Woody Woodpecker: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"[[Incoming Ham|Guess who?]] [[Annoying Laugh|Ha ha ha HA ha, ha ha ha HA ha, ha ha ha HA ha, hehehehehehehe!]]"''|'''Woody Woodpecker's''' [[Catch Phrase|catchphrase]], and his very first lines of dialogue.}}

 

 

He is famous for being a prominent example of the [[Screwy Squirrel|Heckler-Screwball]] type cartoon character, up there with masters like [[Daffy Duck]] and, or course, [[Tex Avery MGM Cartoons|Screwy Squirrel]] himself. His eleventh appearance, ''[[The Barber of Seville (animation)|The Barber of Seville]]'' even made it onto the list of [[The 50 Greatest Cartoons]], with his first solo short, ''[[The Cracked Nut]]'', being a runner up on the list!

== History ==

 

 

 

However, the series got off to a rocky start, and it's easy to see why -- in Walter Lantz and Alex Lovy's attempts to imitate [[Tex Avery]] and [[Bob Clampett]]'s fast paced slapstick comedy, they missed the mark -- the gags were Warner Bros. derivative in a self conscious way (undoubtably due to them having Ben Hardaway as the storyman), the timing was floaty and mushy, and the animation was some of the sloppiest of any cartoon from the Golden Age outside of The Jam Handy Studio. Lovy's haphazard direction and poor pacing often undermined many gags, as well as kept the series from establishing a true identity for itself. Matters improved when Lovy quit the studio and [[Shamus Culhane|James "Shamus" Culhane]] took over directorial duties, and improved the shorts considerably over Lovy's--the animation and staging got notably better (although still marred by sloppy inkers and inbetweeners), Woody's characterization got more clear, and the gags and pacing were improved, resulting in classics like ''[[The Barber of Seville (animation)|The Barber of Seville]]'', ''Who's Cookin Who'' and ''Chew Chew Baby''. The only genuine criticism would be that Woody was more prone to acting like a [[Jerkass]] than he did in the past.

 

 

In fact, Woody was so popular among theatergoers that he managed to have a much longer track record than most theatrical cartoon series, his run lasting all the way up to 1972, straight into [[The Dark Age of Animation]], about 30 years in work <ref> although Lantz's studio briefly shut down in 1949 and reopened in 1950</ref>, lasting even after his competition had long since faded away and/or branched out to television — this is due to the fact that the Woody Woodpecker cartoons to were made on much lower budgets than most animation studios worked with at the time period to begin with, so the series had little problems adjusting to the rise of [[The Dark Age of Animation]] with rising production costs and the fallout of popularity with theatrical cartoons. It helped matters that the bird even had a hit TV series which debuted in the 1950s, guest-starring Walter Lantz in live action segments, running at the same time he was still appearing in theaters. In fact, Lantz claimed the reason he stopped making Woody shorts was not because they weren't popular, but rather because theatrical shorts had become completely unprofitable by that point!

In 1999, Universal wanted to cash in the character again, so thet tried to put together an all-new show for Woody Woodpecker and his friends, called ''The New Woody Woodpecker Show''. Woody was voiced by [[Billy West]], and the shorts actually had some top talents working on it, including former ''[[Ren and Stimpy]]'' staff members Bob Jacques and Mike Fontanelli. The show was rife with censorship and [[Executive Meddling]], as the former staff members can attest to. As a result, this revival was ultimately a failure (however the show still has its fan base), barely lasting around 50 episodes, some of which weren't even aired in the US, although the entire series is on Netflix, with certain episodes on Hulu.

 

 

His character trademark has always been his [[Annoying Laugh|unique, skull-splitting laugh]], supplied by legendary voice actor [[Mel Blanc]] (and later, Lantz's own wife), which is up there with iconic sounds like the [[Wilhelm Scream]] and the [[Super Mario Bros.]] theme, known and recognized even by people who haven't even seen any of the Woody Woodpecker cartoons.

On a side note, Lantz told an apocryphal story that he got the idea for Woody from a [[Real Life Writes the Plot|real woodpecker that was pestering him and his wife when they were staying in a log cabin on their honeymoon]]. But its obvious that this was a fabricated story to draw attention from the fact that Woody was, so to speak, "inspired" by the likes of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Another hole in the story is that Lantz's honeymoon didn't take place until a year after Woody's debut in "Knock Knock" took place!

 

 

Has a [[Woody Woodpecker/Characters|Character Sheet]].

* Belle Boys (Patterson)

* Hypnotic Hick (Patterson): Only 3-D Woody Woodpecker cartoon.

 

== 1954 ==

* Get Lost (Smith) Knothead and Splinter's first appearances.

