Woody Woodpecker: Difference between revisions

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]].

 

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* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: Gorgeous Gal in ''A Fine Feathered Frenzy'', a female crow who fell in love with the Woodpecker instantly. Woody on the other hand was turned off by her weight and age despite her riches and va va voom voice. Gorgeous Gal flirted, kissed him many times, chased after him and tried to seduce him wearing different outfits. Finally Gorgeous Gal trapped Woody and arranged for a priest to marry them.

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

* [[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]].

** Woody is rarely the true villain, especally in the later episodes which is the bulk of them. In spite of what Jerry Seinfeld thinks, he was rarely the instigator. He is like Bugs Bunny in that he always got the best of his enemies, but they almost always started the confrontation somehow. Where Woody differed from Bugs a bit was tht Woody went WAY more overboard with his revenge.

* [[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.}}

* [[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.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Nineties]]

[[Category:The Renaissance Age of Animation]]

[[Category:The Golden Age of Animation]]

[[Category:The Forties]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]