Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection Dvd Review

Woody Woodpecker and Friends Archetype Cartoon Collection, The

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THE SHOW:

I've long held that nostalgia is a unsafe thing. I was a huge Forest Woodpecker fan when I was a kid, so I was pretty excited by the idea of the 3-disc, seventy-five cartoon The Woody Woodpecker & Friends Classic Cartoon Collection. It would exist a chance for me to go back and look at something that brought me a lot of joy when I was merely a wee lad.

Let'south face it, time moves fast. Before you lot know it, it tin can exist several years--even decades--between viewings of whatsoever particular moving-picture show or Boob tube show. I don't know when the last time I saw 1 of Walter Lantz'southward Universal Cartunes. When I was young, I devoured every cartoon that I could get my hands on, and I call up I always sensed a differentness (which isn't the aforementioned as "difference") about the Woody Woodpecker crew. The logo was obviously distinctive from the studios that were considered to be the big shots, Warner Bros. and Disney, and the MGM shorts tended to fall into the Warner catalogue by then, meaning syndicated shows put Bugs Bunny adjacent to Tom and Jerry. Woody Woodpecker was something I had discovered later, subsequently my family unit had moved from Michigan to California. Woody somehow embodied that new life for me.

The woodpecker also appealed to the obnoxious trivial brother side of my personality. As I am sure many children earlier and since have done, I annoyed but most everyone with his trademark laugh. It was a matter of the build-upwards, the irksome simply shorter three early laughs and then the machine-gun end. It may accept been as elementary equally that, that I could imitate Woody Woodpecker in a fashion I couldn't do with my other favorites (I was a Duck human--both Daffy and Donald). Woody and I were simpatico.

Cutting ahead to now, and imagine my sinking surprise at watching the first DVD in The Woody Woodpecker & Friends Classic Cartoon Collection and having a very negative reaction to it. I wasn't laughing, I was less than thrilled with the animation, and worst of all, I was bored. What happened to all those fantastic 'toons I watched dorsum in the day?

Oh, the sting of nostalgia. It had gotten me once more! Some memories are amend left equally memories.

Woody Woodpecker fabricated his debut in 1940, in the theatrical Andy Panda short "Knock Knock" (all the cartoons on The Woody Woodpecker & Friends Classic Cartoon Collection were originally shown as lead-ins for movies and not created for television). In this piece, he was the supporting character. Not quite the villain, but the adversary that winds the nerves of Andy and his male parent. He's zippy, loud, and tenacious--the sort of qualities we tend to remember Woody Woodpecker for. The bird's antics must have struck a chord, because by the summer of 1941, he jumped into his own cocky-titled brusk subject area.

DVD one takes u.s. from that commencement 1940 Andy Panda 'toon and on through one-half of 1945. The first ten solo shorts here are very problematic. Woody comes off every bit super derivative, an try to get the wiseacre attitude of Bugs Bunny and fuse it with the nuttiness of Daffy Duck (with fifty-fifty a little pre-Screwy Squirrel genuine insanity). The biggest stumbling block, though, is that Woody Woodpecker is neither of those characters, nor is he even actually himself equally of yet. His personality model is all over the map, every bit is his visual model. He has a dissimilar villain in just about every cartoon, sometimes going confronting a human, sometimes some kind of animal dressed in clothes. He is a matador, he battles a loan shark (or, as it were, loan wolf), and he even performs the Hairdresser of Seville vi years before Chuck Jones bandage Bugs in the role. There just isn't whatever sense of a solid character, and for as developmental as Woody is, so is the Lantz Cartune way. The look of the shorts is inconsistent, and the films lack whatever kineticism. Woody is meant to move with speed, but the actual blitheness is slow. Furthermore, the gags are tired, and at that place is no subtext or commentary like we might look from the best of the Looney Tunes.

Things start to come together for Lantz and his bird with 1944's "The Embankment Nut." Woody's design starts to get sleeker, his neb and the tuft of red feathers on pinnacle of his caput both grow longer, and he gets his first real dueling partner, the Swedish-accented Wally Walrus. Hither the unstoppable prankster begins to take over. Woody Woodpecker is a force of nature who carries on with niggling regard to the residuum of the world, and the residue of the globe has no choice only to react. (Tragically, "The Beach Nut" has 1 of the worst transfers on The Woody Woodpecker & Friends Classic Cartoon Collection. Information technology's overly dark with faded colors and lots of surface scratches.)

