A criminal wolf escapes from Swing Swing Prison and a pack of bloodhounds are tasked to find him. One of them, Droopy, lags behind to tell the audience that he's the hero and will presumably catch the convict. Unfortunately for said wolf, Droopy proves to be very, very, very hard to get away from....
The short would receive a remake three years later, Northwest Hounded Police.
This cartoon provides examples of the following tropes:
- Absurd Altitude: Wolfie jumps off a ridiculously tall skyscraper, so tall you can see the whole United States, looking like a map with clearly labeled states.
- Animal Talk: Droopy runs into another dog and bark to each other. Droopy then explains to the audience: "Dog talk."
- Anvil on Head: Droppy drops a gigantic boulder on Wolfie, which reads "This rock knocks him colder'n a wet mackerel!"
- Aside Comment: Both Droopy and Wolfie constantly make asides to the audience, a Tex Avery trademark.Droopy: I surprise him like this all through the picture.
- Born in the Theater: As Wolfie rounds a corner, he runs past the edge of the film.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: After dropping an absurdly large boulder onto the wolf from above, Droopy waits a few seconds before admitting to the audience: "Yes, you're right. It IS gruesome..."
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: Droopy walks behind a hydrant and after a brief pause, walks out with a look of embarrassment on his face.
- Driven to Suicide: As Droopy has him cornered on the roof of a tall building, Wolfie states that if he takes one more step, he'll jump. ("And I will, too.") Droopy takes a step, and Wolfie, true to his word, jumps off. Subverted when at the very last second, Wolfie brakes in mid-air and lands on his tip-toe safely on the sidewalk. ("Good brakes.")
- The Cat Came Back: Wolfie just can't shake Droopy, no matter where he goes.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: All of Droopy's character traits are already present. The only thing different is that he tends to walk on all fours, like a normal dog. He is also unnamed,note which he would remain until Señor Droopy.
- Institutional Apparel: The wolf wears his prison uniform throughout the entire short.
- Offscreen Teleportation: No matter where the wolf goes, nor how seemingly far, secure, or secluded the place would be, Droopy will always be there somehow.
- Out-of-Character Moment: One that is Played for Laughs comes up at the end of the short. After receiving his reward money, Droopy suddenly drops his usual deadpan demeanor, flashes a huge smile at the camera, and starts whooping and shouting with glee, even blowing horns and shooting guns in the air. Then just as suddenly, he goes all deadpan again and says "I'm happy." This gag was repeated in a couple of subsequent Droopy cartoons before being dropped entirely.
- Overly Long Gag: After Wolfie promises not to move while Droopy goes to call the cops, he runs out the window, down the fire escape, takes a taxi to the train station, rides a train to the docks, then a motor scooter to a boat, which takes him to the airport, drives a jeep to an airplane, rides it across the country, then rides a horse to a remote cabin. Once there, however, he finds Droopy waiting for him ("You moved, didn't you?"), so he ties up Droopy and takes the whole trip again, in reverse and at double speed. After arriving back at the apartment, who should be waiting there but Droopy? ("Enjoy your trip?")
- The Runt at the End: Once Wolfie is on the loose, the police open the gate to release a small army's worth of dogs to pursue him. Once the larger dogs all exit, out walks Droopy at a snail's pace. This is the point he informs us that he's the picture's hero.
- Shout-Out: During Wolfie's second return to the apartment, Droopy is shown reading a Dick Tracy magazine.
- Talking with Signs: A few times. Wolfie hides in a barrel and tries to deter Droopy by pulling a sign that reads "Nope — I'm not in here!" Then when he hides in an igloo at the North Pole, Wolfie assumes Droopy will be right behind him, but instead finds a sign that reads "Nope, It's too cold!"
- Travel Montage: We see Wolfie run from city to city, screaming every time to indicate that Droopy is there (except when he goes to Hollywood, where he goes "Woo-woo!" instead).
- Undertaker: One sees Wolfie jump off the building he's on, jumps after him, takes his measurements, and then jumps back up.
- Wild Take: Every time Wolfie sees Droopy, his pursuer, he freaks out in many hilarious ways!
- Granted, it IS a Tex Avery cartoon, so, it does Makes Sense In Context.
