Woody Woodpecker (cartoon)

Woody Woodpecker

Series

Woody Woodpecker

Release date

July 7, 1941

Crew

Chronology
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Salt Water Daffy	Andy Panda's Pop

Woody Woodpecker is a 1941 Woody Woodpecker short directed by Walter Lantz.

Plot[]

The inhabitants of the forest that Woody Woodpecker (voiced by Mel Blanc) lives in have started spreading the word about Woody being crazy, due to all of his screwball antics. After telling him (and many others) this several times, Woody also begins to question his sanity. So he goes to a psychiatrist, a fox with a German accent (Blanc), only to find that the doctor may be more cracked than the woodpecker himself. The peace and quiet of Birdland comes to an end when Woody Woodpecker begins to annoy the inhabitants with zany antics. Their countermeasures are hilarious, but they fail to dim Woody's zest and enthusiasm. Woody sings, "Everybody thinks I'm crazy." The other animals manage to convince him that he is, so he sees a shrink named Dr. Horace N. Buggy, a fox who's as crazy as he is. Woody heckles Dr. Buggy. Woody Woodpecker spends his day singing loudly and pecking holes in trees. He infuriates the other woodland creatures - when he isn't baffling them with his bizarre behavior. Woody overhears a squirrel and a group of birds gossiping about him. Even though he just sang a song proclaiming his craziness, he denies their whispered accusations that he's nuts. But after they trick him into knocking his head on a statue, the poor bird hears voices in his head and decides the animals might be right. He decides to see a doctor. But leave it to Woody to choose Dr. Horace N. Buggy, a Scottish-brogue-burring fox, who is, if it's impossible, even madder than he is.

Characters[]

Woody Woodpecker
Dr. Horace N. Buggy
Curmudgeon Bird
Owl
Squirrel
Bluebird
Other Birds
Audience Members

Availability[]

Notes[]

Reissued as The Cracked Nut by Castle Films
The song, performed by Mel Blanc at the beginning of the Woody Woodpecker, would make a reappearance in The Loan Stranger (recycled audio of Blanc). The song's last two lines would then make an appearance at the end of Hot Rod Huckster, this time performed by Grace Stafford.

Everybody thinks I'm crazy!

Yesiree, that's me, that's me!

That's what I'm cracked up to be,

I chop a hole in every tree!

Knock on wood!

*knock* *knock* *knock*

Well I knock on wood!

*knock* *knock* *knock*

So I'm crazy, so what-what can I do?

So are you!

Like most of the early 1940s Lantz cartoons, Woody Woodpecker carried no director's credit. Lantz himself has claimed to have directed this cartoon, which features animation by Alex Lovy, Ray Fahringer, Lester Kline and La Verne Harding (both uncredited), a story co-written by Lantz (uncredited), Ben Hardaway, Lowell Elliott, and Jack Cosgriff, and music by Darrell Calker.
This "cartune" featured the second appearance of Woody Woodpecker (who first appeared in the Andy Panda cartune "Knock Knock"), his first solo short, and was the first in which the character's name was used. Also, voice actor Mel Blanc recorded a newer, more infectious version of Woody's laugh that would be used (even after Blanc got an exclusive WB contract) until 1950 when Grace Stafford recorded an even newer, friendlier, refined version. Blanc would also re-record Woody's "Guess Who?!" signature line for this entry, and the recording would then be utilized for the entire run of the series. However, this is also the last short to feature Blanc performing new dialogue for Woody.
Just as with Knock Knock, Woody Woodpecker features the early garish Woody design, with red "vest feathers" (instead of a white one), buck teeth in some shots, thick ringed legs, a green tail, and a big chin which made him look more like a pelican than a woodpecker. This design was softened by 1942, and then later replaced with a more realistic version by 1944. This 1944 design would also be easier to animate.
In the 1960s, Woody Woodpecker re-released theatrically as The Cracked Nut.
His laugh at the beginning of the cartoon will be reused in most cartoons in the 1940's (especially during the openings of that time).
On later airings of The Woody Woodpecker Show, Woody Woodpecker was shown in an edited form, where much of the dialogue from the inhabitants who call Woody "crazy" were re-recorded to call him "wacky" instead. As a result, some of Woody's lines had to be recorded again by Grace Stafford instead of Blanc. Additionally, the ending scene featuring Dr. Buggy was cut from this run, likely to fit the running time of the episode. This version can be found on Volume 2 (Belle Boys) of Columbia House's 2002 home video releases for Woody Woodpecker cartoons. However, the uncut version can be seen on the Classic Cartoon Collection DVD.
A bit of this cartoon can be seen in the 2005 Warner Bros-New Line Cinema film, Son of the Mask.