF DAN McGOO (1945), a Droopy 'vehicle'; while remarkably similar in many respects to the later classic, one of my favorite Averys, it is a minor (if still highly enjoyable) effort – for one thing, because of an anonymous i.e. less sympathetic protagonist, but also its more primitive quality (Avery's Fred Quimby-produced MGM efforts being generally superior to his stuff at Warners).

A story of the wild North told doggy style.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 4 January 2022]

"Dangerous Dan McFoo" is a Looney Tunes cartoon set somewhere in the frozen North...probably the Yukon or Alaska. The small dog, Dan McFoo, is roughed up by a larger bully dog. Dan has had enough and decides to fight back, as his Katharine Hepburn-like doggy girlfriend cheers him on in the fight.

This is an odd cartoon because Dan is voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan, the same guy who voiced Elmer Fudd. And, Dan sounds EXACTLY like Elmer as well. As for the quality of the cartoon, it's decent...with nice animation and a few laughs. Nothing memorable here but it is enjoyable.

Amusing but not great

[bob the moo · 30 September 2003]

A small dog is playing pinball with his friends and his girlfriend when a wolf arrives at the bar out of the cold night. However the wolf tries to hit on Dan's girlfriend which forces him to defend her honour in a impromptu fist fight.

With the `wacky' animation and exaggerated jokes this is the type of cartoon that I like the best. In this case there are quite a few off-the-wall moments that show good imagination but the plot lets it down by giving too few moments to show this humour off. The plot is essentially one fist fight which, while amusing, never offers more than the most basic jokes.

The characters are OK despite not being established faces and they manage to do well even if they are just characters written to be one thing – shy hero, gangster's moll etc. Overall this may not be hilarious but it is still enjoyable with a few good laughs scatter amongst a lot of pretty average material.

Strange voice characterizations for this one...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 23 February 2008]

Katharine Hepburn's voice comes out of a Bette Davis lookalike depicted as a gun moll in a western saloon, and Elmer Fudd's voice comes out of DANGEROUS DAN McFOO. Other than that, this is a typical slugfest as performed in most wild west westerns (like DODGE CITY, where this is the featured cartoon on the Warner DVD). The brawl in DODGE CITY is child's play compared to the brawl here, thanks to over-the-top imagination of the cartoonists.

A few funny sight gags are interspersed with the western antics of two gunfighters, one obviously more dangerous than the other, but he ain't "dangerous" Dan.

Amusing, if corny, and filled with all the standard clichés of the western features that would soon dominate the '40s.

"I'm not so wise as Dese Cartoon Guys . . . "

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 8 July 2015]

. . . but if I were fishing around for fodder for an animated "Merrie Melodies" poem, I might sooner draw on "The Raven" or "Annabelle Lee." After all, there's not much in the historical record to contradict any poetic license taken against those two ditties. On the other hand, the immortal Robert W. Service lived the Yukon Gold Rush of 1898, and newsreel footage of that historic event still was fresh in many minds when DANGEROUS DAN McFOO hit theaters in 1939. Like all Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies," McFOO was at least partially aimed at children. No matter how you sanitize the pursuits of those "clean mad for the muck called gold," you're presenting material that may scare the Heck out of some kids (a case in point is MGM's remake of L. Frank Baum's anti-Gold Standard classic, THE WIZARD OF OZ, which came out the same year as McFOO). Many kids fled the theaters playing OZ in horror, and no doubt there were lots of tykes terrorized here when the tall character proclaims, "One of you is a Hound of Hell . . . and that one is Dan McFoo."

canine Elmer Fudd gives opponent the finger (with French subtitles)

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 6 July 2008]

Even though I've seen many of Tex Avery's Warner Bros. cartoons and know what sorts of things to expect in them, "Dangerous Dan McFoo" was still a hoot. Set in a bar in the arctic, this one portrays a dog with Elmer Fudd's voice taking on an opponent who hones in on the dog's Katherine Hepburn-imitating hubby. Of course, the whole thing is an excuse for a series of gags, the same way that a Leslie Nielsen movie is.

However, there is one scene in this cartoon that I am surprised got past the censors: at one point when the opponent punches Dan, Dan puts his hand over his face, and it looks as though Dan is shooting his opponent the bird! I know that the people behind these cartoons liked the push the limits, but that one just blew my mind! Anyway, a really funny one. It appears on the website Daily Motion...and has French subtitles! The things that we see in life.

Note: this was one of the many WB cartoons released before 1948 that got stripped of its opening credits in the Blue Ribbon reissue.

It's a bit odd to hear the voice of Elmer Fudd coming from another character!

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 9 February 2002]

This is a typical Tex Avery short: he takes an idea from anther source (here it's a poem by Robert W. Service, an idea he would use again at MGM), follow the basic concept and toss in every oddball sight gag or joke that could be shoehorned in in the 7 or 8 minute length. An interesting point here is that Arthur Q. Bryan does the voice for the title character, in the voice he would use as Elmer Fudd for a great many years. It really is strange hearing that voice from another character. Good cartoon, although the one Avery did at MGM was just a touch better than this one. Well worth seeking out. Recommended.

Glad this is on the blu ray for Dodge City

[CubsandCulture · 8/10 · 11 May 2021]

I ended up watching this because I picked up the blu ray for Dodge City-a Western from the same year this short was released. It is a funny short in large part because it basically does not have a plot. For such a short film it plays like a series of gags and parodies, i.e. Hepburn. It also had one of the darkest gags I have seen in a Tex Avery short. This short is not a classic by any stretch but if you like early American animation this is a good find.

Let's get dangerous with Tex Avery

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 15 September 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.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. This is the first of two cartoons he made based on Service's poem, the other being the 1945 Droopy cartoon 'The Shooting of Dan McGoo'. Of the two, there is a preference for the funnier and more imaginative later cartoon, one of Droopy's greatest cartoons and one of the best Avery himself did. 'Dangerous Dan McFoo' is still very good, with not really anything wrong, just that the later cartoon did it better. The story is a little thin and the ending is not as strong as the rest of the cartoon.

The characters all engage and have compelling personalities. They are also very well voiced by some of the most talented voice actors of the time and ever, some, especially Arthur Q. Bryan using immediately unmistakable voices which may be strange at first but is actually effective.

'Dangerous Dan McFoo' is not as imaginative or as hilarious as 'The Shooting of Dan McGoo', but it is still inventive and very amusing.

Tex Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected. Humour-wise, it's clever and wonderfully exaggerated in typical Avery fashion.

Once again with Avery, 'Dangerous Dan McFoo' is beautifully and brilliantly animated as usual. The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid. The music, courtesy of master Carl Stalling, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed and even enhances it.

Summing up, very good if not brilliant like the later 'Dan McGrew'-based Avery cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox