Customer Reviews

Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"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.

This second Woody Woodpecker collection is an improvement over the first set. There is no DVNR as far as I can tell, though the transfers are on the dark side.

The Woody Woodpecker's really hit the skids quality wise on Disc Three, but there is SO much to enjoy elsewhere on the set that you won't mind. Fan favorites "Convict Concerto" (Woody plays the piano to hide a crook), "Bunco Busters" ("If Woody had gone straight to police..."), and "Half Baked Alaska" (Chilly Willy on a pancake binge... "More butter? More syrup?") are included, as are some bizarre 30s shorts like "Puppet Show" (featuring the use of live-action marionettes) and "A Haunting We Will Go". Andy Panda classics, including "Dog Tax Dodgers" with extensive animation by Disney legend Fred Moore, are here too.

And the extras from the Woody TV show, featuring Walter Lantz and his crew explaining to the audience how cartoons are made, are priceless. Pick this thing up ASAP!

Others have been very efficient at noting which cartoons are included, and several have mentioned the important information that "Digitally re-mastered" doesn't mean the same thing as "restored". I've always been a fan of the later "Woody's" so for me this collection was an essential buy. But what I thought was most intriguing was the additional bonus features, extensive and informative tutorials about the inner workings of the studio, hosted by Walter Lantz. These were a terrific exploration of old-fashioned cartoon production, and were a great instructional guide to those who have an interest. Some of the early Fleischer compilations have fascinating documentaries, but the special features here are worth the price of the set, and the cartoons "Alley to Bali" and "Under the Counter Spy" are wonderful shorts to own for collectors.

This set proves that there is life in that woodpecker yet!! I bought this, originally, for the "FRIENDS", and believe me, I was not disappointed, with extremely funny one shots like "DIG THAT DOG" and wonderful musical offerings like "PIXIE PICNIC", and there is the ever-adorable Sarah Berner voicing the baby Andy Panda, getting a magic wand mailed to him in "100 PYGMIES AND ANDY PANDA" and still more of those jazzy Swing Symphonies. Such cartoons make me hope for a third volume with, perhaps, the best of the later WOODY cartoons (if the chore isn't that excrutiating), reversing the numbers a little and giving us far more of the "FRIENDS" as there is still so much to be restored and issued in this series, especially if one remembers the Columbia House volumes that preceeded these.

Yet, the one thing that I was amazed about was the fact that I enjoyed the 1950's WOODY WOODPECKER output more than i thought i would, with voice work by Dal McKennon and Daws Butler. "HYPNOTIC HICKS", "WRESTLING WRECKS" and "REAL GONE WOODY" being stand-outs and fond memories from my daily viewings of "THE WOODY WOODPECKER SHOW" back in the day. I even liked "TO CATCH A WOODPECKER", a cartoon that is not only included but whose story board is given narration in one of the behind-the-scenes special features.

If there is a third and final set, we could get more of those strange 1930's titles like "SHE DONE HIM RIGHT", "JOLLY LITTLE ELVES" and "CANDYLAND", all of which are included here. They sometimes resemble the experiments that came from Warner Brothers cartoons of this period (maybe it has something to do with the voice work; in one documentary spoof or newsreel spoof, we even hear the familiar narration that we'd also gotten in Warners titles of this type created by Tex Avery). The Lantz toons of the 1930's can't be entirely confused with the SILLY SYMPHONIES or other one shots as they have a spikier edge, even though they can sometimes seem like direct steals from the earliest Disney musical series. I'm just a sucker for any cartoons from the 1930's. It is an era that isn't seen at all anymore, so why not restore what's left of the source material and give it one last go-round! In the '30's, Walter Lantz was still finding his way, but then I think we can say that about practically any studio, except perhaps for Max Fleischer Productions which had established itself and its humor quite prominently at that time, standing out beyond all others!!

Ah, but I digress... It would also be nice to check out more of the earliest ANDY PANDA shorts like "ANDY PANDA GOES FISHING", "MOUSE TRAPPERS" and "CRAZY HOUSE" which gives old grumpy Papa Panda his comeuppance, although baby Andy is at his best when he, alone, is the focal point of the cartoon. The first three make me wish that Lantz had allowed the baby panda to wander off into little adventures with Mr. Whippletree, a Rochester-like turtle, reluctantly by his side to keep him out of the usual trouble he finds himself in. We have the first and third of these earliest cartoons, thankfully!

One other cartoon that I am utterly delighted is here is "FIVE 'N' DIME", an OSWALD cartoon that has a thoroughly wonderful production number around the popular hit "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five 'n' Ten Cent Store)". The music and soundtrack of this title is enough to keep you wishing for more of these, and I know there has to be more!!

Yes, there is life in this studio, and I'm glad that these volumes are around to show it off! These first two volumes are testaments to this, and I'm so glad that we now all have access to them.

As many have pointed out, this set marks the beginning of the much-maligned Paul J. Smith era of Woody Woodpecker, which begins with Hot Noon (or 12 O'Clock for Sure). This cartoon suffers from having the opening gag repeated at the end (Woody plays piano, Woody gets kissed by his questionably stereotypical Mexican girlfriend, Woody is dazzled) and is thoroughly unremarkable. It is not a good sign.

