The Woody Woodpecker Show
The Woody Woodpecker Show | |
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Genre | Animation, Comedy |
Created by | Walter Lantz |
Based on | Woody Woodpecker by Walter Lantz |
Written by | Universal Cartoon |
Directed by |
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Voices of | Grace Stafford |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States |
Production | |
Producer | Walter Lantz |
Editors |
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Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Walter Lantz Productions Universal Cartoon Studio |
Original release | |
Network | ABC (1957–58) |
Release | October 3, 1957 September 25, 1958 | –
Related | |
Woody Woodpecker (2018-2020) |
The Woody Woodpecker Show is a long-running 30-minute American television series mainly composed of the film series in animated cartoon escapades of Woody Woodpecker and other Walter Lantz characters including Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, and Inspector Willoughby released by Walter Lantz Productions.[1] The series was revived and reformatted several times, but remained popular for nearly four decades and allowed the studio to continue making theatrical cartoons until 1973 when it shut down. It also kept the Walter Lantz/Universal "cartunes" made during the Golden Age of American animation a part of the American consciousness. The Woody Woodpecker Show was named the 88th best animated series by IGN.[2]
History
Movie theater owners in the 1950s were finding that they could release features with reissued cartoons, or no cartoons at all, and the audiences would still come. Because of the practice, the theatrical cartoon business was suffering and losing money. By 1956 there were only seven animation producers in the short-subjects field, and by the end of the decade that number would dwindle down to three. Walter Lantz and his distributor, Universal Pictures, knew that the only way to subsidize the rising costs of new shorts was to release their product to television. Norman Gluck from Universal's short-subjects department made a deal with the Leo Burnett Agency to release some older Lantz product on television. Burnett handled the Kellogg's cereal account, and Lantz soon met with the Kellogg's people to sign the contract.[3] Lantz admitted that he was only working in the medium because he was "forced into TV" and "cartoons for theaters would soon be extinct."[4]
The Woody Woodpecker Show debuted on ABC on the afternoon of October 3, 1957. The series was shown once a week, on Thursday afternoons, replacing the first half-hour of the shortened Mickey Mouse Club. Lantz integrated his existing cartoons with new live action footage, giving the show an updated look that satisfied both viewers and Lantz himself. The live action and animation segments created for the show, called 'A Moment with Walter Lantz', featured an informative look at how the animation process for his "cartunes" worked as well as how the writers came up with stories and characters. The live-action segments were directed by Jack Hannah, who was fresh from the Disney Studio where he had done similar live-action/animation sequences for the Disney show.[3]
After the initial year on ABC, The Woody Woodpecker Show was syndicated until 1966. The "A Moment with Walter Lantz" segments were eventually replaced with "Woody's Newsreel" and "Around The World with Woody" which used footage of Universal Newsreels and featured voice-over commentary by Walter Lantz and Woody Woodpecker.
In 1970, the show reappeared on network television, with 26 additional episodes assembled by Lantz for NBC. The show ran on NBC until September 2, 1972, which is the same year the Walter Lantz Productions studio shut down. The show was revived again on September 11, 1976, featuring cartoons made from 1940 to 1965.[5] The show ended its network run on September 3, 1977. Local stations continued to air The Woody Woodpecker Show for the next several years.
In 1984, Lantz sold everything outright to MCA/Universal, though he remained active in overseeing how Universal handled his characters (for merchandise, TV, home video, theme parks, limited edition cels, etc.) up until his death in 1994.[6]
In 1987, MCA/Universal and The Program Exchange returned the show to television with a new 90 episode package for syndication. This Woody Woodpecker Show featured a complete overhaul of the series format. Gone were the newsreels, "Around the World" segments, and live action scenes with Walter Lantz, replaced by vignettes known as "Musical Miniatures", in which new musical compositions were played over montages of classic cartoon footage. New commercial bumpers were added and a new opening sequence was created. This one featured Woody, Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, Smedley the Dog, and Inspector Willoughby along with Woody's nemeses Buzz Buzzard, Gabby Gator, and Wally Walrus as they caused chaos in a small town. Episodes of this Woody Woodpecker Show typically consisted of two Woody cartoons bookending another Lantz cartoon (typically a Chilly Willy cartoon). The series continued airing in syndication until 1998. Around that time, Cartoon Network picked up rerun rights and aired The Woody Woodpecker Show for several months, after which the series disappeared from television.
After Cartoon Network dropped The Woody Woodpecker Show, Universal redesigned most of the Lantz characters in The New Woody Woodpecker Show, which ran from 1999 to 2003 with Billy West voicing Woody as part of the Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup.