Unfortunately, this is not so much an up trend as it is a momentary bright spot. DVD 2 is pretty much business as usual, carrying on with the same dopey gag fests, full of inconsistent blitheness ("The Loose Nut," for case, is a strong instance where the character is regularly off-model) and even recycled plots ("Who's Cookin' Who?" is nearly interchangeable with disc 1'due south "Pantry Panic;" "The Reckless Commuter" resembles "The Screwdriver"). The bottom line, though, is the bird lacks amuse. Woody may exist an "unstoppable prankster," only he is missing that Ten-factor that makes me want to root for him. He is never really the hero. He stands for nothing but himself, different say how Bugs Bunny becomes a symbol of defusing stuffy and wrong-headed dominance and bullies. In fact, information technology's actually pretty cathartic when things shift in 1947 and in a spate of cartoons, starting with "Smoked Hams," Woody begins to lose to Wally and finds the earth is capable of getting the better of him (the sleepless night of "The Coo-Coo Bird").

It's even telling that 1 of the best cartoons of the agglomeration is "Musical Moments from Chopin." Centered on a piano duel between Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda, this short benefits from existence less most the main characters and more about the various whackoes in the audition. Lessen the beaked one'southward prominence, get a better drawing.

DVD 3 rounds out the drove past standing the pattern of push-pull, of making up with me and then abusing me all over once more. The lead cartoon, "Wet Coating Policy," introduces new villain Buzz Buzzard, and for the residue of 1948 and into 1949, nosotros really get an oasis in this desert of unfunny. The series gets stronger in the animation section, and Woody enters his final stage looks-wise, getting rounder, more cuddly. Fourth drawing on the disc, though, "Puny Express," jumps u.s.a. into 1951, and by this point we're at a new depression. The cartooning is starting to shift toward the more limited animation we'd expect from goggle box: less particular, more hackneyed gags, and even an attempt to brand Woody a hero. His run-ins with Buzz, often in Western settings, are designed to prove him taking down a bad guy rather than but existence a pest. Yet, oasis't we been in this bike before? I experience like a cleaved record. DVD 3 even has nevertheless another variation on the Grasshopper and the Ant, belatedly '51's "The Redwood Sap."

Three-quarters of the way into this Woody period we are handed what surely should be the expiry knell of any series: "Built-in to Peck" shows Woody Woodpecker equally a hyperactive baby. (Ane tin't help simply think of Patton Oswalt's Star Wars bluster on his new CD, Werewolves and Lollipops. "Do you like Woody Woodpecker? Well, in this cartoon, you go to meet him equally a little kid.") The curt ends with Onetime Man Woody leaping into an awaiting grave, only to have the animator's hand reach in, erase the grave, and describe in the Fountain of Youth. Bathing in the Fountain's life-giving h2o, the senior-citizen woodpecker arises young and strong. We're supposed to cheer at our favorite heckler being spared for much more than one-act to come up, just alas, rather than lamenting his passing, we're just left to lament his failure to become away. A groan, a await at the DVD box, and the realization that we've many cartoons to become earlier any of us takes the large sleep.

In add-on to the Woody Woodpecker cartoons, each DVD on The Woody Woodpecker & Friends Classic Cartoon Collection is rounded out with various other features from the Lantz vault. DVD 1 has five of the "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" shorts that Lantz' studio did before Woody, dating 1930 to 1933. These are quite primitive black-and-white films, charming for their simple style and historically nifty for their impressive visual whimsy.

Both DVD 1 and DVD three accept five "Cartune Classics," short animated features with no connection to the greater franchise characters, but random subjects, a la Disney's "Dizzy Symphonies." In fact, DVD two has five cartoons from Universal's similarly styled "Swing Symphonies" series. These were all produced from 1941 to 1955, and they range from parody shorts like "Male monarch Kluck" (starring Pooch the Pup) to music-driven cartoons like "$21 A Day (In one case A Month)" or "The Pied Piper of Basin Street." There are likewise a number of pieces that trot out a parade of Hollywood caricatures and even a quick run of gags relating to the "Hysterical Highspots of American History." Some of these are funny, but some aren't. Information technology's all over the map. I of my favorite segments is in "Abou Ben Boogie," when the dancer Abou Ben is painted with all white outlines. It's a simple effect that adds a lot to the sensation of true, nonetheless exaggerated, movement.

