Augie Doggie — The Musket-Tears

Produced and Directed by Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna.
Credits: Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Art Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voice Cast: Augie Doggie, Aromatique – Daws Butler; Doggie Daddy, Red coated Knight, Pathos, Horse – Doug Young; Narrator, Green coated Knight, Porthole – Don Messick.
Music: Phil Green, Jack Shaindlin, Harry Bluestone/Emil Cadkin, Hecky Krasnow.
Episode: Quick Draw McGraw Show M-033, Production J-104.
First Aired: week of January 23, 1961.
Plot: Doggie Daddy lies to Augie about once being a member of the famous Musketeers.

While watching this cartoon, the first question you may ask yourself is what are Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy doing in 17th Century France, especially with Augie wearing his mid-20th Century T-shirt.

The answer is—it’s irrelevant. After all, if Huckleberry Hound can exist in different centuries, why can’t a suburban single father and his son?

Mike Maltese’s story starts much like a number of his Quick Draw cartoons. A narrator sets up the time and place and some incidental characters engage in a pun or a gag. Then, the main story begins. Doggie Daddy isn’t as clueless as Quick Draw in this, but he’s about as equally inept. One can picture Quick Draw in the big show-off scene where he ends up crashing at the bottom of a cliff while demonstrating a patently false story about one of his heroic adventures as a Musketeer.

Maltese’s version of Musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis are Pathos, Porthole and Aromatique.

The situation’s pleasant enough. Doggie Daddy brags to Augie that he was the Fourth Musketeer. Naturally, he confides in us, “da truth is I wouldn’t know the Three Musketeers from the Three Blind Mice.” Augie, set off by Daddy “like a young bird trying out his wings...on his big adventure” according to the Narrator, meets the Musketeers. They, of course, have never heard of Doggie Daddy. “Fibber father of the year” assures annoyed Augie that he really was a Musketeer, and after getting his butt handed to him when he tries to bluff the Musketeers, works out a deal where they’ll pretend he was part of their group so Augie won’t “grow up with a complexion—whatever that is.” The cartoon ends with the fake Musketeer thoroughly botching his phoney re-enactment of saving the King (like failing to grab a chandelier in mid-jump) and being led home exhausted by Augie atop his son’s horse.



Maltese echoes his dialogue, as he tends to do in many of his early H-B cartoons. The first scene involves a rusty sword. The next scene has the Narrator informing us “a momentous event was taking place.” Cut to Doggie and Augie. “Augie, my son, my son,” says Daddy. “This is a momentous event.” Daddy hands him his sword. “Treat it well. And don’t let it get rusty.” “Dear Old Time-Payment Dad” adds the reason is because he’s got three more payments to make on it.

Maltese had horse-riding Augie sing a little song. Not as great as “The Flower of Gower Gulch” that he gave to Daffy Duck a few years earlier:

Oh, I’m brave and bold and I know no fear
‘Cause I’m soon to be a Musketeer.

The horse is attacked by some kind of bug. I have no idea what it’s supposed to be. It’s not a bee. It’s not a mosquito.



Tony Rivera is the layout artist. He are a couple of his panels.



And here’s a drawing by Lew Marshall. Notice the parallel lines indicating the H-B 5 O’clock Shadow™.



Marshall stretches the horse and leaves multiples when it zips out of the scene.



Dick Thomas’ small village background drawing partly looks like this.



The sound cutter uses lots of little cues on this one. You should recognise all of them if you’ve seen enough Augie Doggie cartoons. There’s no music, stock or other kind, when Augie sings.

0:00 - Augie Doggie Main Title theme (Hanna-Barbera-Curtin).
0:25 - tick tock/flute music (Shaindlin) – Narrator scene with swordsmen, pan to house.
0:55 - GR-253 TOYLAND PARADE (Green) – Daddy and Augie sword scene.
1:36 - GR-65 BUSH BABY (Green) – Augie on horse, Dad bids farewell.
1:48 - PG-161H LIGHT MOVEMENT (Green) – Augie gallops away, Daddy admission.
1:59 - PG-177C LIGHT COMEDY MOVEMENT (Green) – Narrator with Augie on horse.
2:07 - GR-248 STREETS OF THE CITY (Green) – Musketeers walk, shout.
2:28 - no music. Augie sings song.
2:32 - LFU-117-1 MAD RUSH No 1 (Shaindlin) – Bug arrives, stabs horse, “Gosh!”
2:45 - tick tock/flute music (Shaindlin) – “That’s the Three Musketeers,” Musketeers send Augie away.
3:37 - CB-85A STEALTHY MOUSE (Cadkin-Bluestone) – Augie and Daddy in living room.
4:33 - GR-255 PUPPETRY COMEDY (Green) – Musketeers laugh, toss out Daddy, Musketeers agree to keep secret.
5:42 - fast circus chase music (Shaindlin) – Augie standing, runs off scene.
5:51 - GR-346 FIRST BUDS (Green) – Daddy pins Musketeers, Daddy zips off scene.
6:11 - ‘FIREMAN’ (Shaindlin) – Daddy runs up stairs, lands on horse, crash.
6:42 - THE HAPPY COBBLER (Krasnow) – Musketeers invite Daddy to stay, end of cartoon.
7:10 - Augie Doggie End Title theme (Curtin).