Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic woodpecker who appeared in short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Studios. Though not the first of the "screwball" characters that became popular in the 1940s, Woody is perhaps the most indicative of the type.

Woody was created in 1940 by storyboard artist Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who had previously laid the groundwork for two other "screwball" characters, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, at the Schlesinger/Warner Bros. studio in the late 1930s. Woody's character and design would evolve over the years, from an insane bird with an unusually garish design to a more refined looking and acting character in the vein of the later Chuck Jones version of Bugs Bunny. Walter Lantz produced theatrical cartoons longer than most of his contemporaries, and Woody Woodpecker remained a staple of Universal's release schedule until 1972, when Lantz finally closed down his studio. The character has only been revived since then for special productions and occasions, save for one new Saturday morning cartoon, The New Woody Woodpecker Show, for the Fox Network in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

Though less popular today, Woody Woodpecker cartoons are still seen frequently in television syndication. He has a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 7000 Hollywood Blvd. He also made a cameo alongside many other famous animated theatrical short subject stars in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Film and TV history

Early years

According to Walter Lantz's press agent, the idea for Woody came during the producer's honeymoon with his wife, Gracie, in Sherwood Lake, California. A noisy woodpecker outside their cabin kept the couple awake at night, and when a heavy rain started, they learned that the bird had bored holes in their cabin's roof. Gracie suggested that her husband make a cartoon about the bird, and thus Woody was born. The story is questionable, however, since the Lantzes weren't married until after Woody made his screen debut.

Woody Woodpecker first appeared in the film Knock Knock on November 25, 1940. The cartoon ostensibly stars Andy Panda and his father, Papa Panda, but it is Woody who steals the show. The woodpecker constantly pesters the two pandas, apparently just for the fun of it. Andy, meanwhile, tries to sprinkle salt on Woody's tail in the belief that this will somehow capture the bird. To Woody's surprise, Andy's attempts prevail, and Woody is taken away to the funny farm -- where his captors prove to be crazier than he is.

The Woody of Knock Knock is a truly deranged-looking animal. His buggy eyes look in different directions, and his head is all angles and sharp points. However, the familiar color scheme of red head and blue body is already in place, as is the infamous laugh: "Heh-heh-heh-HEH-heh!" Woody is perhaps the best example of the new type of cartoon character that was becoming popular in the early 1940s -- a brash, violent aggressor who pesters innocents not out of self defense, but simply for the fun of it. Ironically, Woody's original voice actor, Mel Blanc, would stop performing the character to work exclusively at Warner Bros., where he had already established the voices of two other famous "screwball" characters who preceded Woody, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. Woody's voice was taken over by Ben Hardaway after his first four cartoons.

Audiences reacted well to Knock Knock, and Lantz realized he had finally hit upon a star to replace the waning Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Woody would go on to star in a number of films. With his innate chutzpah and brash demeanor, the character was a natural hit during World War II. His image appeared on US aircraft and mess halls, and audiences on the homefront watched Woody cope with familiar problems such as food shortages.

Animator Emery Hawkins and layout artist Art Heinemann streamlined Woody's appearance for the 1944 film The Barber of Seville, directed by Shamus Culhane. The bird became rounder, cuter, less demented, with a brighter smile, much more like his counterparts at Warner Bros. and MGM. Nevertheless, Culhane continued to use Woody as an aggressive lunatic, not a domesticated straight man or defensive homebody as many other studios' characters had become. The follow-up to The Barber of Seville, The Beach Nut, introduced Woody's nemesis Wally Walrus.

The post-war woodpecker

Woody's wild days were numbered, however. In 1946, Lantz hired Disney veteran Dick Lundy to take over the direction chores for Woody's cartoons. Lundy rejected Culhane's take on the series and made Woody more defensive; no longer did the bird go insane without a legitimate reason. Lundy also paid more attention to the animation, making Woody's new films more Disneylike in their colors and timing. One thing worth noticing is that his last film for Disney was the Donald Duck short Flying Jalopy. That features a bad guy called Ben Buzzard, a character not unlike Woody's archenemy Buzz Buzzard, who would be introduced in the 1948 Lantz short Wet Blanket Policy. This short is played much like a Woody Woodpecker short, right down to the laugh in the end.

"The Woody Woodpecker Song"

In 1947, Woody got his own theme song when musicians George Tibbles and Ramey Idriess wrote "The Woody Woodpecker Song", making ample use of the character's famous laugh. Kay Kyser's recording of the song became a hit in 1948, and other artists did covers, including Woody's original voice actor, Mel Blanc. "The Woody Woodpecker Song" first appeared in the 1948 short Wet Blanket policy. Lantz soon adopted the song as Woody's theme music, and due to the song's popularity, Woody Woodpecker fan clubs sprang up, theaters held "Woody" matinées, and boys got the "Woody Woodpecker" haircut.

The "The Woody Woodpecker Song" and the Woody Woodpecker cartoons made extensive use of Woody's famous laugh, upsetting the man who created it, Mel Blanc. Although Blanc had only recorded four shorts as the voice of Woody, his laugh had been recorded as a stock sound effect, and used in every subsequent Woody Woodpecker short up until this point. Blanc sued Lantz and lost, but Lantz settled out of court when Blanc filed an appeal.

Later films

In 1947, Lantz changed distributors from Universal to United Artists, and the UA-distributed Lantz cartoons featured notably larger budgets and higher, Disney-like animation quality. However, the expense of making the higher quality shorts caused financial problems within the studio, and by 1948 Lantz had to shut the studio down. The Lantz studio did not re-open again until 1950, by which time the staff was severly downsized and the quality of the cartoons compromised.

The post-war period provided more changes for Woody. Lantz res-signed with Universal (now Universal-International) in 1950, and began production on the six Woody Woodpecker cartoons that director Dick Lundy and storymen Ben Hardaway and Heck Allen had begun before the 1948 layoff. These shorts have no director's credit, as Lantz claims to have directed them himself. Puny Express, released by U-I in 1951, was the first of these shorts to be released.

Beginning with the 1950 feature film Destination Moon, which featured a brief segment of Woody explaining rocket propulsion, Woody's voice was taken over for this and following films by Lantz's wife, Grace Stafford. She had slipped a recording of herself into a stack of audition tapes, and her husband chose her without knowing her identity. Lantz also began having his wife supply Woody's laugh, possibly due to the court case with Mel Blanc. Nevertheless, Stafford was not credited for her work at her own request until 1952 in the film Termites from Mars (she felt audiences might reject a woman doing Woody's voice). Stafford also did her best to tone down the character through her voicework, to appease Universal's complaints about Woody's raucousness.

In 1953, Paul J. Smith took over as primary director of Woody's shorts, with periodic fill-in shorts directed by Don Patterson and Jack Hannah, among others. The bird was redesigned once again, this time by animator LaVerne Harding. This version of the character is still used today as Woody's official look. This era would also introduce several of Woody's recurring costars, most notably Gabby Gator in 1960's Southern Hospitality. Other films paired Woody with a girlfriend, Winnie Woodpecker, and a niece and nephew, Splinter and Knothead, both voiced by June Foray. The domestication of Woody Woodpecker was complete.

Woody's later years and on television

As Lantz was struggling financially, Woody's longevity was secured when he made the jump to television in '[The Woody Woodpecker Show'' on ABC. The half-hour program consisted of three theatrical Woody shorts followed by a brief look at cartoon creation hosted by Lantz. It ran from 1957 to 1958 then entered syndication until 1966, only to be revived by NBC in 1970. NBC forced Lantz to edit out much of the violence of the cartoons, which Lantz did reluctantly. Woody continued to appear in new theatrical shorts until 1972, when Lantz closed his studio's doors due to rising production costs. His cartoons returned to syndication in the late 1970s.

Lantz sold his library of Woody shorts to MCA/Universal in 1985. Universal repackaged the cartoons for another syndicated Woody Woodpecker Show in 1988. Woody Woodpecker reappeared in the Fox series, The New Woody Woodpecker Show which ran from 1999 to 2002. The series featured the first new Woody cartoons to be produced in over 20 years, and returned the character's design to the Dick Lundy/Emery Hawkins version of the late 1940s. Woody's voice is now provided by voice actor Billy West. The original Woody Woodpecker Show also continues to run in syndication, and Woody and Winnie both appear as costumed characters at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood.

In the early 2000s, a series of mail-order Woody Woodpecker Show VHS tapes and DVDs were made available through Columbia House. However, following complaints about censorship (the cartoons included featured varying amounts of censorship, from restored and intact prints to severely cut TV edits), the series ended after about a dozen volumes.

In 2000, Woody Woodpecker became the official team mascot of the Honda Motorcycle Racing Team. He is also the mascot for the Universal Studios Theme Parks.

Other Media

In The Simpsons episode "A Tale of Two Springfields", Todd's woodpecker mimics Woody Woodpecker's legendary laugh.

Woody was number 46 on TV Guide's list of the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All-Time in 2002.

Woody Woodpecker came in at number 25 on Animal Planet's list of The 50 Greatest Movie Animals in 2004.

In the movie Son of the Mask, the baby turns into Woody after seeing him on TV.

In the Family Guy episode "I Take Thee Quagmire", one scene shows Quagmire chiseling his name in the wall and laughing, similar to that of Woody Woodpecker. He also does it at the end of the episode, except he chisels his catchphrase "Giggity Giggity Goo".

Video games

Several video games of Woody Woodpecker were released for Sega Mega Drive, Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PC, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance.

Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau (1996) for Sega Mega Drive (made by Tec Toy, sold only in Brazil)
Woody Woodpecker Racing (2000) for Dreamcast, PlayStation, PC, and GBC
Escape from Buzz Buzzard Park (2001) for GBC
''Woody Woodpecker in Crazy Castle 5 (2003) for GBA

Mattel purchased the rights for a Woody Woodpecker Intellivision game, and Gracie Lantz recorded new dialog for the game, but it was never completed nor released. ^*

External links

Official Universal Pictures Woody Woodpecker website
Woody Woodpecker at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Free download of the public domain 1941 Woody Woodpecker short Pantry Panic
Woody Woodpecker Profile at the Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia
The Woody Woodpecker Gazette (temporarily down, access this alternate URL)

Billy West-potrayed characters | Fictional birds | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Animated film series | Universal Studios cartoons and characters

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