Woody Woodpecker Cartoon Picture 1. Woody Woodpecker cartoon images gallery 1. Woody Woodpecker cartoon pictures collection 1. Walter Lantz decided that one new cartoon star wasn't enough for his new cartoon studio. He wanted a character he was sure would develop into a full-fledged star. So he and his crew came up with a new adversary for Andy Panda and his father to match wits with in their new picture: a crazy, red headed woodpecker. The plot of the cartoon involved the woodpecker drilling holes in the Panda family roof, and Andy Sr. and Jr. trying to get rid of it. Of course, like all of the other characters at rival studios that would soon develop into full-fledged stars, being released in 1940, the woodpecker had problems. The head of the Universal short subjects department, Bernie Kreiser, rejected the new cartoon, entitled Knock Knock, telling Lantz that the woodpecker was the ugliest thing he had ever seen. "You're not paying for these pictures," Lantz told him. "All you're doing is distributing them, so release him, because I'm taking a chance". And so he did. The cartoon was a smash with moviegoers, and Kreisler asked for a series of comebacks, pretending nothing ever happened.
Woody Woodpecker Cartoon Picture 1. Woody Woodpecker cartoon images gallery 1. Woody Woodpecker cartoon pictures collection 1. Lantz has said that a peculiar experience inspired him to create the character. He was on his honeymoon at Sherwood Lake, and throughout the night, a redheaded woodpecker was drilling holes in his cottage roof. Of course, it seems to be just a Hollywood tall-tale, as Lantz was on his honeymoon in 1941, almost a whole year after Knock Knock was released. With the character's first comeback film, Lantz needed a name for the character, and decided to go with 'Woody Woodpecker', which was also the title of the film. In this film, Woody goes to see a psychiatrist, after all of the forest animals call him crazy. Most of Woody's early pictures involved him trying to get food, gate crashing an event, or heckling some unworthy slob. Like all characters, Woody's design changed after his first few years, to something cuter and more streamlined. The 1944 masterpiece, Barber of Seville, introduced the new look for Woody (designed by Emery Hawkins), which would remain the same for the rest of the 1940s. 1944 also introduced another important factor in Woody's career: his long-time adversary, Wally Walrus, in The Beach Nut. Wally would be the key character Woody would match wits with for many years (similar to Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd).
Woody Woodpecker Cartoon Picture 1. Woody Woodpecker cartoon images gallery 1. Woody Woodpecker cartoon pictures collection 1.
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