But Don Patterson's Woody shorts, the remainder of which are on disc 1, are quite good. The set opens with Termites from Mars, one of the better 50's shorts, followed by the excellent Under the Counter Spy and Convict Concerto, Patterson's last Woody short as a director (although he is only credited as an animator for it, and would continue to animate shorts for a while). The latter is a special one; it features Woody playing the Hungarian Rhapsody, which seems to be the only piano-written piece of classical music used in classic cartoons like these. It is probably the last real masterpiece Woody short, as all shorts after this are either decent or mediocre. Case in point...

At the immediate start of disc 2, we are thrown smack-dab into the beginning of the era where Paul J. Smith directed virtually all Woody cartoons (which would eventually morph in the late 60's into ALL Lantz cartoons), with 1955's Helter Shelter. Most of the gags are pointless and absurd. An example: the man of the house in this cartoon sleepwalks and gets up to have a full-fledged meal of turkey and ketchup for no reason other than it's crucial to the gag. I don't want to spoil too much, but Woody ends up imitating a bottle of ketchup by saying "Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle!", and the man ends up eating a clock. This cartoon also uses a ridiculous Chinese stereotype at one point (dog gets bashed in head with cymbal, acts Chinese). I wouldn't have a problem with this if it weren't for the fact that it's been used before to better effect, and the gag literally comes out of nowhere in this cartoon. It's just as abrupt and obnoxious as the final scene of Damien: Omen II (better to pick a mediocre movie to compare it to).

I make this sound awfully harsh for a four-star review, but consider this: the Chilly Willy shorts included here are pretty good, including Half-Baked Alaska, a real gem from the plethora of mediocrity from whence it came (1965, to be specific). Also, not all Paul J. cartoons are mediocre; I found the most recent Woody short on the set, Jittery Jester, to be utterly hysterical. Paul J.'s shorts are also much, much better than the 1990's Fox Kids revival of Woody, which I recall seeing in their original broadcasts here in Canada on YTV. Long story short: every joke landed with a resounding thud.

But that's not in this set, and for that we should be thankful. What is in this set is very, very good for the most part, and the audio and video quality are vastly improved from the first set (so no more hissy sound and scratchy video to worry about). This set comes recommended with the caveat that the cartoons begin to drop in quality as time goes on. It is best regarded as a companion to the first set, and a good one at that.

What's not to like about Woody Woodpecker?

Even though volume 2 contains the Paul J Smith efforts who came in on budget, but short on comedy,these toons are a hoot. My kids, who have only seen a few Woodpeckerss, loved this set. Watching some of the episodes, I remembered these played at lunch-time during summers. Ahh, what memories.

The set includes 75 cartoons starring Woody, Oswald, chilly Willy, Andy Panda, Buzz Buzzard, and Lucky rabbit. We can't forget Knothead and Splinter either. Walter Lantz is remembered for many things, and Woddy is just one of them. If you don't like one cartoon, just skip ahead, you're sure to find one that keeps you laughing. Tex Avery isn't too bad either!

The special features include TV pilots, a TV show episode, and 'behind the scenes'.

All worth the money.

Tim Lasiuta

[...]

This is the one I was looking for and the one I grew up on mostly. I was a little disappointed with the first volume as it was all old Woody - i.e. loony crazy Woody with a big beak, wild eyes, and an obnoxious personality to match. That's volume one Woody. Some people actually prefer the old Woody - I never did. I didn't like the original Daffy Duck either. They were just too buffoonish and slapstick - a poor substitute for wit. Volume 1 is still worth picking up - the Chilly Willy episodes are great as are some of the older more obscure cartoons - but the Woody cartoons - blah.

Now to Volume 2. The Woody in these shows actually start to resemble the Woody on the DVD packaging. The cartoons are presented in chronological order which lets you see Woody's shape and character evolve (into a much cuter, more intelligent and likable bird!) and the storylines become more clever and funny as well. I have yet to finish these cartoons but I like where they're going. Give me the 50s Woody over those that came before any day. This is the set I was looking for.

DVD packaging is very well done. For each of the 3 discs, there is a little write up on what was going on behind the scenes at the time and who was doing what. There's a page of explanation for each of the characters: Woody, Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, Wally Walrus, Buzz Buzzard, Knothead and Splinter, Space Mouse.

The episodes selection list is printed inside the box with dates for each episode. There are lots of bonus features (which I haven't watched). And most importantly, there are English SUBTITLES - yes! Also, Spanish and French - voice in English only.

This is probably a better place to start than Vol 1 if you're introducing Woody to someone as he is quite charming here.. You can't really say that about pre-50s Woody.

From the notes:

"Walter Lantz's most popular character was first introduced in the 1940 Andy Panda cartoon Knock, Knock. Originally voiced by Mel Blanc, Woody's best-known voice was Grace Stafford (Mrs Walter Lantz) who took over the role in 1951. Two cartoons featuring Woody were nominated for an Academey Award for the Best Cartoon Short and his theme song was also nominated in the Best Song category.. New cartoons featuring Woody were a fixture in movie theatres from 1940 through 1972, making it the longest running series of cartoons ever produced."

Just wanted to stop by here and say I loved the first woody set and just bought this one. Personally I like some of the more obscure cartoons that aren't woody. On volume one I loved the swing symphonies. And I really love that Oswald short Spooks. It'd be cool if they'd make a universal Oswald set. It would go nice with my Disney Oswald set. Anyway, looking forward to seeing more Woody soon. Heh Heh Heh Heh Heh!