Woody Woodpecker in the 1948 short Wacky-Bye Baby, directed by Dick Lundy.

Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character who appears 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. 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. Image File history File links Woody Woodpecker in Wacky-Bye Baby (1948) Source: [1] This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... Image File history File links Woody Woodpecker in Wacky-Bye Baby (1948) Source: [1] This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Dick Lundy can refer to different people: Dick Lundy, the animator. ... Animation is the technique in which each frame of a film or movie is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model unit (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result with a... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... Walter Lantz (b. ... Universal Studios logo This article is about the Universal Studios movie studio and Universal Hollywood theme park. ... The screwball comedy has proven to be one of the most elusive of the film genres. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... In the entertainment and news industries, syndication is a method of making content available to a range of outlets simultaneously. ... A small part of the Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, California, United States, which is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of celebrities honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce...

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 huband make a cartoon about the bird, and thus Woody was born. The story is probably just that, however, since the Lantzes weren't married until 1941, a full year after Woody made his screen debut. Look up Agent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary An agent is an autonomous entity with an ontological commitment and agenda of its own. ... A honeymoon is the traditional trip taken by newlyweds to celebrate their marriage, and presumably, consummate it. ... Grace Stafford was a American actress, the wife of animation producer Walter Lantz. ... Genera Many, see text. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

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. Woody Woodpecker first appeared in the film Knock Knock on November 25, 1940. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Andy Panda was a series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz and released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1949. ... Andy Panda was a series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz and released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1949. ... Genera Many, see text. ... Panda can have several different meanings: The Giant Panda is a large black-and-white bear-like mammal native to China. ... In chemistry, salt is a general term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... A psychiatric hospital (also called a mental hospital or asylum) is a hospital specializing in the treatment of persons with mental illness. ...

"Impulsive? I'm RE-pulsive!" Woody and Wally Walrus in Ski for Two (1944), directed by Shamus Culhane.

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 story man Ben Hardaway after his first four cartoons. Image File history File links Woody Woodpecker in Ski for Two (1944) Source: [1] This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... Image File history File links Woody Woodpecker in Ski for Two (1944) Source: [1] This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... James Shamus Culhane was an Irish-American animator, film director, and film producer, regarded as one of the greatest animators of all time. ... Events and trends The 1940s were dominated by World War II, the most destructive armed conflict in history. ... A voice actor (or voice artist) is a person who provides voices for animation (including animated feature films, television series, animated shorts), radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides. ... Melvin Jerome Blanc, better known as Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989), was a famous American voice actor for many animation studios, primarily the Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera studios. ... Warner Bros. ... Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ... Bugs Bunny on a United States stamp Bugs Bunny is a fictional street-smart gray rabbit appearing in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, and is one of the most recognizable characters, real or imaginary, in the world. ... Storyboards are illustrations displayed in sequence for the purpose of previsualizing an animated or live-action film. ...

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. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was an animated cartoon character who starred in a series of cartoon motion pictures of 1920s and 1930s released by Universal Studios. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km (over 11 miles) into the air, August 9, 1945 after the Allied atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ...

Layout artist Art Heinemann streamlined Woody's appearance in 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. 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... James Shamus Culhane was an Irish-American animator, film director, and film producer, regarded as one of the greatest animators of all time. ... Warner Bros. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ...

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. Once thing worth noticing is that his last film for Disney was the Donald Duck short Flying Jalopy. That features a badguy called Ben Buzzard, a character not unlike Woody's archenemy Buzz Buzzard. This short is played much like a Woody Woodpecker short, right down to the laugh in the end. 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The Walt Disney Studios refers to several different entities and locations associated with The Walt Disney Company: The Walt Disney Studios is one of the media empires four main operating units. ... Richard Dick Lundy was an American animator and film director. ... Donald Duck Donald Duck is an animated cartoon and comic book character best known for his cartoons from Walt Disney Studios. ...

"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, 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. 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... Kay Kyser (June 18, 1906, Rock Mount, North Carolina - June 23, 1985) was a famous bandleader and one of the first to become a radio celebrity. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Melvin Jerome Blanc, better known as Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989), was a famous American voice actor for many animation studios, primarily the Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera studios. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The song made extensive use of Woody's famous laugh, upsetting the man who recorded 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. Melvin Jerome Blanc, better known as Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989), was a famous American voice actor for many animation studios, primarily the Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera studios. ...

Later films

The post-war period provided more changes for Woody. In 1950, Lantz began directing Woody Woodpecker shorts again after a brief studio closing. 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 fans might reject a woman doing Woody's voice). Gracie did her best to tone down the character through her voicework. 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1950 films | Science fiction films ... A remote camera captures a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi Spacecraft propulsion is used to change the velocity of spacecraft and artificial satellites, or in short, to provide delta-v. ... Grace Stafford was a American actress, the wife of animation producer Walter Lantz. ... 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1953, Paul J. Smith took over as primary director of Woody's shorts. 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, voicedb by June Foray. The domestication of Woody Woodpecker was complete. 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... An animator is one who is involved in the process of animation. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... June Foray (born September 18, 1917) is an extremely versatile voice actor who has worked for most of the studios which produced animated films since the 1940s. ...

Woody on television

Woody in 1961's The Bird Who Came to Dinner, directed by Paul J. Smith.

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. Image File history File links Woody Woodpecker in The Bird Who Came to Dinner (1961) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... Image File history File links Woody Woodpecker in The Bird Who Came to Dinner (1961) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The ABC Circle logo, designed by Paul Rand in 1962. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American radio and television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 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 reappared 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. Woody's voice is now provided by voice actor Billy West. The original Woody Woodpecker Show also continues to run in syndication. NBC Universal is a media and entertainment conglomerate formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electrics NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, part of Vivendi Universal. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Fox Broadcasting Company is a television network in the United States. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A voice actor (or voice artist) is a person who provides voices for animation (including animated feature films, television series, animated shorts), radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides. ... Billy West (born April 16, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American voice actor, best known for his roles in Ren and Stimpy and Futurama. ...

External links

• Woody Woodpecker at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
• Free download of the 1941 Woody Woodpecker short What's Cookin' (aka Pantry Panic), the only public-domain Woody cartoon.
• Woody Woodpecker Profile at the Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia