This is the second Scrappy cartoon. It was released on August 15, 1931, and it’s still pretty crude. It looks like it was made up as the animators went alone, and that nobody cared much about consistency. Which makes sense, because that’s all true.
The best part of the short is the first bit, in which Oopy cheerfully irritates his big brother, Scrappy, by tagging after him and singing. It’s character-based comedy of a sort that was unusual in the early 1930s, when most every new cartoon character was a Mickey Mouse knockoff. And the drawing, though crude, is funny: I love how Oopy belts his tune.
In the first Scrappy cartoon, Scrappy thinks that Yippy is deathly ill. In this one, he thinks Oopy is dead. Fortunately for everyone involved, the melodramatic plots didn’t continue on forever.
Wow! I didn’t know about Scrappy, but a link on facebook by Jerry Beck brought me here and now I’m definitely a fan! Dude, the fish released from the can to help pulling the rope and the one getting back his spine are some of the best cartoon gags I’ve ever seen! And the background artwork is awesome! Thanks for creating this site!