Episodes
Cartoons with an '*' are repeats.
Series 1 (1957–1958)
# | 1st cartoon | 2nd cartoon | 3rd cartoon | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Who's Cookin' Who? | The Overture to William Tell | Bathing Buddies | October 3, 1957 |
2 | Ace in the Hole | The Bandmaster | Banquet Busters | October 10, 1957 |
3 | Life Begins for Andy Panda | Pied Piper of Basin Street | Knock Knock | October 17, 1957 |
4 | Chew Chew Baby | The Sleeping Princess | The Dizzy Acrobat | October 24, 1957 |
5 | Fish Fry | Pixie Picnic | Woody Dines Out | October 31, 1957 |
6 | The Hollywood Matador | Adventures of Tom Thumb Jr. | Well Oiled | November 7, 1957 |
7 | Andy Panda Goes Fishing | The Poet and the Peasant | Ski for Two | November 14, 1957 |
8 | Fair Weather Fiends | Scrambled Eggs | Woody the Giant Killer | November 21, 1957 |
9 | Mousie Come Home | Apple Andy, | The Dippy Diplomat | November 28, 1957 |
10 | Pantry Panic | Kiddie Koncert | Wacky Bye Baby | December 5, 1957 |
11 | The Painter & The Pointer | Dog Tax Dodgers | The Mad Hatter | December 12, 1957 |
12 | The Screwball | Three Lazy Mice | Solid Ivory | December 19, 1957 |
13 | Crow Crazy | Sliphorn King Of Polaroo | The Reckless Driver | December 26, 1957 |
14 | The Wacky Weed | Musical Moments from Chopin | The Beach Nut | January 2, 1958 |
15 | Meatless Tuesday | Jungle Jive | The Loose Nut | January 9, 1958 |
16 | Smoked Hams | Fox & the Rabbit | The Barber of Seville | January 16, 1958 |
17 | 100 Pygmies and Andy Panda | Kitten Mittens | The Coo Coo Bird | January 23, 1958 |
18 | The Dizzy Acrobat* | Toyland Premiere | Woody Dines Out* | January 30, 1958 |
19 | Life Begins for Andy Panda* | Fish Fry* | The Hollywood Matador* | February 6, 1958 |
20 | Well Oiled* | Pixie Picnic* | Ski for Two* | February 13, 1958 |
21 | Andy Panda Goes Fishing* | Adventures of Tom Thumb Jr.* | Fair Weathered Fiends* | February 20, 1958 |
22 | Woody the Giant Killer* | The Poet and the Peasant* | The Dippy Diplomat* | February 27, 1958 |
23 | Mousie Come Home* | Scrambled Eggs* | Pantry Panic* | March 6, 1958 |
24 | Wacky Bye Baby* | Apple Andy* | The Mad Hatter* | March 13, 1958 |
25 | The Painter & The Pointer* | Kiddie Koncert* | The Screwball* | March 20, 1958 |
26 | Solid Ivory* | Dog Tax Dodgers* | The Reckless Driver* | March 27, 1958 |
Series 2 (1958-1959)
# | 1st cartoon | 2nd cartoon | 3rd cartoon | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
27 | I'm Cold | A Horse's Tale | Puny Express | April 3, 1958 |
28 | Slingshot 6 7/8 | Syncopated Sioux | Wet Blanket Policy | April 10, 1958 |
29 | What's Sweepin' | The Mouse and the Lion | Rockabye Point | April 17, 1958 |
30 | Woodpecker in the Rough | Egg Cracker Suite | SH-H-H-H-H-H | April 24, 1958 |
31 | Sleep Happy | Goodbye Mr. Moth | Flea For Two | May 1, 1958 |
31 | Hot Noon | The Flying Turtle | Room and Wrath | May 8, 1958 |
33 | Wild & Woody | Crazy House | Dig That Dog | May 15, 1958 |
34 | Wrestling Wrecks | Pig in a Pickle | Drooler's Delight | May 22, 1958 |
35 | The Great Who-Dood-It | Andy Panda's Pop; a.k.a Goofy Roofer | Paw's Night Out | May 29, 1958 |
36 | Real Gone Woody | Boogie Woogie Sioux; a.k.a Indian Beatnick | Chilly Willy; a.k.a Deep Freeze | June 5, 1958 |
37 | Get Lost | Dog That Cried Wolf | Hot Rod Huckster | June 12, 1958 |
38 | Wicket Wacky | Andy Panda's Victory Garden aka Springtime for Andy | Ostrich Egg and I | June 19, 1958 |
39 | Secret Weapon ft. Space Mouse | Convict Concerto | I'm Cold* | June 26, 1958 |
40 | The Redwood Sap | Crazy Mixed Up Pup | The Screwdriver (Woody's Jalopy) | July 3, 1958 |
41 | Nutty Pine Cabin | Scalp Treatment | The Talking Dog | July 10, 1958 |
42 | Swing Your Partner | Hold That Rock | Termites from Mars | July 17, 1958 |
43 | Ration Bored; a.k.a The Gas Bandit | Scrappy Birthday | Flywood Panic | July 24, 1958 |
44 | Hypnotic Hick | Dizzy Kitty | Maw & Paw | July 31, 1958 |
