Of Fox and Hounds Review

Of Fox and Hounds is a 1940 animated short film from the Merry Melodies series. It is a pretty good entry.

This is the first Willoughby the Dog short. He is continually outsmarted by George the Fox where he makes him go over the cliff and fall. That ending where he falls on soft cushions was definitely a standout moment upon the entire cartoon hinges. It was funny, but the rest of the short ain’t that funny and it needed a shorter runtime and faster pace for sure.

But I did like the characters quite a bit. Willoughby is very likable and so well voiced and George also has a terrific voice and is very memorable. Both the characters are obviously influenced by the protagonists in ‘Of Mice and Men’ which came out a couple of years before. The title is also a pun on it and I have to say that they adapted their personas successfully for the animation medium.

Of Fox and Hounds is slow and long, but with a great ending and particularly strong characters as well as voice acting.