Woody:1951

Woody took some time off in 1950 but returned in 1951 with some cartoons in which he doesn't speak. My guess is that this was a way for the studio to save money. Anyway, in "Destination Meatball", Woody encounters dishonest grocery store owner, Buzz Buzzard, who literally jacks up his prices.


Buzz uses invisible ink to hide the "hidden tax", but Woody refuses to pay except for a stamp to the buzzard's hand.


The invisible ink is dropped on some parts of Woody and Buzz believes he has killed the woodpecker. Afraid of the hangman's noose, he sweeps Woody's remains into the basement. "The Woody Woodpecker Polka" (from a cartoon released the same year) is whistled by both Woody and, oddly enough, Buzz in this film.


Woody tries to use a phony ghost to scare Buzz but when the jig is up, both parties douse themselves in the ink. Having invisible characters was another cost-cutting device, I am sure.


Buzz is led by Woody into the freezer where he is solidified and put on display in the store window, and Woody makes off with his free groceries.

Woody:1949

Woody Woodpecker took it easy in 1949 and only appeared in one film, "Drooler's Delight". On a hot day, nothing sounds better than an ice cream soda, so Woody takes his quarter and heads to the ice cream parlour.


In route, he crosses paths with Buzz Buzzard, who steals Woody's quarter while the woodpecker is casually flipping it in the air. Woody pulls out all the stops to get his money back from Buzz. First, he impersonates a blind begger to snatch the quarter back.


When Buzz re-obtains the quarter, Woody resorts to dressing in drag to catch the eye of the buzzard. Woody's female outfit is complete with...


...a booby trap! Woody finally makes it to the shop only to find Buzz is the waiter.


Woody shrinks in size during the final scene and is mixed up with ice cream in a glass by Buzz. Woody finally gets his Drooler's Delight and Buzz gets some pecks on his beak.

Woody:1948

"Wet Blanket Policy" places Woody against the evil Buzz Buzzard, a shifty insurance salesman. The cartoon also is the first to feature the "Woody Woodpecker Song", which I never really cared for since the lyrics include gruesome images of the woodpecker "knocking holes in your head"...but I digress.


Anyway, Buzz forces Woody to sign a life insurance policy that states the buzzard would be the beneficiary, should Woody meet an untimely death.


Before the ink is even dry, Buzz begins his attempts to kill Woody. A gun and and axe don't work, especially when Woody pauses the chase to answer the phone (and uses the delay to douse Buzz in ink).


Buzz attempts to drop Woody into a tank of crocodiles, which he just happens to have beneath his office, but of course Woody gets the drop on Buzz.


The buzzard is sent fleeing from the crocs as Woody pecks the insurance policy to confetti.

Woody:1947

Wally Walrus finds himself once again having Woody Woodpecker for a neighbor. The fact that Wally works nights and sleeps during the day is not respected at all.


Woody sings at the top of his lungs and makes a racket while mowing the lawn. When asked by Wally if he can possibly make any more noise, the woodpecker obliges by instantly becoming a one-man band.


Woody burns his leaf pile in the yard (and throws some trash in for good measure) and the smoke trails up into Wally's room. The walrus tries numerous things to try and stop the smoke from coming in, but even a picture on his wall gets infiltrated by Woody. In a humerous moment that blends action with music, Wally struggles to keep the smoke from coming up through his bedposts, to the tune of the Blue Danube Waltz.


Wally finally gets his revenge on Woody with a "tit for tat" machine that puts the woodpecker through extreme versions of the same annoyances that were inflicted upon Wally.

Woody:1946

Wally Walrus has rented out a room in his home to a new tenant. Unfortunately for him, the tenant is Woody Woodpecker.


The trouble begins with Woody's noisy and destructive game of indoor golf. Wally informs him of the strict rules, which are specific enough to include "no opium smoking".


Woody decides to take a bath but drops a dime down the drain accidentally. Determined to retrieve it, the woodpecker begins his assault on the pipes in his bathroom.


Unbeknownst to him, each action that Woody preforms on the pipes directly affects Wally's bathtub downstairs. Soon the walrus has a wire in his face (and...erm...elsewhere), and his tub is being jostled, shaken, lifted and dropped.


Woody drops dynamite down the pipes and the house explodes...but at least he finally retrieves his dime, much to Wally's chagrin.

Woody:1945

Woody is on the search for a meal but all of the local restaurants are closed. He finally finds a sign in a window that promises to "stuff" him.


Unbeknownst to Woody, he has entered a taxidermy shop and the fox who owns it is determined to collect on a cash reward for a stuffed woodpecker. The film contains mant funny moments as Woody believes the establishment he entered is a diner rather than a taxidermists.


The fox dreams of what he could obtain with the money; "women, motorcars, women, yachts, women, mansion, women..." and he slips some knock-out pills into Woody's soup. Woody awakens on the taxidermy table but is not ready to be stuffed just yet.


The fox learns that trying to kill Woody is no easy feat, since the woodpecker uses everything at his disposal to inflict pain upon the fox, such as an anvil and an elevator.


The fox's dreams of fortune are just as squashed as his body and Woody even manages to infiltrate his crushed dream.

Woody:1944

Woody takes over an abandoned barber shop in "Barber of Seville". After disrespecting and disposing of an indian customer, Woody's next client asks for "the works". Big mistake.


Woody uses his beak as a flamethrower to burn the helmet off of the man, then gets overzealous with the shaving cream.


Woody warbles opera as he terrorizes the man with a razor blade, in a fast-paced climax which sends the customer running for his life.


Director Shamus Culhane uses the woodpecker's insanity to great effect and this cartoon is considered by many to be one of Woody's best. It's one of those films that you need to see to appreciate, since words really can't do it justice.

Woody:1943

A product of it's time, "Ration Bored" deals with wartime gas rationing. Woody is at his peak here in the area of anti-authoritarianism.


Woody runs out of gas during a frivolous drive. He presents a children's book at the gas station, but it is clearly not the "A,B,C ration book" that the attendant had in mind.


Woody resorts to stealing gas by siphoning it from the gas tanks of other cars and eventually attempts his theft on a police car. Woody proves that the law does not apply to him as he assaults the cop after some back-and-forth with the siphon hose.


During the chase, the cop ends up with tires on his appendages and Woody slaps a steering wheel on him, driving the officer like a car directly into a gas silo...which explodes...killing them both.


Once in heaven, they learn that angel wings are also being rationed, and the cop learns that even in the afterlife, there is no escape from the woodpecker.

Woody:1942

My 100th post already? Time flies.

Like many other cartoon characters, Woody did his part for the army in "Ace in the Hole". His job seems a bit more trivial since it involves clipping horses, and Woody would rather be flying one of the planes.


Woody does not conform to the laws of reality as he hitches a ride on top of the plane's shadow, and bounces dangerously over a group of bombs.


The Sarge squashes Woody's hopes of flying but that does not stop the woodpecker from trying on one of the pilot's suits. A flare is dropped inside and causes fireworks for our hero.


Woody finally ends up in a plane and the Sarge is put through the wringer as he tries to stop the bird. There is quite a "Tex Avery moment" here as the Sarge flees from the runaway plane and slams the hangar doors. There is a moment of silence, then the Sarge opens the door slowly....only to be mowed down by Woody's plane.

The Sarge is left crippled after being blown up by the bombs from Woody's plane, but that doesn't stop him from forcing Woody back into his horse-clipping duties at gunpoint.

Woody:1941

Woody got a cartoon series of his own beginning in 1941 with the obvious film name of "Woody Woodpecker". A staple of the cartoons was to have Woody burst forth from the title card to deliver his trademark laugh.


Woody leaps out and directly into a song ("Knock on Wood") in which he delights in his craziness. Many a time I have caught myself quietly singing this to myself. The other woodland animals label him as insane and urge him to seek professional help.


Woody goes to a doctor, who in this case is played by a fox (who's office is only open for one minute a day). The doctor should have taken the whole day off if Woody is his patient.


Woody frustrates the doctor by trying to read the eye chart with his eyes closed and by vanishing, only to reappear at the door seconds later. This is just the beginning. Soon, Woody is careening around the office in a flurry of nuttiness, eventually being thrown right out of the movie screen and into the audience.


While the doctor on screen goes insane from his time with Woody, the woodpecker annoys the audience members until they slam his theater seat on him.

Woody:1940

Woody Woodpecker first appeared in the Andy Panda cartoon, "Knock Knock". As Andy's father is busy studying his racing form, he is interrupted by a knocking sound. Assuming it is the door, he answers it to find noone there. His frustration causes him to rip the door apart, only to learn that the knocking is coming from the roof.


"Guess who?" It's Woody and he has been destroying the roof with his constant pecking. Andy and his father learn that the holes in the roof are the least of the problems. The cross-eyed woodpecker is clearly insane with a crazed laugh and an affection for nose-honking. In his first form, Woody is quite the colorful character, complete with green tail feathers, a red chest and blue feathers. He is very loud, both in appearance and personality.


Poppa Panda has mishaps with his gun and must resort to more clever methods to rid himself of Woody. A time bomb disguised as a female bird is enough to trick the woodpecker into an explosive kiss, and Woody must cure his broken heart by terrorizing the pandas some more.


After several unsuccessful attempts to pour salt on Woody's tail, Andy finally does and renders Woody incapacitated. Two more woodpeckers in insane asylum gear come to collect Woody, but they prove to be just as looney.


What was meant as a bit role in a cartoon turned into much more and now Woody Woodpecker was unleashed upon the world.