* Chief Charlie Horse (Smith)

* Calling All Cuckoos (Smith)

* Niagara Fools (Smith)

 

== 1957 ==

 

* International Woodpecker (Smith)

* To Catch a Woodpecker (Lovy)

 

* Misguided Missile (Smith)

* His Better Elf (Smith)

* Everglade Raid (Smith): Gabby Gator's first appearance, as "All. I. Gator".

 

* Tomcat Combat (Smith-Inspector Seward Willoughby's first appearance in a Woody Woodpecker cartoon)

* Woodpecker in the Moon (Lovy)

 

== 1960 ==

 

* Billion Dollar Boner (Lovy)

* Ballyhooey (Lovy)

* Bats in the Belfry (Smith)

* Fowled Up Falcon (Smith)

 

== 1961 ==

 

* Phantom of the Horse Opera (Smith)

 

== 1962 ==

 

* Home Sweet Homewrecker (Smith)

* Room and Bored (Smith - Smedley's first appearance in a Woody Woodpecker cartoon)

* Careless Caretaker (Smith)

 

== 1963 ==

 

* Stowaway Woody (Marcus)

* Tepee for Two (Marcus)

* Science Friction (Marcus)

 

== 1964 ==

* Saddle Sore Woody (Smith)

* Woody's Clip Joint (Marcus)

* Roamin' Roman (Smith)

 

 

* Three Little Woodpeckers (Marcus)

* Janie Get Your Gun (Smith)

* What's Peckin' (Smith)

 

 

* Rough Riding Hood (Marcus)

* Monster of Ceremonies (Smith)

 

 

* Sissy Sheriff

* Hot Diggity Dog

* Horse Play

* Chilly Chums: Woody Woodpecker has made a cameo appearance in this cartune.

 

* Lotsa Luck

* Fat in the Saddle

* A Lad in Bagdad

* One Horse Town

 

== 1969(All cartoons directed by Paul J. Smith.) ==

* Little Skeeter

* Woody's Knight Mare

* Ship A'hoy Woody

* Prehistoric Super Salesman

 

== 1970(All cartoons directed by Paul J. Smith.) ==

 

* Wild Bill Hiccup

* Buster's Last Stand

 

== 1971(All cartoons directed by Paul J. Smith.) ==

 

* Kitty from The City

* The Snoozin' Bruin

 

== 1972(All cartoons directed by Paul J. Smith.) ==

 

* For the Love of Pizza

* The Genie with the Light Touch (Buzz Buzzard's final appearance in a Walter Lantz cartune)

 

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* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: In ''Wild and Woody'', Woody's gun appears to be powered by ''gasoline'', of all things.

** Also, a can opener on a slingshot in ''Slingshot 6 7/8''.

* [[Animation Bump]]: The early shorts by Lantz and Lovy had very sloppy, off model prone animation. The animation improved to a degree when [[Shamus Culhane]] joined the studio, but his efforts were still undermined by bad inkers and sloppy inbetween work. The animation finally got up to par when Dick Lundy took over as the director, but then started to deteriorate again after the studio's temporary shutdown in 1949. The animation quality remained quite good under Lundy's replacement, Don Patterson, but grew steadily worse and worse when Patterson left and was replaced by Paul J. Smith and the returning Alex Lovy. Surprisingly enough the animation did improve near the end of the studio's life, when Smith recruited some better animators in 1971--72, but it was really too little, too late.

* [[Annoying Laugh]]: His trademark happens to be one, actually. Although it's not the ''only'' laugh he's ever used.

* [[Anti-Hero]]: Woody varies between a Type V and a [[Villain Protagonist]].

* [[Art Evolution]]: Woody himself went through several redesigns as the series ran its course. For example, Woody's original design became a little softer starting with Ace in the Hole. His buck teeth began to disappear, as Lantz realized this feature was extraneous. In addition, the beak and feet colors became slightly brighter and more vibrant. He also does not have a big chin anymore. Another full redesign came around in the short "[[The Barber of Seville (animation)|The Barber Of Seville]]" This design was much more streamlined (just look at the ''The Coo Coo Bird'' title card!) and cuter looking than the previous one, and Woody even got [[White Gloves|gloves!]] A third redesign came around later, this time streamlining Woody's design down to it's bare essence, and making him incredibly tiny as well.

* [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever]]: The short ''Woody the Giant Killer''.

* [[Berserk Button]]: Woody doesn't like cheesecake. The Loan Shark from ''The Loan Stranger'' learned this the hard way.

** Also, in the short ''Knock Knock'', Woody pulls this on Andy Panda when he first tries to salt him:

* [[Big Eater]]: Woody's desire to get a quick meal (usually on the cheap) is the source for many of the plots.

