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<HEAD><TITLE>Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Woody Woodpecker </TITLE> <script language="JavaScript"></script> <META name = "author" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "description" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "subject" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "keywords" content = "comic books animated cartoons animation comics comix syndicated comic strips"> <META name = "publisher" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "format" content = "text/html"> <META name = "language" content = "EN"> </HEAD><BODY> <body onload="if (self!= top) top.location = self.location"></body> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000EE" VLINK="551A8B"> <TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=260 VALIGN="CENTER"><IMG GALLERYIMG="NO" ALIGN="LEFT" HEIGHT=379 WIDTH=250 ALT="Woody Woodpecker" SRC="woody.jpg"> <TD VALIGN="CENTER"><H1>WOODY WOODPECKER</H1><FONT SIZE=4> <B>Original Medium:</B> Theatrical Animation <BR><B>Released by:</B> Universal (Walter Lantz) <BR><B>First Appeared:</B> 1940 <BR><B>Creator:</B> Ben Bugs Hardaway<FONT SIZE=3> <! BEGIN DONATION CODE> <HR><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR="993366"><CENTER> If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, <BR>Please contribute to its necessary financial support. <BR><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1237L0BCY25QA" TARGET="_blank">Amazon.com</A> or <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=don%40toonopedia.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_cod e=USD" TARGET="_blank">PayPal</A> </FONT></CENTER><HR> <! END DONATION CODE> <P><A NAME="cont"> <A HREF="lantz.htm">Walter Lantz</A> used to tell a wonderful story about the creation of Woody Woodpecker. During his honeymoon in a lakeside cabin, he and his wife were  <P ALIGN="RIGHT"><A HREF="#cont"><FONT SIZE=2><I>continued below</A></FONT> </TABLE> <CENTER><! BEGIN ADSENSE "LEADERBOARD" CODE> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <! END ADSENSE CODE></CENTER> <P><TABLE><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP"> constantly bedeviled by a very loud woodpecker. As annoying as the bird was, however, they also found him kind of amusing — until it rained, and they discovered he'd pecked holes in their roof. Drawing inspiration from adversity, Lantz decided to turn the woodpecker into a cartoon character. The only thing wrong with this story is that when the honeymoon took place, Woody had already been a cartoon star for a year. <P> The Woodpecker's first appearance was as a supporting character in an <A HREF="andypand.htm">Andy Panda</A> cartoon, <I>Knock Knock</I> (1940). The script was written by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who, at Warner Bros., had co-directed the first cartoon featuring the embryonic <A HREF="bugs.htm">Bugs Bunny;</A> and in fact, Woody owes much of his personality to Bugs. His unique laugh, created by voice actor <A HREF="blanc.htm">Mel Blanc</A> (and later adopted by Blanc's successors in the role, including Hardaway himself and Lantz's wife, Grace Stafford), provided an easily recognizable trademark, and was enough to ensure the character's return. <P> <I>The Cracked Nut,</I> a 1941 <A HREF="universl.htm">Lantz Studio</A> production, kicked off Woody's own series — and, incidentally, was the film in which he received his name. (Like <A HREF="droopy.htm">Droopy,</A> <A HREF="chipdale.htm">Chip'n'Dale</A> and many other cartoon stars, Woody was not named until his second outing.) That series included two Oscar nominees for Best Cartoon — <I>The Dizzy Acrobat</I> (1943) and <I>Musical Moments from Chopin</I> (1947, where he shared billing with Andy Panda) — and one nomination for Best Song, the one he sang in <I>Wet Blanket Policy</I> (1948). There were virtually no highlights from the late 1940s on; and yet, the series continued far beyond the heyday of Hollywood cartoons. The last one was <I>Bye Bye Blackboard</I> (1972) — a total of approximately 200 cartoons. <P> Like most cartoon characters of the time, Woody also appeared in comic books. In 1942, he started making a few guest appearances with Andy Panda or <A HREF="oswald.htm">Oswald the Rabbit</A> in <A HREF="dell.htm">Dell's</A> <I>New Funnies,</I> an anthology title that featured the Lantz characters. Within a couple of years, he was its star. In 1947 Dell started devoting a few issues of <I>Four Color Comics</I> to Woody. By 1952 he was in his own regularly-published comic, which continued until 1984. In the early 1990s, a few of the Dell issues were reprinted by <A HREF="harvey.htm">Harvey Comics.</A> Woody also briefly, in the early 1950s, starred in a newspaper comic from Consolidated News Features (<I><A HREF="emmylou.htm">Bobby Sox</A></I>). <P> Except for a single 1946 story drawn by <A HREF="kelly.htm">Walt Kelly,</A> creator of <I><A HREF="pogo.htm">Pogo,</A></I> not one of the hundreds of American comics featuring Woody was notable for outstanding quality. A few stories written and drawn by Freddie Milton have had very favorable reviews, but those were published only in Europe. <P> It was, however, in the comic books that a couple of supporting characters were introduced. In <I>New Funnies</I> #182 (April, 1952), Woody rescued a pair of woodpecker boys named Nuthead and Splinter from a tiger, and they turned out to be his nephews. Four issues later, Nuthead's name was changed to Knothead. Nephew Splinter soon metamorphosed into a niece. As such, Knothead and Splinter later turned up in the cartoons. <P> Woody's first TV show started October 3, 1957 on NBC. Walter Lantz himself acted as its host, and used the position to show the young viewers how animation was made. <P> Woody's trademark laugh is still heard from time to time in the more obscure kidvid slots. He also made an appearance in <A HREF="disney.htm">Disney's</A> 1988 <A HREF="roger.htm"><I>Who Framed Roger Rabbit.</A></I> And in 1999, Fox Kids Network debuted a series of new Woody Woodpecker cartoons (with <A HREF="chilly.htm">Chilly Willy</A> and <A HREF="spmouse.htm">Space Mouse</A> in the back segments) on their Saturday morning lineup. So there's life in that old laugh yet. <P ALIGN = "RIGHT">— DDM <P><A HREF="index.htm">BACK</A> to <I>Don Markstein's Toonopedia</I> Home Page <BR><A HREF="today.htm">Today in Toons:</A> Every day's an anniversary! <P><! 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