Woody Woodpecker V2 and Friend

"If Woody had gone straight to the police, this would NEVER have happened..." (from BUNCO BUSTERS)

I share some fans' viewpoint that the 1940s Woody starring vehicles are the best. But many Woody viewers appreciate the 1950s Woody shorts -- the body of this collection -- for other reasons. These are the Woody shorts from which generations of nostalgia come.
"The story you are about to see is a big fat lie..." "Now I've gotcha, Chief Charlie Horse!" "YAAAAAY!" "Make with them keys, Maestro, and don't stop!" Face it: you remember these beloved Woody cliches even if you no longer recall the specific cartoons (UNDER THE COUNTER SPY, CHIEF CHARLIE HORSE, NIAGARA FOOLS, CONVICT CONCERTO) from which they come. You're getting them. All of them.

And that's not even starting on the supporting features, a mini-anthology of highly inspired choices. Andy Panda's MOUSIE COME HOME envisions codependence in crazed cartoon form; Chilly Willy's HALF-BAKED ALASKA has its unforgettable patter routine ("More butter? More syrup?"); and THE HAMS THAT COULDN'T BE CURED is a hot jazz Three Little Pigs send-up.
Finally there's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the star Walter Lantz inherited from an earlier (1927-28) Walt Disney/Ub Iwerks regime at Universal. Disney reacquired some rights to Oswald in 2006; last year saw a selection released in their Walt Disney Treasures line. But Universal retained rights to its own Oswald material, and Woody Vol. 2 brings us another small, tempting quintet.
The inventive, vital black and white classics are a fascinatingly different viewing experience from anything else on this box, as wannabe hero Oswald is smacked by Tex Avery's earliest gags. A long-lost color Oswald featuring girlfriend Fanny, SPRINGTIME SERENADE, is here too.

With new Oswald dolls and merchandise now available in stores, one can only hope Universal will tie in by taking the next step -- to release a multi-volume disc set on the Woody model, but with Oswald as the main character. From CHILLY CON CARMEN's pre-Betty Boop hooch dance to the cyborg T-Rex of STONE AGE, from the impossible ocean tricks of PERMANENT WAVE to Oswald's surrealist, pre-Wackyland adventures on MARS, there are dozens of these classics crying for a release.
Throw in a few pre-Lantz Oswalds as extras, and we're so there.

This set will have 45 Woody Woodpecker Cartoons spanning from 1952-1958. The trouble is that director Paul J. Smith (boo) was only interested in bringing the cartoons in under budget, creativity was not an issue for him. He started taking over Woody in 1955 and the cartoons started to became mediocre.

The GOOD NEWS is that there will also be non-Smith Woodys and 30 Walter Lantz non-Woody cartoons produced from 1930-1960 in this set, and these classics will be well worth getting this for! With DVDs you can just skip over the Paul J. Smith clunkers and cue the menu to these.

The Classic Cartoons will include these new-to-DVD titles:
SHE DONE HIM RIGHT (1933) w/Pooch The Pup B&W
FIVE AND DIME (1933) w/Oswald Rabbit B&W
WAX WORKS (1934) w/Oswald Rabbit B&W
SPRINGTIME SERENADE (1935)
A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO (1939)
FAIR TODAY (1941)
BOOGIE WOOGIE MAN (1943) A Swing Symphony
THE PAINTER AND THE POINTER (1944) w/ Andy Panda
+ 22 more!

The Woody Woodpecker cartoons in this set are:
(previously released to DVD by Columbia House unless noted "new to DVD")

1952
TERMITES FROM MARS (Don Patterson)

1953
WHAT'S SWEEPIN' (Don Patterson)
BUCCANEER WOODPECKER (Don Patterson)
OPERATION SAWDUST (Don Patterson)
WRESTLING WRECKS (Don Patterson)
BELLE BOYS (Don Patterson)
HYPNOTIC HICK (Don Patterson) - originally shot in 3-D, but this will be standard 2-D here.
HOT NOON (spoofing the movie High Noon) (Paul J. Smith)

1954
SOCKO IN MOROCCO (Don Patterson) - new to DVD!
ALLEY TO BALI ( aka Bali Ho ) (Don Patterson)
UNDER THE COUNTER SPY ( aka Secret Agent FOB, a Dragnet spoof) (Don Patterson)
HOT ROD HUCKSTER (Paul J. Smith)
REAL GONE WOODY ( aka The Beat Beatnik ) (Paul J. Smith)
FINE FEATHERED FRENZY ( aka Last Chase ) (Don Patterson)
CONVICT CONCERTO (Don Patterson)

1955 ** unless noted, all are directed by Paul J. Smith from here on **
HELTER SHELTER - new to DVD!
WITCH CRAFTY
PRIVATE EYE POOCH
BEDTIME BEDLAM
SQUARE-SHOOTING SQUARE
BUNCO BUSTERS (spoof of the Bunco Squad)
TREE MEDIC, THE (Alex Lovy) - possibly the last good Woody!

1956
AFTER THE BALL - new to DVD!
GET LOST ( aka Hansel & Gretel )
CHIEF CHARLIE HORSE - new to DVD!
WOODPECKER FROM MARS
CALLING ALL CUCKOOS - new to DVD!
NIAGRA FOOLS
ARTS AND FLOWERS
WOODY MEETS DAVY CREWCUT (Alex Lovy) - new to DVD!

1957
RED RIDING HOODLUM
BOX CAR BANDIT - new to DVD!
UNBEARABLE SALESMAN
INTERNATIONAL WOODPECKER
TO CATCH A WOODPECKER (Alex Lovy) - new to DVD!
ROUND TRIP TO MARS
DOPEY DICK AND THE PINK WELL
FODDER AND SON

1958
MISGUIDED MISSLE
WATCH THE BIRDIE (Alex Lovy)
HALF-EMPTY SADDLES
HIS BITTER HALF - new to DVD!
EVERGLADE RAID
THREE'S A CROWD
JITTERY JESTER - new to DVD!

After watching the B&W cartoons on disc 1, I want to add that I am surprised at how well the Lantz studio imitaded other studios.
Take "SHE DONE HIM RIGHT", if you did not see the production credits you would swear that you were watching a 1933 Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon.
"A HAUNTING WE WILL GO" may first remind you of a Disney cartoon, but with the racist "Lil' Eightball" starring character it reminds me more of the MGM/Harmon-Ising "BOSKO IN A HAUNTED HOUSE" cartoon.

The real interesting surprise is the last Oswald presented on this disc, "THE PUPPET SHOW". This strangely combines live puppets with an Animated Oswald as the puppeteer. At first I thought he was added to an existing puppet short, but as the film goes on there is an animated dream sequence of the puppets. Was Universal trying to savce an aborted puppet film project? Was the use of live action puppets a cost-saving device to get the years productions back on budget? Either way, it makes for a nice departure from the standard Lantz cartoons of that time.

"FAIR TODAY" is a weak Tex Avery inspired cartoon, "JOLLY LITTLE ELVES" reminds you of some Leon Slessinger/Warner Brothers cartoons & "CANDY LAND" could be from any studio of that time.

It appears that Lantz did not get a real style of his own until Woody Woodpecker & Andy Panda came on the scene.

It would be hard for me to consider buying a volume 3, but this set is still well worth getting!

This is the Woody Woodpecker I remember from when I was a child in the 80's. I know these episodes are older, but they are the one's I used to watch on the FOX channel when I was little. I love them and they brought back so many memories. My favorite is "Witch Craftey". I remember watching this one with my brother when we were little and we laughed so hard we cried. I was excited to see it in this collection. Though not as funny now as it was when I was a child, it did provide a few laughs, but most important, made me relive my child hood for a little bit.

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