* [[Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti]]: In an issue of an old Woody Woodpecker comic, Woody goes with his (niece and nephew?) over to Asia to film the abominable snowman. His camera is taken by a band of thieves using the legend of the snowman to scare people into giving them gift to appease them. {{spoiler|And then the real deal come along and scares the band away.}}

* [[Cash Cow Franchise]]: Woody Woodpecker was this once upon a time, enough to have many comics and merchandising tie-ins. Nowadays, you'll be lucky to even see him outside of a mascot theme park costume or his DVD re-releases.

* [[The Cameo]]: Woody (or what we're to assume is a stuffed toy version of him) makes a brief appearance in the first Universal Swing Symphonies short "21 Dollars a Day (Once a Month)."

* [[Chronically Crashed Car]]: Woody's beat-up old car, presumably a [http://geocitiessites.com/MotorCity/Garage/7896/313car2.jpg scaled down 313 type car], was very unstable in its early appearances.

* [[Close-Call Haircut]]: At one point in "Solid Ivory".

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Woody veered between being this and a [[Screwy Squirrel]] in the earliest shorts.

* [[Comes Great Insanity]]: If you value your life, do '''not''', under any circumstances, give Woody the position of a barber. He will go completely nuts with the position.

* [[Cross-Dressing Voices]]: Walter Lantz's wife, Grace Stafford Lantz, succeeded [[Mel Blanc]] and Ben Hardaway as Woody's voice actor. She claimed that she slipped in a recording of her own impression of Woody's voice around the time Walter Lantz was looking for Woody's new voice.

** [[June Foray]] has also done voice work in some of the older Woody Woodpecker cartoons.

{{quote|''So I'm crazy, what what what can I do?''

''[[Breaking the Fourth Wall|So are you]]!'' }}

* [[Meat-O-Vision]]: The shorts "Pantry Panic", "Who's Cookin' Who?", "Fair Weather Fiends" and "Everglade Raid".

* [[Mobile Shrubbery]]: Attempted by the witch in "Witch Crafty" to enter the building Woody is guarding, by hiding herself in a package. Woody [[Genre Savvy|dosen't buy it for a second.]]

* [[Off-Model]]: Very, very frequent in the pre-Shamus Culhane and Dick Lundy shorts. "The Screwball" notably has Woody with his buck teeth in one scene, even though that part of his design had been abandoned already.

* [[Once an Episode]]: Here's a little challenge for you--try to find an episode of Woody Woodpecker where he (or someone else in his place) does ''not'' use his trademark laugh. And no, laughing in the opening titles does not count.

* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: Used by Woody in shorts like "The Dippy Diplomat" and "The Woody Woodpecker Polka."

* [[Please Wake Up]]: Done by the loan shark at the end of ''The Loan Stranger'' when he thinks that he killed Woody with a single punch.

* [[Public Domain Soundtrack]]: "Largo Al Factotum" from [[The Barber of Seville (animation)|The Barber of Seville]], and ''The Woody Woodpecker Polka'' is a shameless mock-up of ''The Philadelphia Polka".

* [[Punny Name]]: Dr. Horace N. Buggy from Woody's first solo short.

* [[Roger Rabbit Effect]]: Done in some of the live action segments of ''The Woody Woodpecker Show''.

* [[Running Gag]]: Pulled in ''Niagara Fools'', in which the officer trying to stop Woody from going over keeps going over the falls himself by accident.

* [[Your Size May Vary]]: Woody Woodpecker's height throughout the cartoons has never been very consistent.

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* [[Affectionate Parody]]: The episode ''Surviving Woody'' had Woody competing in a [[Survivor]] type game on a volcanic island.

* [[Ascended Extra]]: Woody Woodpecker's girlfriend Winnie Woodpecker was only shown in one classic Woody Woodpecker cartoon called ''Real Gone Woody'' (And in a very one-dimensional role), but became a recurring character in the comics. It wasn't until this show that she became an active member of the series, with a personality similar in silliness to Woody, though showing a more developed sense of dignity.

* [[Cloning Blues]]: The episode ''Two Woodys, No Waiting''.

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Due to Fox Kids Policies, Woody was not allowed to peck people on the head. However, they ''did'' manage to sneak in Woody pecking someones head once in a blue moon.

* [[Shout-Out]]: In the episode ''Automatic Woody'', the ATM from which Woody is trying to get money suddenly dons the persona and quotations of [[2001: A Space Odyssey|Hal 9000]].

* [[The Renaissance Age of Animation]]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Nineties]]

[[Category:The Renaissance Age of Animation]]

[[Category:The Golden Age of Animation]]

[[Category:The Forties]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]