The Many Fingers of Snuffles

Who doesn’t love Snuffles? Right! We all do. So let’s look at some drawings courtesy of the internet.



Here’s what I presume (due to a lack of dialogue underneath) is a layout drawing from “Bow-Wow Bandit,” the first Snuffles cartoon. The layout man on this cartoon was Walt Clinton. To compare, here’s the closest matching animation by Ken Muse. The production number of the cartoon was J-30 (the 30th cartoon on the Quick Draw show to put into production) but it was the fourth Quick Draw McGraw cartoon to air. I suspect it was aired early at the behest of the sponsor, as Kellogg’s loved Snuffles and used him to push its Gro-Pup Dog Food and Dog Biscuits (evidently, Yowp was not deemed a suitable spokes-dog). I will show my ignorance of animation production by telling you have no idea what the “8FC” stands for; I presume it’s some kind of instruction.



Next we have another Snuffles (outlined in green) with some colour notations.



I’m at a loss to tell you which cartoon used this drawing. I’ve watched all seven cartoons on the Quick Draw show that Snuffles was in and none have him running with his feet in that position. The production numbers I have for the second season are not accurate (they are from a web site), as J-86 supposed to be a Snooper and Blabber cartoon. J-86 would have been in the 1960-61 season, which included Snuffles appearances in “Ali-Baba Looey” and “Scooter Rabbit.” The only run cycle in the latter doesn’t look anything like this drawing, though there’s walk cycle where Snuffles has the same wavy-mouthed expression. Note that Snuffles is running behind “BG10.” Perhaps it is from a deleted scene. No, I don’t know the significance of “Dog Driven;” there was no Quick Draw cartoon with that name. (Late note: our smart readers have figured this out. See the comment section).

Here’s a comparison of some of the animators’ work on Snuffles pointing.



Ken Muse animated “Bow-Wow Bandits.” Snuffles isn’t named in this cartoon and he doesn’t float up, either. The story has Snuffles pointing a couple of times but Muse didn’t re-use the animation. Here’s a sheet of nine panels that Muse followed pretty closely:





Here’s Muse again in “Bronco Bustin’ Boobs,” a second-season cartoon.



Dick Lundy drew Snuffles in “Cattle Battle Rattled” in the first season.



This is Lundy again, from the second-season “Ali-Baba Looey.” Note the teeth and the leash attached to the collar. The leash disappears during the ecstasy part; just the ring on the collar remains.



Bob Bentley’s version of pointing Snuffles from “Scooter Rabbit,” a second-season cartoon. Like Muse, Bentley doesn’t re-use animation later in the cartoon when Snuffles points at himself while facing the other direction. He draws Snuffles with three or four spots on his muzzle then.



This is from “Dynamite Fright,” animated by Hicks Lokey in the third season. Sure looks the same as Lundy’s from “Ali-Baba Looey” but it’s not. Maybe Lokey re-worked Lundy’s drawings but the crook of the finger isn’t the same and Lokey’s mouth is a little wider.



Finally, here’s Bob Bentley again, this time from “Mine Your Manners,” Snuffles’ last appearance on the Quick Draw show. I’ve cheated as I’ve flipped the drawing for a better comparison. His snout is horizontal while his open mouth is at a bit on an angle.



This is from later in the cartoon. Other than the arm position, it looks like re-used drawings from the Lokey cartoon, which seem to be based on Lundy’s drawings.

I’ve never had a chance to compare the hugging and floating animation from the last two seasons but at first glance, it appears the animation was re-used. I’ll try to compare those drawings in a future post.