Woody Woodpecker/Characters
Woody Woodpecker
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Everybody Thinks I'm Cra-ze-ee-ee! —Woody Woodpecker, in his early Cloudcuckoolander persona.
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"Is this trip really necessary? Sure it's necessary! I'M a necessary evil!"
—Woody, from the opening of Ration Bored, in his more Jerkass persona.
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Debut: Knock Knock (1940)
A prominent example of the Screwy Squirrel character, Woody Woodpecker was the star character of the Walter Lantz cartoon studio and is the mascot of Universal Studios [1]. In the earliest cartoons, he was essentially Lantz's answer to Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, being a strange hybrid of the two characters, with the energy, looniness and demented nature of Classic Daffy merged with hints of the wiseacre attitude of Bugs--also enforced by the fact that they even got Bugs' and Daffy's voice actor for the first three cartoons!
After the first batch of cartoons however, the wiseacre bit of Woody was casually dropped in favor of the more Screwy Squirrel aspects of his character. But things changed when original director Alex Lovy stepped down and ex-Disney animator Shamus Culhane took over direction of the shorts for a few years, ramping up the direction of the previous cartoons considerably, as well as giving Woody his iconic redesign. His take on Woody was much more fleshed out than the previous incarnation--wheras the original character was just a mindless heckler that went about causing havoc on sheer principle, Shamus supplied Woody with more clearly defined traits so that we could understand why he was going about causing trouble--specifically, by estasblishing that he is a selfish, ignorant being who only stands for himself and will not stop at nothing to achieve his goals, regardless of whoever gets in his way. He also helped firmly establish Woody's trait of being a Big Eater (which did pop up in early cartoons, but wasn't a central part of the character) which served as the basis for many of his cartoons. However, Culhane's direction, for all of his improvements, made Woody a bit too unlikable, taking him from being a screwy bird to sometimes being flat out malacious in some episodes (i.e. The Barber of Seville).
But this changed yet again when Disney veteran Dick Lundy took the directors chair, and toned down Woody considerably, establishing that he cannot go crazy unless given a genuine reason to. During his direction, Lundy essentially turned Woody into an ersatz Donald Duck, mixed in with Woody's typical Screwy Squirrel tendencies.
- Alliterative Name
- Animated Actor: As shown by the live action segments of the original Woody Woodpecker show.
- Annoying Laugh: Trope Codifier.
- Anti-Hero (Type V) / Villain Protagonist: Prior to Dick Lundy toning down the series, Woody was a character with almost no redeeming qualities--he was a selfish, self-serving troublemaker who wasn't above harassing or hurting other people to get what he wants.--Just see shorts like "Knock Knock" and "Chew Chew Baby" for examples
- In the "New Woody Wood Pecker Show" he's more of a type IV.
- Arch Nemesis: Wally Walrus, Buzz Buzzard, Gabby Gator and Ms. Meany.
- Attractive Bent Gender: Is very good at crossdressing.
- Big Eater: Woody's appetite was a frequent source of many plots.
- Breakout Character: Woody originally appeared in an Andy Panda short in an attempt by Lantz to deliberately invoke this trope. It worked.
- Captain Ersatz: Of Daffy Duck and the rabbit from "Porky's Hare Hunt", with some traces of Bugs Bunny in the earliest shorts.
- Catch Phrase: Guess Who? Ha ha ha HA HA, ha ha ha HA HA, ha ha ha HA HA, hehehehehehehe!
- Characterization Marches On: In the newer cartoons, Woody is much more relaxed than in his early shorts, where was a manic heckler.
- Composite Character: Originally a hybrid of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny in his earliest persona, but became a Screwy Squirrel and Donald Duck hybrid when Dick Lundy took over the shorts.
- The Determinator: Once Woody sets his mind on a goal, no force on earth will stop him.
- Jerkass: Particularly in the shorts directed by Shamus Culhane.
- Karma Houdini: Happened very frequently in the early shorts.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Makes use of this several times.
- Screwy Squirrel
- Took a Level in Jerkass: The Culhane shorts.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist
- Wholesome Crossdresser: In "Chew Chew Baby", "Drooler's Delight" and "The Woody Woodpecker Polka".
Wally Walrus
Debut: The Beach Nut (1944)
Woody's original set in stone rival of Swedish descent, Wally was made to serve as Woody's short-tempered comic foil, as Elmer Fudd was to Bugs Bunny, or as Squidward is to SpongeBob. Slow witted, but short tempered.
