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Rating:  -
First the packaging. This set is a textbook case of how to make an absolutely great DVD set. No annoying ads when you start the discs. Easy to navigate menu that makes watching individual cartoons easy and fun. Some of the cartoons, however, are simply three stars. The box has a disclaimer that the set is intended for collectors and "may not be suitable for children". "There's a difference between violence and slapstick", Walt Lantz once said. Nevertheless, he edited some of these 'toons when they appeared in 1970 on The Woody Woodpecker Show. These are every bit as violent as vintage Tom and Jerry 'toons, and parents have to make the same call. My view is that kids remember characters, not stories, and have an innate "cartoon sense" which enables them to tell "toons" from "reality. "Toons" are sometimes worse, but often better than "reality". Parents' real concern should be the extreme "live-action" shows on the rest of the airwaves.
That said, parents doing cartoons without cable will find this a perfect set. It's easy to play one cartoon a day as if it were on TV. Both kids and collectors will appreciate the bonuses in this set, which include one full show and six segments from the Woody Woodpecker Show. This innovative program combined live action Lantz and animated Woody in the studio, Lantz showing kids how to draw cartoons. I would love to have that whole series on DVD. This also recalls the approach of the other Walt (Disney), beginning with the Disneyland show, of similarly mixing live action and animated characters. However, the live Lantz makes very clear the difference between the 'toons and the live animators drawing them, and can say, "hey kids, let's watch this cartoon together". The key word is "together". This echoes the live- host format that launched TV cartoons, and which I feel is the way they ought to be shown, with adult hosts "showing" cartoons.
The 75 'toons on three discs in this set seem like a bonanza, especially given the paucity of Lantz material released up until now. There are 45 Woody 'toons (dating from 1940- 1952); 5 Oswald Rabbit from the Lantz studio years (1930- 1933); 5 Andy Pandy (1939- 1949); 5 Chilly Willy (1953- 1956), 5 Swing Symphonies (1941- 1945) and 10 Cartune Classics, the catch-all title for other 'toons (1933- 1955). These 'toons are remastered, which means simply transferred to DVD, not restored, however, they're all very good prints.
This sounds like the full comport until you realize that Lantz made 198 shorts, and start noting what's not here. "Musical Moments from Chopin" (1947) is often considered a high point. It's listed under the "Woody" 'toons in this set, even though it also stars Andy Panda, and was one of four "Musical Miniatures" that played in theaters. There were originally fifteen Swing Symphonies, and 185 cartoons were syndicated in the 1970s.
Shamus Culhane's cartoons like "Barber of Seville" are interesting for their fast- pacing, but as with many other studios, numerous vintage era Lantz 'toons are mostly strung together sight gags. Disney likely was responsible for bringing story and continuity into cartoons, although Chuck Jones also made good use of it in the Michael Maltese stories starring Bugs Bunny, notably the far more developed "Rabbit of Seville", which one cannot help comparing with Culhane's similarly titled 'toon.
If you like the modern era, as I do, this collection merely wets one's whistle, with Tex Avery's "Crazy, Mixed Up Pup (with a voice reminiscent of Huckleberry Hound). The third disc drops off right before "Termites from Mars", one of the best. Annoyingly, the Lantz show segments make reference to these 'toons, which are not included in the set. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful set for collectors, and a long- overdue recognition of the Lantz Studio. Now, where are the Terrytoons?
Rating:  -
Don't get me wrong...I love this box set, but I thought they left out a ton of woody cartoons in this box set! Is this now one of those things that Universal doesn't have the rights to EACH and every woody cartoon???
When I used to catch the Woody Woodpecker show on TV, there were quite a few skits there were HYSTERICAL!!! What happend to that famous Woody Cartoon with the following detective in just about every scene that kept saying "IF WOODY WOULD HAVE GONE STRAIGHT TO THE POLICE, THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPEND"...
Or the one where he had a blind date with a sexy voice over the phone, only to visit her and see that the lady woodpecker was about 500lbs???
I pre-ordered this box set and I felt like They really left out a ton of woody cartoons...Will there possibly be a VOL 2?? And Do I have to wait another 20 years for this?? Overall, I've waited a long time for this and I felt Like I didn't get what I paid for. There are waaay too many pre-woody cartoons and the real funny ones I waited for were non-existant.
Rating: -
This is quite an impressive collection, far more than I would have originally expected. There are even cartoons included here that toon fans would never see anywhere else...and, best of all, this set is being marketed to the proper audience, adult animation history collectors. Now, you can fully enjoy cartoons like "PIED PIPER OF BASIN STREET" and "BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY OF COMPANY B" completely uncut, along with absolute rareties like "PASS THE BISQUETS, MIRANDY" with a fine vocal performance by none other than Pinto Culvig!
Here's hoping this is the first of many volumes on this seldom-seen series of golden age cartoons. There are plenty more interesting titles that should be unearthed, dusted off and used in this collection, perhaps much, much more OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT and ANDY PANDA ("I wanna be inna newsweew!") the next time around. Genuinely worth every cent!!
Rating:  -
Watching these Woody Woodpecker theatricals really took me back to my early adolescence. OK, I wasn't around when they were actually in the theaters, but I've seen them many times on TV, as they were adapted to TV after the fact. Favorites include "The Screwball," "The Dizzy Acrobat," "Ski For Two," "The Dippy Diplomat," and "The Great Who-Dood-It." The Chilly Willy cartoons are great, and feature Smedley the Dog in a couple of instances. Add to that "Crazy Mixed-up Pup," a one-off which was a scream then, and is still hilarious. There's not much that's bad here, but I'd have to say that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is downright twisted. Makes you wonder what was going through Lantz's mind in those days.
I'm hoping they do a second volume made up of some of the TV show classics. Some of those include the episode with the cuckoo-clock maker, Professor Dingledong the taxidermist, the bell tower and the butler, Gabby Gator, Dooley (conspicuously absent in this set), the quiz show episode where "The Thinker" tells us what he thinks about smoking, and some of the one-offs and limited runs, like The Beary Family and Milford, "The Smart One."
I'll be waiting with baited breath.
Rating: -
This IS the best Woody Woodpecker collection you'll ever get, because most all the great Woody toons from the 40's are here. The 1940's Woody was voiced by an uncredited Mel Blanc (although sped up) and was ruined when the voice was taken over by Walter Lantz's wife, Gracie. Gracie seems like a nice lady but the voice of Woody should've been left as it was - even if Blanc quit, Walter should've found a similar voice. The maniacal laff was gone (replaced by Gracie's sad imitation), as was Woody's original zany, half-crazed appearance. In between the 40's Woody and Gracie's Woody, for some reason they left Woody without a voice - practically pantomimed - for a handful of cartoons, except for his traditional (dubbed-in) laff from the 40's.
But anyway, back to this box set; it deserves 5 stars for many more reasons than the 1940's Woody cartoons. There are bonus features & documentaries on all three discs - and on the third is an episode of the old Woody Woodpecker Show of the 60's (watch the cartoon-made-for-TV in this episode and you'll witness how the animation suffers). There's a nice handful of bonus toons from Chilly Willy, Andy Panda, Swing Symphonies and more on each disc.
Political incorrectness here? You betcha! That's part of what makes cartoons from the 30's and 40's so great; rather than the sterile-safe humor in recent animation (not to mention some current toons have traded political incorrectness for sexual jokes). Because of the P.I., the box warns that this is a collection for the ADULT collector. That's up for parents to decide; but put your uptightness aside, grab the family and enjoy this WONDERFUL collection of classic Woody - packed with 75 cartoons, more than most toon collections. Have fun!
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