The other added collections, the "& Friends" of the set championship, are the five Andy Panda cartoons on DVD 2 (spanning 1930 to 1949) and the five Chilly Willy ones on DVD 3 (1953-1956). I found Andy Panda anile well. Despite the rough beginnings of 1939'due south "Life Begins for Andy Panda," complete with the racist depiction of pygmy panda hunters, the character he eventually becomes is one of a sweet, though often oblivious, bumbler. The last three in the Andy set up--"Apple Andy" with its apple-themed vision of Hell, the all-musical "The Bandmaster," and "Scrappy Birthday"--are all shorts I recollect vividly from my youth, and they are however entertaining today.

Of the Chilly Willy 'toons, two are directed by legendary animation homo Tex Avery. He brings his usual sense of sense of humor to the proceedings, fifty-fifty if the jokes don't fly at the frenetic footstep he established over at MGM; nevertheless, the stories of the penguin who hated the cold are a highlight of the boxed set. Outside of the character's determinative debut, the remaining Chilly Willies, directed by Alex Lovy, maintain the aforementioned whimsy. They are reminiscent of Avery's subsequently Droopy cartoons where the sadsack hound is on the run from the wolf with the southern drawl (the same vocalisation actor even voices the canine adversary here). The formula works. These are funny. On the same tack, DVD 3'southward "Cartune Classics" as well has two films written and directed by Avery: "Crazy Mixed Up Pup," in which a dog and its owner accidentally get their plasma switched and trade behavior, and "Sh-h-h-h-h-h," in which a man with a nervous condition tries to avoid all dissonance in order non to blow upward.

The full listing of cartoons on DVD one:
Knock Knock * Woody Woodpecker * The Screwdriver * Pantry Panic * The Hollywood Matador * Ace in the Hole * The Loan Stranger * The Screwball * The Airheaded Acrobat * Ration Bored * The Barber of Seville * The Beach Nut * Ski for Two * Chew-Chew Baby * Woody Dines Out
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: Hell's Heels * Spooks * Grandma's Pet * Confidence * Merry Quondam Soul
Cartune Classics: King Kluck * Toyland Premiere * Hollywood Bowl * Scrambled Eggs * Hysterical Highspots in American History

The full list of cartoons on DVD 2:
The Dippy Diplomat * The Loose Nut * Who's Cookin' Who? * Bathing Buddies * The Reckless Commuter * Fair Weather Fiends * Musical Moments from Chopin * Smoked Hams * The Coo-Coo Bird * Well Oiled * Solid Ivory * Woody the Giant Killer * The Mad Hatter * Banquet Busters * Wacky-Bye Baby
Andy Panda: Life Begins for Andy Panda * Fish Fry * Apple Andy * The Bandmaster * Scrappy Birthday
Swing Symphonies: $21 a Twenty-four hour period (Once a Month) * Laissez passer the Biscuits, Mirandy! * The Greatest Man in Siam * Abou Ben Boogie * The Pied Piper of Basin Street

The full list of cartoons on DVD 3:
Wet Blanket Policy * Wild and Woody * Drooler's Delight * Puny Express * Sleep Happy * Wicket Wacky * Slingshot vi 7/8 * The Redwood Sap * The Woody Woodpecker Polka * Destination Meatball * Born to Peck * Stage Hoax * Woodpecker in the Crude * Scalp Treatment * The Corking Who-Dood-Information technology
Dank Willy: Chilly Willy * I'm Cold * The Legend of Rockabye Indicate * Hot and Cold Penguin * Room and Wrath
Cartune Classics: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company 'B' * Female parent Goose on the Loose * Pigeon Patrol * Crazy Mixed Up Pup * Sh-h-h-h-h-h

Typing in the punny titles of these many cartoons, I started to get a improve inkling of where maybe Walter Lantz failed and his contemporaries succeeded. Animation historians tell us that the Warner Bros. gang and the guys over at MGM made their cartoons with adult males as their intended audience. This meant blitheness that adults could savor and that would too make kids express mirth without insulting them or talking down to them. When yous hear a lame title like "Destination Meatball" and see the low-level jokes Lantz and coiffure trot out for their bird'due south assault on a butcher shop, it starts to become clear that maybe Universal didn't sympathise how to entreatment to a wider audience. They wanted to get kids on board, and they didn't remember much of what that might require. Thus, nosotros go the plethora of cartoons here, ranging from boring to stupid, and rarely ever funny.

Bluntly, the child in me is insulted. And also a piddling horrified that I was ever that dumb.