- Butt Monkey
- The Cameo: Wally made a cameo alongside Woody in the ending of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
- Friendly Enemy: Sometimes to Woody in "The New Woody Wood Pecker Show"
- Funetik Aksent: Has a thick Swedish accent.
- Interspecies Romance: He's willing to date women who are birds.
Buzz Buzzard
Debut: Wet Blanket Policy (1948)
Woody's other comic foil, Buzz Buzzard is a sleazy, greedy conman who will stoop to any depths to get what he wants.
- Captain Ersatz: Buzz is one of the Donald Duck character Ben Buzzard, a character director Dick Lundy created for the Donald Duck short The Flying Jalopy when he was working at Disney.
- Jerkass: Possibly the only character in the series who is more of this than Woody.
- They Killed Kenny: Several of the old cartoons ended up with him dying.
- Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Winnie Woodpecker
Debut: Real Gone Woody (1954)
Woody's girlfriend. While she only appeared in one of the original theatrical cartoons (and in a very one-dimensional role at that) she became a recurring character in the comics and became much more prominent in the newer show. Similar in personality to Woody, but much more dignified.
- Art Evolution: Her post-Real Gone Woody design is just a slight tweak of Woody's design.
- Ascended Extra
- Flat Character: Originally.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Only in her debut.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Aside from wearing a skirt and having her head feathers bent forward, Winnie is nearly identical to Woody (in her post-"Real Gone Woody" appearances, however).
Knothead and Splinter
Debut: Get Lost (1956)[2]
Woody's Nephew and Niece respectively.
- Bratty Half-Pint(s)
- Canon Immigrant: The characters originally appeared in Lantz's New Funnies comics (1952-), but were later brought into the cartoons.
- Chaste Toons
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Splinter is a rare female bird example of shirtless cartoon animal.
- Retcon: In the earliest comics, the kids were Nuthead (sic) and Splinter; both were boys; and the pair were Woody's adopted wards, not his relatives. First Splinter became a girl; then Nuthead became Knothead; then (in the cartoons) the pair became nephew and niece.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Splinter
Ms. Meany
Debut: Calling Dr. Woodpecker (1963)
An ugly, nasty, and occasionally smart-alecky old lady who often gets the better of Woody if he causes her trouble. First appeared late in the series, but became a regular very fast. Also a frequent player in The New Woody Woodpecker Show, often as Woody's short-tempered landlady.
- Grande Dame: Occasionally, depending on the prestige of her job.
- Jerkass: Especially in Bye Bye Blackboard.
- Meaningful Name
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast
- Old Maid: While the subject doesn't come up very often, an occasional New Woody Woodpecker episode features her looking for a date, sometimes Wally.
- Slapstick Knows No Gender
- Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Sometimes she works for a company or institution (she's a schoolteacher in Bye Bye Blackboard, a sheriff in Janie Get Your Gun); other times, she's just doing something on her own, such as birdwatching or archaeology.
Andy Panda
Debut: Life Begins For Andy Panda (1939)
Walter Lantz's second star character after the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series ran out of gas. Started off as an infant, but gradually grew up to become The Everyman. Woody Woodpecker made his debut in his 5th short. Phased out by 1949, but made a cameo in the '50s short "The Woody Woodpecker Polka". While he wasn't a recurring character of the series, his shorts were usually shown alongside Woody's in the original Woody Woodpecker show. Appeared in 27 shorts total (28 if you count his cameo in "The Woody Woodpecker Polka").
- Bratty Half-Pint: In his early appearances.
- Captain Ersatz: Andy's everyman incarnation seems to be one of Mickey Mouse.
- The Cameo: On a poster in "Wet Blanket Policy" and in the opening of "The Woody Woodpecker Polka."
- Jerkass: Shamus Culhane's very short lived take on the character in the short "The Painter and the Pointer".
- The Everyman
- Pandaing to the Audience
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: In his baby appearances.
- Write What You Know: Lantz based Andy off of the first baby panda to be born in the US, Su Lin.
Chilly Willy
Debut: Chilly Willy (1953)
A little penguin living in Fairbanks, Alaska who, oddly enough, hates the cold and goes out of his way to find warmth. While not directly connected to Woody Woodpecker, his shorts were aired alongside his on the original Woody Woodpecker show.
- Art Evolution: Initially, Chilly just looked like a Woody Woodpecker clone with flippers and black and white feathers. When he directed the second Chilly Willy short, Tex Avery created the much more distinct design that we know and love.
- Butt Monkey: Not as much as his enemies though.
- Everything's Better with Penguins
- Misplaced Wildlife: He's a penguin from Alaska.
- The Voiceless: Chilly frequently shifts between this and speaking.
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