The Woody Woodpecker Show
Encyclopedia
The Woody Woodpecker Show is a long-running 30-minute American
television series mainly composed of animated cartoon escapades of the world-famous woodpecker
and other Walter Lantz characters including Andy Panda
, Chilly Willy
, and Inspector Willoughby
released by Walter Lantz Productions. The series was revived and reformatted several times, but has remained popular for nearly four decades and allowed the studio to continue making theatrical cartoons until 1972 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
.
The Woody Woodpecker Show debuted on ABC
on the afternoon of October 3, 1957. The series was seen 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 & 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.
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 Newsreel
s 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. 1976 show featured cartoons from 1940 to 1965. 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 Lantz did remain 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.
In 1987, MCA/Universal and The Program Exchange
returned the show to television with a new 65 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. New commercial bumpers were added and a new opening sequence was created. This one featured Woody and several other popular Lantz characters running amok and finished with Woody pecking the show logo and laughing. 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 1997. Around that time, Cartoon Network
picked up rerun rights and aired The Woody Woodpecker Show for one year, after which the series disappeared from television.
After Cartoon Network dropped The Woody Woodpecker Show, Universal decided to give most of the Lantz characters a redesign. The redesign led to The New Woody Woodpecker Show
, which ran from 1999 to 2002, with Billy West
now voicing Woody, as part of the Fox Kids
Saturday morning lineup and to date is the last Woody Woodpecker series.
tapes and DVDs were made available by mail order through Columbia House
. Each DVD 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”. 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 fifteen volumes rather than the planned twenty.
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 contains 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 and feature twelve behind-the-scenes segments and two pilot cartoons, “The Secret Weapon” and “Jungle Medics” from The Woody Woodpecker Show.
The 1987 intro and bumpers have yet to appear on DVD.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series mainly composed of animated cartoon escapades of the world-famous woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...
and other Walter Lantz characters including Andy Panda
Andy Panda
Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947 and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The titular character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a...
, Chilly Willy
Chilly Willy
Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive anthropomorphic penguin living in Alaska, although the species is native only to the southern hemisphere. He was created by Paul J. Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953...
, and Inspector Willoughby
Inspector Willoughby
Inspector Willoughby is a cartoon character created by Walter Lantz, and named after the Hollywood avenue which runs alongside the building where Lantz's office was housed . In Mississippi Slow Boat the character is addressed as Inspector Seward Willoughby...
released by Walter Lantz Productions. The series was revived and reformatted several times, but has remained popular for nearly four decades and allowed the studio to continue making theatrical cartoons until 1972 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
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
.
History
Movie theater owners in the 50’s 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 business, 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. Lantz admitted that he was only working in the medium because he was “forced into TV” and “cartoons for theaters would soon be extinct.”The Woody Woodpecker Show debuted on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on the afternoon of October 3, 1957. The series was seen 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 & 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.
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 Newsreel
Universal Newsreel
Universal Newsreel was a series of 7- to 10-minute newsreels that were released twice a week between 1929 and 1967 by Universal Studios. A Universal publicity official, Sam B. Jacobson, was involved in originating and producing the newsreels...
s 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
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. 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. 1976 show featured cartoons from 1940 to 1965. 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 Lantz did remain 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.
In 1987, MCA/Universal and The Program Exchange
The Program Exchange
The Program Exchange is a syndicator of television programs. It was originally founded as Program Syndication Services Inc. in 1973 and later launched the DFS Program Exchange in 1979, which became the DFS-Dorland Program Exchange from 1986 to 1987...
returned the show to television with a new 65 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. New commercial bumpers were added and a new opening sequence was created. This one featured Woody and several other popular Lantz characters running amok and finished with Woody pecking the show logo and laughing. Episodes of this Woody Woodpecker Show typically consisted of two Woody cartoons bookending another Lantz cartoon (typically a Chilly Willy
Chilly Willy
Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive anthropomorphic penguin living in Alaska, although the species is native only to the southern hemisphere. He was created by Paul J. Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953...
cartoon). The series continued airing in syndication until 1997. Around that time, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
picked up rerun rights and aired The Woody Woodpecker Show for one year, after which the series disappeared from television.
After Cartoon Network dropped The Woody Woodpecker Show, Universal decided to give most of the Lantz characters a redesign. The redesign led to The New Woody Woodpecker Show
The New Woody Woodpecker Show
The New Woody Woodpecker Show is an animated television series based on the original cartoon by Walter Lantz, produced by Universal Animation Studios and aired from 1999 until 2002 on FOX and YTV...
, which ran from 1999 to 2002, with Billy West
Billy West
William Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival...
now voicing Woody, as part of the Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
Saturday morning lineup and to date is the last Woody Woodpecker series.
DVD
In the early 2000s, a series of mail-order Woody Woodpecker Show VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
tapes and DVDs were made available by mail order through Columbia House
Columbia House
The Columbia House brand was introduced in the early 1970s by the Columbia Records division of CBS, Inc. as an umbrella for its mail-order music clubs, the primary incarnation of which was the Columbia Record Club, established in 1955. It had a significant market presence in the 1980s and early...
. Each DVD 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”. 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 fifteen volumes rather than the planned twenty.
In 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection is a three-disc DVD collection of theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lantz Productions for Universal Pictures between 1940 and 1956...
, six behind-the-scenes segments from The Woody Woodpecker Show and a 1964 episode that contains 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
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 is a three-disc DVD collection of theatrical cartoons starring Woody Woodpecker and the other Lantz characters , produced by Walter Lantz Productions for Universal Pictures between 1932 and 1958...
was released and feature twelve behind-the-scenes segments and two pilot cartoons, “The Secret Weapon” and “Jungle Medics” from The Woody Woodpecker Show.
The 1987 intro and bumpers have yet to appear on DVD.
Airing History
- October 3, 1957 - September 25, 1958 (ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
) - 1958 - 1966 (Syndication)
- September 12, 1970 - September 2, 1972 (NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
) - September 11, 1976 - September 3, 1977 (NBC)
- 1987 - 1997 (Syndication)
- 1997 - 1998 (Cartoon NetworkCartoon NetworkCartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
) - 2011-Present (Teletoon RetroTeletoon RetroTeletoon Retro is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel based on the Teletoon programming block Teletoon Retro. The service consists of animation series from Canada and around the world, all of which commenced production at least 10 years prior to their exhibition...
)
Credits
- Producer: Walter Lantz
- Associate Producer: Norman Gluck
- Production Supervision: William Garity
- Woody Voice: Grace StaffordGrace StaffordGracie Lantz , also known by her stage name Grace Stafford, was an American actress and the wife of animation producer Walter Lantz. Stafford is best known for providing the voice of Woody Woodpecker from 1950 until 1972.-Career:Grace appeared in feature live action films from 1935, Dr...
- Directors: Paul SmithPaul J. Smith (director)Paul J. Smith was an American animator and director.Smith worked for the Walter Lantz studio for much of his career, first starting as an animator, and then as a director. He also animated at the Warner Bros...
, Alex LovyAlex LovyAlex Lovy was an American animator, who spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions, later being a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervising the cartoon unit at Warner Bros...
, Sid Marcus - Animators: Al ColeAl ColeAlfred "Ice" Cole is a heavyweight boxer.Cole was a champion and a major force in the cruiserweight division prior to moving up to the heavyweight division, where he had less success....
, Lester Kline, Don PattersonDon PattersonDon Patterson may refer to:*Don Patterson , former head college football coach for the Western Illinois University Leathernecks*Don Patterson , American animator and director...
, Laverne HardingLaverne HardingLaverne Harding was an American animator.Harding, who worked for the Walter Lantz studio for much of her half-century career in animation, is among the earliest woman animators....
, Ray AbramsRay AbramsRay Abrams was a jazz and jump blues tenor saxophonist. His brother was jazz drummer Lee Abrams. He first worked with Dizzy Gillespie in 1946 and later with Andy Kirk. He would go back and forth between these two for decades...
, Joe Voght, Art Davis, Tom Byrne - Layout-Background Ray Huffine Art Landy
- Music: Walter GreeneWalter GreeneWalter Greene was a film and television composer who worked on numerous productions for over 30 years.-Career:...
, Darrell Calker, Clarence Wheeler - Film Editors: F.Y. Smith, Norman Suffern
- Live Action Director: Jack HannahJack HannahJack Hannah was an animator, writer and director of animated shorts.Hannah was born January 15, 1913, in Nogales, Arizona. He moved to Los Angeles in 1931 to study at the Art Guild Academy. One of his first jobs was designing movie posters for Hollywood theaters...
, Robert Dwan
External links
- http://www.toontracker.com/woody/woody.htm
- http://www.skooldays.com/categories/saturday/sa1417.htm
- http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/, a web page devoted to the various Characters and cartoons made by Walter Lantz Productions.
- First Intro, a Youtube video featuring the first intro, that features Walter Lantz, used from 1957-1977.
- Second Intro, a Youtube video featuring the Second intro, that features various Walter Lantz characters, used from 1987-1997.