History Of Woody Woodpecker

“Everybody Thinks I'm Cra-zy!

Yesiree, thats me, thats me!

Thats what i'm cracked up to be!

I chop a hole in every tree, knock on wood!

Well, knock on woooood!

So I'm crazy, so what-what can i do?

So are YOU! -Woody Woodpecker, The Cracked Nut”

 

Woody Woodpecker is the wacky red-headed bird that tapped the American small screens and won all hearts with its wild antics. It was the creation of renowned cartoonist Walter Lantz. A 30-minute long American tele series that mainly featured outrageous escapades of the screwball woodpecker and other loony Walter Lantz characters, including Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, Wally Walrus and Buzz Buzzard, was produced by Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures. The series was revivified and reformatted many times, but remained popular for nearly four decades, before the studio closed down. This comical cartoon did its best to stir American consciousness and was also named the 88th best animated series by IGN. With its side-splitting collection of hilarious escapades, Woody went on to storm the screens and get his fans cracking with his notorious gang of friends. Although this show went down on popularity with time, it still managed to win itself an impeccable status in the history of world animation. Read on to know more about Woody Woodpecker.

It is believed that the first inspiration for this show came to Walter Lantz, while he was away on his honeymoon with wife Gracie, in Sherwood Lake, California. A rackety woodpecker kept the couple awake all night and when it started to rain, they realized that the woodpecker had drilled holes on their cabin roof. Walter was so annoyed that he almost wanted to shoot the bird, but Gracie proposed that they make a cartoon about the bird and thus Woody was conceived. However, the funny thing about this much-speculated story is that when Lantz got married, Woody had already been a year old star. The couple’s claim that the bird's cry inspired Woody's trademark "Ha-ha-ha-HAA-ha!" is also questionable, as Mel Blanc had used a similar laugh in earlier Warner Bros. cartoons such as Elmer's Candid Camera.

 

A brainwork of cartoonist Walter Lantz and J.B. Hardaway, Woody made his hit debut in an Andy Panda short called ‘Knock Knock’ in 1941. Thereafter, there was no looking back for this notorious character who went on to win an iconic status in the animation world, together with its notorious breed of aggressive screwball characters who loved to mess with people for sheer fun. Woody is supposedly the longest running animated show in the history of American animation series, with a sprawling track record of more than 30 years. Since it was a low-budget animation series, makers found it easy to accommodate it even with the rising production costs and considerable fallout in its popularity, that sprang up as the show reeled on towards The Dark Age Of Animation.

 

A successful television series in 1950s and a coveted position in the Hollywood Boulevard helped Woody attain its immortal status. Woody also made his appearance in comic books and also featured in cameo roles in Andy Panda or Oswald the Rabbit in Dell's New Funnies. In the next few years, Woody went on to become a ‘cartune’ superstar that won him a great fan-following and an iconic status in the animation world. Woody also become a favorite with the comic lovers and went on to gain great eminence for its outstanding popularity. Woody’s theatrical serials are still fondly remembered by classic animation fans and it remains the official mascot of Universal Studios to this day. Its characteristic hallmark - skull-splitting laugh shares an iconic status much like Woody itself.