NOTE: These discs reportedly comprise "uncut" theatrical versions of these shorts, and I didn't notice any shocking editing or spots that felt like something was missing. At that place are some racial stereotypes that pop up, like Woody pretending to be Chinese in an early on cartoon or the Native American who comes in for a haircut in "The Barber of Seville" (not to mention the Native American-themed "Scalp Treatment"). These are relatively tame given some of the levels of racial prejudice that Hollywood was capable of. In actuality, more of this shows up in the supplemental cartoons, which play much more than on stereotypes and caricatures popular in the time period. Some of them are war-themed (including the about offensive of the lot, the "jazzy" "Boogie Woogie Bugle Male child of Visitor 'B'"), and some of the musical cartoons take place in foreign lands. I prefer that we meet these as they were originally done, just consider this your fair alarm if yous fright yous'll be offended.

THE DVD

Video:
All of the cartoons on The Woody Woodpecker & Friends Classic Drawing Collection are full screen, and the image quality of the shorts is all over the map. Though the marketing re-create boasts of "all-new digital transfers," one must ask what that even means. Presumably just dumping them to DVD is a digital process, and though there is no artifacting or other errors that are common to badly manufactured DVDs, i can only presume that these shorts were put on disc in whatever state their detail masters were in. The shows are sometimes fuzzy, colors get faded and spotty, and there is dirt and racket all over the place. All of the cartoons are watchable, and virtually of them are at to the lowest degree passable, but a few, similar "The Beach Nut" and "Ski for Ii," are pretty rough looking. Some of the flaws could be in the blitheness, but some are just laziness. Things do better, however, by DVD 3. The later the cartoon in the chronology, the amend the impress.

Sound:
Conversely, I didn't encounter much by way of sound spiral-ups. Bones mono mixes, only with decent levels. Subtitles are available in Castilian, French, and English for the hearing dumb.

Extras:
Each DVD gets a supplemental feature or two to round out the package and give us some background on the creation of the Cartunes. In a similar vein, the foldable case has two sections of notes virtually the shorts and their producer, too as illustrated lists of what cartoons are on each disc. The outer slipcase is really nicely designed, with sparingly used dice-cut effects and embossing.

DVD 1 has two features, with a vintage brusque about the cosmos of Oswald the Rabbit cartoons called "Cartoonland Mysteries" (ten minutes, fifty seconds) being the best. Information technology is a step-by-step look at how an blithe short is made. There is besides a later promotional program called "Walter, Woody, and the Globe of Blitheness" (13:45) that goes over the history of Lantz and shows clips from some of his earliest cartoons. It follows up through the cosmos and popularity of Woody, and would be much better without the poorly acted and badly animated sequences of the animator and the character interacting. However, neat to see footage of the man himself.

DVD 2 has six like segments taken from the Woody Woodpecker Prove TV series. Strung together, they run about 23 minutes, and they are like to how Walt Disney introduced his shows. In these, Lantz discusses the background of the serial, including lessons on how to draw Andy and Woody and tracing the development of the look of his main graphic symbol.

DVD iii has a 23-infinitesimal Halloween episode of The Woody Woodpecker Testify that includes old shorts and the but drawing created specifically for the TV serial, "Spook-a-Nanny." Oddly, the credits and interstitial elements with Lantz hosting are in black-and-white here.

Concluding THOUGHTS:
Heed, no one is more upset about this review than me. I campaigned to review The Woody Woodpecker & Friends Archetype Drawing Drove, and I had no inkling I would ever find myself typing the words Skip It in relation to this 3-DVD set. Having spent my formative years devouring as many cartoons every bit my TV would give me, I recall Woody Woodpecker being one of my favorite characters. In my listen, he was an anarchic, irrepressible prankster that twiddled his beak at social mores. Or, that'south how my brain had cast him in the years between watching his antics regularly and only remembering them. What I am faced with in the present is non at all what I remembered, but instead shoddily animated, limp greenbacks-ins on the successes of other cartoon studios. And most ix hours of it. That's more than a full 24-hour interval'south work, folks, and I paid for every minute.

Jamie Southward. Rich is a novelist and comic volume writer. He is best known for his collaborations with Joelle Jones, including the hardboiled crime comic book You Have Killed Me , the challenging romance 12 Reasons Why I Honey Her, and the 2007 prose novel Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?, for which Jones did the embrace. All iii were published by Oni Press. His about recent projects include the futuristic romance A Male child and a Girl with Natalie Nourigat; Archer Coe and the Thousand Natural Shocks, a loopy crime tale fatigued past Dan Christensen; and the horror miniseries Madame Frankenstein, a collaboration with Megan Levens. Follow Rich's blog at Confessions123.com.

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Source: https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/29585