Droopy's Good Deed

**Droopy's Good Deed** is a 1951 *Droopy* cartoon directed by Tex Avery.

## Plot

Spike is sleeping on train. Suddenly, a man kicks off him. Woke up, he turns up to see a boy-scout camp where a younger clone of him and Droopy follow the rules of the coach. Spike thinks to be a famous person and suddenly he starts follow the rules with Droopy. In their walk, they do various things like turning on fires and more. But one day, the sun goes out. The lighting hits a tree and then Spike that shows him in blackface. So, Droopy plains four rules:

Rule 1: Wild Life: Photography: Two beavers hit the tree. Spike goes mad for them and puts the trunk as defensive base. However, the beavers break the trunk and Spike goes down.

Rule 2: How to Cross a Stream: Droopy goes on the bridge and then Spike starts to break it. He drops down and he founds a house. He puts off a bomb that goes on fire. But then, inside the house, he is finishes again with a blackface.

Rule 3: A Scout is Honest: Spike puts bombs on the dynamite, and then walks with a walking cane. Droopy, however, he slides on Spike's wallet and Spike becomes scare, escaping free to go to New York. When he enters in a building, he surprisingly finds Droopy with the wallet. Spike is not honest, however.

Rule 4: A Scout Does a Good Deed Daily: Droopy and Spike walk around the city. Droopy however gets invested by a tram, while Spike goes to the Public Library but he does this thing again. Then, a man offers him and Droopy dollars but they end all again in blackface. Then, all the people start to talk about dangers in the Empire State Building, but Droopy succeeds in rescuing baby Spike from the building.

As prize, Droopy goes to Washington to meet the president (for whatever reason he goes to the Capitol rather than the White House) He goes into an office and we hear piano music but but rather than then President Truman, it's Droopy playing the piano. Droopy address the audience and says "Well, who did you expect to see? The president?"

## Censorship

Three scenes involving Spike in blackface after comically getting electrocuted or set on fire were edited when this short aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang:

* After Droopy tells him that lightning never strikes the same place, Spike stands on the charred remains of a tree and gets struck by lightning, leaving him charred, skinny, and in blackface. Cartoon Network cut the part after the lightning strikes by blacking out to the next scene.
* This censorship was considered too forced and far-fetched. Here Spike tricks Droopy into thinking there’s a woman trapped in a burning cabin (that Spike set ablaze himself). Droopy comes out with a blond pin-up girl in purple lingerie. Spike goes in, foolishly thinking there’s another woman in there for him and ends up burnt (along with the rest of the house). Droopy then opens the charred remains of the door and says to Spike, “Hey, Blackie. Any more babes in there?” Cartoon Network's version (surprisingly enough) left in Spike getting burnt, but Droopy’s “Hey, Blackie. Any more babes in there?” line was cut just after he opens the door. Spike was turned completely "Blackie" because he burnt up along with the house he was in, a gag pretty normal by cartoon standards. "Blackie" is also the name of the bad luck-black cat in Tex Avery's 1949 cartoon *Bad Luck Blackie.*
* Spike places a round cartoon bomb in a rich white man’s top hat after it flies away in the wind. Droopy retrieves it and the man offers a cash reward. Spike moves Droopy out of the way to take the money for himself. The bomb in the hat goes off, turning Spike and the rich white man into poor black stereotypes. The edited version cuts to black after the explosion, then resumes on the scene where a panicked crowd see Spike dressed as a baby and crawling on top of a skyscraper. This scene was also edited on the Compleat Tex Avery laserdisc set and on TBS and TNT in the days when those two channels aired Warner Bros and MGM theatrical shorts. However, two DVD releases left these scenes intact.

## Notes

* This is currently the only Droopy cartoon not to be restored as of 2021.