Universal - How About Some Walter Lantz Cartoons...? (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

Now that Disney is starting to release short cartoon sets, and Warner Bros. is evidentally restoring theirs for release, how about giving us a disc or two of the best Walter Lantz cartoons? The four Tex Avery's (including two Chilly Willy's), plus a dozen or so vintage Woody Woodpecker shorts ("Barber of Seville," etc.) Time to rescue these from oblivion.

 

[bob kaplan]

i was thinking the same thing....would certainly enjoy seeing Woody and friends.

 

[David Lambert]

He-he-he-HEH-HE!!
Yep...love them Woody Woodpecker and Chilly Willy cartoons.
I'd buy THAT for a dollar!
------------------
DAVE/Memphis

MORE TV ON DVD, PLEASE!

 

[Blaine Skerry]

Chilly Willy in "The Legend Of Rock-a-bye Point". One of the funniest cartoons of all time.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Now you're talkin'! Amid all the (highly justified) clamor over the lack Looney Tunes on DVD, we tend to overlook the great cartoon shorts from the other studios, particularly Universal's Walter Lantz titles, which haven't been served very well on any home video format in North America.
Early on (almost 2 decades ago), there was a single good Woody Woodpecker tape, featuring several of his (excellent) 1940s cartoons, and a single tape of some Andy Panda cartoons. Later, Universal released two "Collector's Edition" Woody Woodpecker tapes, containing a paltry four (!) cartoon shorts each (the contents of which were subsequently combined on a single LD). That's it.
Lantz cartoons haven't been widely available on TV in the USA for several years either, and the last syndicated TV package, "The Woody Woodpecker Show" looked terrible; many shorts in this package were badly-transferred to video, dark-looking, and were often edited for content, and many more shorts weren't even included (not just the earlier black & white or the "Politically Incorrect" cartoons). All that's available now are some new, 1990s Woody Woodpecker cartoons, made for TV.
A proper DVD collection of classic Walter Lantz cartoons (along the lines of Disney's upcoming MICKEY MOUSE and SILLY SYMPHONIES DVD collections, and MGM/UA's earlier GOLDEN AGE OF LOONEY TUNES laserdisc sets) must include a core group of these 1940s & 1950s shorts (mostly the work of four top cartoon directors), all un-cut & un-altered:

• Early Woody Woodpecker:
  KNOCK KNOCK (1940 Woody's debut, with Andy Panda)
  WOODY WOODPECKER (1941 aka THE CRACKED NUT)
  THE SCREWDRIVER (1941)
  WHAT'S COOKIN'? (1941)
  HOLLYWOOD MATADOR (1942)
  ACE IN THE HOLE (1942)
  THE LOAN STRANGER (1942)
  THE SCREWBALL (1943)
  THE DIZZY ACROBAT (1943)
  RATION BORED (1943)
• Early Andy Panda:
  LIFE BEGINS FOR ANDY PANDA (1939 Andy Panda's debut)
  ANDY PANDA GOES FISHING (1940)
  100 PYGMIES & ANDY PANDA (1940)
  CRAZY HOUSE (1940)
  MOUSE TRAPPERS (1941)
  DIZZY KITTY (1941)
  ANDY PANDA'S POP (1941)
  UNDER THE SPREADING BLACKSMITH'S SHOP (1942)
  GOODBYE MR. MOTH (1942)
  NUTTY PINE CABIN (1942)
  ANDY PANDA'S VICTORY GARDEN (1942)
• Directed by James "Shamus" Culhane:
  BARBER OF SAVILLE (1944 Woody Woodpecker)
  THE BEACH NUT (1944 Woody Woodpecker)
  SKI FOR TWO (1944 Woody Woodpecker)
  CHEW CHEW BABY (1945 Woody Woodpecker)
  WOODY DINES OUT (1945 Woody Woodpecker)
  THE DIPPY DIPLOMAT (1945 Woody Woodpecker)
  THE LOOSE NUT (1945 Woody Woodpecker)
  THE RECKLESS DRIVER (1946 Woody Woodpecker)
  FAIR WEATHER FRIENDS (1946 Woody Woodpecker)
  MEATLESS TUESDAY (1943 Andy Panda)
  FISH FRY (1944 Andy Panda)
  THE PAINTER & THE POINTER (1944 Andy Panda)
  MOUSIE COME HOME (1946 Andy Panda)
  PASS THE BISCUITS MIRANDY (1943 Swing Symphony)
  BOOGIE WOOGIE MAN (1943 Swing Symphony)
  THE GREATEST MAN IN SIAM (1944 Swing Symphony)
  JUNGLE JIVE (1944 Swing Symphony)
  ABOU BEN BOOGIE (1944 Swing Symphony)
  THE PIED PIPER OF BASIN STREET (1945 Swing Symphony)
• Directed by Dick Lundy:
  WHO'S COOKIN' WHO? (1946 Woody Woodpecker)
  BATHING BUDDIES (1946 Woody Woodpecker)
  MUSICAL MOMENTS FROM CHOPIN (1947 Woody Woodpecker & Andy Panda)
  SMOKED HAMS (1947 Woody Woodpecker)
  THE COO-COO BIRD (1947 Woody Woodpecker)
  WELL-OILED (1947 Woody Woodpecker)
  SOLID IVORY (1947 Woody Woodpecker)
  WOODY THE GIANT KILLER (1947 Woody Woodpecker)
  THE MAD HATTER (1948 Woody Woodpecker)
  BANQUET BUSTERS (1948 Woody Woodpecker & Andy Panda)
  WACKY-BYE BABY (1948 Woody Woodpecker)
  WET BLANKET POLICY (1948 Woody Woodpecker)
  WILD & WOODY (1948 Woody Woodpecker)
  DROOLER'S DELIGHT (1949 Woody Woodpecker)
  CROW CRAZY (1945 Andy Panda)
  THE POET & PEASANT (1946 Andy Panda)
  APPLE ANDY (1946 Andy Panda)
  THE WACKY WEED (1946 Andy Panda)
  THE BAND MASTER (1947 Andy Panda)
  PLAYFUL PELICAN (1948 Andy Panda)
  DOG TAX DODGERS (1948 Andy Panda)
  SCRAPPY BIRTHDAY (1949 Andy Panda)
  OVERTURE TO WILLIAM TELL (1947 Wally Walrus)
  KIDDIE CONCERT (1948 Wally Walrus)
  THE SLIPHORN KING OF POLAROO (1945 Swing Symphony)
  PIXIE PICNIC (1948 Musical Miniature)
• Directed by Don Patterson:
  THE GREAT WHO DOOD IT (1952 Woody Woodpecker)
  TERMITES FROM MARS (1952 Woody Woodpecker)
  WHAT'S SWEEPIN'? (1953 Woody Woodpecker)
  BUCCANEER WOODPECKER (1953 Woody Woodpecker)
  OPERATION SAWDUST (1953 Woody Woodpecker)
  WRESTLING WRECKS (1953 Woody Woodpecker)
  BELLE BOYS (1953 Woody Woodpecker)
  HYPNOTIC HICK (1953 Woody Woodpecker)
  SOCKO IN MOROCCO (1954 Woody Woodpecker)
  ALLEY TO BALI (1954 Woody Woodpecker)
  THE UNDER-THE-COUNTER SPY (1954 Woody Woodpecker)
  FINE FEATHERED FRENZY (1954 Woody Woodpecker)
  CONVICT CONCERTO (1954 Woody Woodpecker)
• Directed by Tex Avery:
  I'M COLD (1954 Chilly Willy)
  CRAZY MIXED-UP PUP (1955)
  THE LEGEND OF ROCK-A-BYE POINT (1955 Chilly Willy)
  SH-H-H-H! (1955)
• Other assorted Walter Lantz color cartoon highlights:
  CHILLY WILLY (1953 Chilly Willy's debut)
  HALF-BAKED ALASKA (1965 Chilly Willy, directed by Sid Marcus)
  BUNCO BUSTERS (1955 Woody Woodpecker)
  MOUSE TRAPPED (1959 Hickory, Dickory & Doc)
  WITTY KITTY (1960 Doc the Cat)
  A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO(1939)
  SCRAMBLED EGGS (1939)
  THE SLEEPING PRINCESS (1939)
  KITTEN MITTENS [1940)
  ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB, JR. (1940)
  RECRUITING DAZE (1940)
  SYNCOPATED SIOUX (1940)
  FAIR TODAY (1941)
  SCRUB ME MAMA WITH A BOOGIE BEAT (1941)
  HYSTERICAL HIGH SPOTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY (1941)
  SALT WATER DAFFY (1941)
  THE BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY OF COMPANY B (1941)
  MAN'S BEST FRIEND (1941)
  $21.00 A DAY ONCE A MONTH (1941)
  THE HAMS THAT COULDN'T BE CURED (1942)
  MOTHER GOOSE ON THE LOOSE (1942)
  JUKE BOX JAMBOREE (1942)
  PIGEON PATROL (1942)
  YANKEE DOODLE SWING SHIFT (1942)
  BOOGIE WOOGIE SIOUX (1942)
  AIR RADIO WARDEN (1942)
  COW COW BOOGIE (1943)
  EGG CRACKER SUITE (1943)
  SWING YOUR PARTNER (1943)
  CANINE COMMANDOS (1943)

There are also a ton of black & white Walter Lantz cartoons, made between 1929-1939 (many of them starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit), that also deserve a place in such a collection, as well as many other 1950s & early-1960s Lantz cartoons (particularly those directed by Alex Lovy & Sid Marcus). I seriously doubt many people would want the endless number of truly bad Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy & Beary Family cartoons from the 1960s & early 1970s (all directed by Paul J. Smith, who did make some good Lantz cartoons in the early 1950s, but went downhill fast) on DVD, though.
Please, Universal, show your classic cartoon library some respect for once, by following the advice of fans in this thread. Thank you for your attention.
-Peter M. Fitzgerald
[Edited last by Peter M Fitzgerald on November 04, 2001 at 05:29 PM]

 

[Chuck L]

I too would be interested in a collection of the great shorts of Woody and Chilly.
I too remember the many releases of ultra-cheap collections with anything less than that even good transfers. I would buy these in a heartbeat if they were to arrive on DVD. My hope would be that they would contain the original elements and not be re-dubbed either.