Of Fox and Hounds

'Of Fox and Hounds' is an 8-minute 1940 Tex Avery film which introduced Willoughby the Dog.

The film focuses on a sly fox, George, and a dimwitted hound, Willoughby, who repeatedly asks George where the fox went, never suspecting that his "friend" George is the fox. Invariably, George the Fox tells Willoughby that the fox in on the other side of a rail fence, which is actually at the edge of a steep cliff. Willoughby's line, "Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?" long ago became a catchphrase, as did "Thanks a lot, George, thanks a lot!"

Tex Avery did the voice of Willoughby, and Mel Blanc did the George the Fox.

George the Fox has a voice and personality very similar to Bugs Bunny, who starred in his first cartoon in recognizable form that same year ("A Wild Hare", also directed by Tex Avery.)

The animated film is significant in that it is Tex Avery's first usage of characters based around George and Lenny of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

Other Media

A fox in Maroon Cartoons Studio in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit barely resembles George the Fox.