Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Family Toons: Augie Doggie & Doggie Daddy (1959)

One of the back-up features supporting Quick Draw McGraw was a canine father & son team who were practically role models.

Augie Doggie & Doggie Daddy came about when creators Bill Hanna & Joe Barbera were unable to bring Spike & Tyke over from MGM, though that would change years later. Instead of bulldogs, however, Augie (Daws Butler) and his father (radio star Doug Young, doing a Jimmy Durante mimic) were dachshunds. Then again, since Tyke never talked in the MGM shorts, giving Augie a voice allowed him to connect with the kids. Butler would later recycle the same voice for Elroy Jetson and Lambsy (It's The Wolf), plus any number of generic Jay Ward kid characters.

Following is a standard open:



Augie and his dad would later return as part of Yogi's Gang (1973), but their own chances for a revival are slim, considering how the H-B stars of the past are being ignored.

Rating: B.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

I always loved Augie Doggy and Doggy Daddy! Their adorable father-son relationship always shone through. It was the first time I'd ever seen a dad so involved with his son in animation - well except for Spike & Tyke that is!

hobbyfan said...

It's just too bad they never addressed the fact that Doggie Daddy was a single dad. Where was Augie's mama? Inquiring minds want to know!