45 | Buccaner Woodpecker | The Hams That Couldn't Be Cured | Hot & Cold Penguin | August 7, 1958 |
46 | Belle Boys | Broadway Bow Wows | Woody Woodpecker | August 14, 1958 |
47 | Helter Shelter | Hot Noon* | Juke Box Jamboree | August 21, 1958 |
48 | Jungle Medics ft. Sam and Simian | Real Gone Woody | Rockabye Point | August 28, 1958 |
49 | Alley To Bali | Under The Spreading Blacksmith Shop; a.k.a The Village Blacksmith | Pigeon Holed | September 4, 1958 |
50 | The Loan Stranger | Playful Pelican | Under The Counter Spy | September 11, 1958 |
51 | Operation Sawdust | Man's Best Friend | Hay Rube | September 18, 1958 |
52 | Convict Concerto | Mouse Trappers | Born to Peck | September 25, 1958 |
From Series 3 onward, the episode include four cartoons instead of three.
Series 3 (1970-1971)
Series 4 (1971-1972)
Series 5 (1976-1977)
Broadcast history
Does not include reruns
- October 3, 1957 - September 25, 1958 (ABC) (original animation with bridge animation)*
- 1964 - 1965 (Syndication) (original animation with bridge animation)*
- September 12, 1970 - September 2, 1972 (NBC) (new 26 episodes without bridge animation)
- 1958 - 1966 (Syndication) (reruns)
- September 11, 1976 - September 3, 1977 (NBC) (reruns only)
- 1987 - 1997 (Syndication) (reruns only)
- 1997 - 1998 (Cartoon Network) (reruns only)
- 1998 - 2001 (Nickelodeon) (reruns only)
- 2011 - 2015 (Teletoon Retro) (reruns only)
(*) = total of 59 episodes with original animation
Home media
In the early 2000s, a series of mail-order Woody Woodpecker Show VHS tapes and DVDs were made available through Columbia House. Each volume featured "cartunes", bumpers, and 'A Moment with Walter Lantz' or Newsreel segments set in the 1957-1977 format of The Woody Woodpecker Show, though Volumes 11-15 hardly feature any "Moments" or "Newsreels". There were complaints about cuts made to the shorts, which ranged from shorts from restored and intact prints to severely cut TV edits.[7]
In 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection, six behind-the-scenes segments from The Woody Woodpecker Show and a 1964 episode that contained the cartoon "Spook-a-Nanny" were released on the collection as bonus features. The following year, The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 was released, featuring twelve behind-the-scenes segments and two pilot cartoons, "The Secret Weapon" and "Jungle Medics" from The Woody Woodpecker Show.
References
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 915–917. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ "88, The Woody Woodpecker Show". IGN. 2009-01-23. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ a b "Toon Tracker's The Woody Woodpecker Show Page". Toontracker.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
- ^ Grossman, Gary H. (1987). Saturday Morning TV. New York: Arlington House, Inc. Pg. 346.
- ^ Grossman, Gary H. (1987). Saturday Morning TV. New York: Arlington House, Inc. Pg. 413.
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television ... - Jeff Lenburg - Google Books. ISBN 9781557836717. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
- ^ "The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: Cartunes on DVD: Columbia House Cuts". Lantz.goldenagecartoons.com. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
External links
- 1957 American television series debuts
- 1997 American television series endings
- American Broadcasting Company original programming
- American children's animated comedy television series
- American television series with live action and animation
- NBC original programming
- 1950s American animated television series
- 1960s American animated television series
- 1970s American animated television series
- 1980s American animated television series
- 1990s American animated television series
- Television series by Universal Television
- English-language television shows
- Animated television shows based on films
- Animated television series about birds