Andy Panda | |
---|---|
Woody Woodpecker character | |
First appearance | Life Begins for Andy Panda (1939) |
Created by | Walter Lantz [1] Alex Lovy |
Adapted by | Walter Lantz Productions |
Designed by | Walter Lantz |
Voiced by | Sara Berner (1939–1941, 1947) [2] [3] Margaret Hill-Talbot (1942) [2] Dick Nelson (1943) [2] Harry E. Lang (1944, 1948; whistling) [2] Walter Tetley (1944–1949) [2] Dick Beals (1952) [4] Mel Blanc (1957) [5] Daws Butler (1964) Scott Weil (2018) |
Duration |
|
Years Active | 1939–present |
In-universe information | |
Full name | Andy Panda |
Species | Panda |
Gender | Male |
Family | Papa Panda (father) |
Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. [6] These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947, and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. [7] The title character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a cute panda. [8] Andy became the second star of the Walter Lantz cartoons after Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He achieved considerable popularity until being eventually supplanted by Woody Woodpecker.
When Oswald the Lucky Rabbit retired in 1938, following a nine-year run, Walter Lantz's studio went for months without recurring characters. It wasn't until late 1937, when Lantz had a trip to a zoo. There, the main attraction of the place was a young panda of which Lantz drew pictures. He would then use his drawings to construct a new character.
Andy's first cartoon was the aptly titled Life Begins for Andy Panda in 1939. This was obvious wordplay on the perky titles of the popular Andy Hardy movies of that era. [9] Coincidentally, a later Andy Hardy film was actually titled Life Begins for Andy Hardy . [10]
In the first three cartoons of the series, Andy's companion was a feisty turtle named Mr. Whippletree (voiced by Danny Webb [2] ) who was a caricature of Eddie Anderson. Andy's father, the bragging Papa Panda (voiced at various times by Danny Webb, Mel Blanc, and Dick Nelson [2] ) was often the fall guy for Andy’s pranks. When Mr. Whippletree disappeared from the series, Papa began to function as both companion and foil.
Andy was at first a mischievous cub, whose blustery Papa is frequently trying to prove himself as a good role model. Later, Andy became a stand-alone star in the vein of Mickey Mouse, and even acquired a Pluto-like dog named Milo (voiced by Bill Shaw [2] ) as a pet.
The 1940 Andy Panda short Knock Knock featured the first appearance of Lantz's most famous character, Woody Woodpecker. [8]
By 1942, Andy Panda started wearing clothes and shoes in Nutty Pine Cabin. The character was then given a major overhaul by director Shamus Culhane for the 1944 short The Painter and the Pointer, with a far more malicious personality than he had ever shown previously, but this new version was disliked by both Lantz and audiences, and was not used again. Lantz continued to produce Andy Panda shorts until he closed his studio in 1949. Andy's last short was Scrappy Birthday (1949), which featured his girlfriend, Miranda Panda (voiced by Grace Stafford). When the studio reopened in 1950, the Andy Panda series never returned to production.
Andy led a major part of his career in comic books, in Dell Comics' Crackajack Comics and New Funnies . [11] One early Andy Panda comic book adventure was drawn by Carl Barks (New Funnies #76, 1943). John Stanley also did Andy Panda comic book work.
In two 1943 cartoons, Andy Panda's Victory Garden and Meatless Tuesday, Andy's foil was a nameless rooster. In late 1943, this rooster became Andy's comic book sidekick, Charlie Chicken: "hatched" in NF 79 and rapidly growing into the cartoon model. Stories about Andy's and Charlie's often-bizarre adventures ran for many years. Some were reprinted domestically as recently as the 1990s, and in Sweden as recently as 2001.
Andy also appeared alongside Woody in shorts such as Banquet Busters and Musical Moments from Chopin . He also had a cameo in The Woody Woodpecker Polka with Miranda Panda, Oswald Rabbit, and Charlie Chicken. In print, Andy Panda appeared in a Whitman Publishing 1943–1944 Better Little Book "Andy Panda and Tiny Tom" which differed from the usual Big Little Book format by having art on every page instead of art on alternate pages. Andy was scheduled to appear as a cameo in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit in the deleted scene "Acme's Funeral", but a gold-colored Papa made the cut. [12]
The character appears in the 2018 Woody Woodpecker series, voiced by Scott Weil. Andy also has a more mature voice with a Southern twang in this series. [13]
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio. After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse, who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world.
Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures.
Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures since 1940. Woody's last Woody Woodpecker was produced by Walter Lantz in 1972.
Walter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.
Knock Knock is an animated Andy Panda short film, produced by Walter Lantz. The cartoon is noted for being the first appearance of Woody Woodpecker, and was released by Universal Pictures on November 25, 1940.
Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive penguin. He was created by director Paul Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953, and developed further by Tex Avery in the two subsequent films following Smith's debut entry. The character soon became the second most popular Lantz/Universal character, behind Woody Woodpecker. Fifty Chilly Willy cartoons were produced between 1953 and 1972.
The Woody Woodpecker Show is a 30-minute American television series mainly composed, of the animated cartoon shorts of Woody Woodpecker and other Walter Lantz characters including Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, The Beary Family and Inspector Willoughby all released by Walter Lantz Productions. The series was revived and reformatted several times, but remained popular for nearly four decades and allowed the studio to continue making theatrical cartoons until 1972 when it shut down. It also kept the Walter Lantz/Universal "cartunes" made during the Golden Age of American animation a part of the American consciousness. The Woody Woodpecker Show was named the 88th best animated series by IGN.
This is a list of animated cartoons that star Woody Woodpecker, who appeared in 203 cartoons during and after the Golden age of American animation. All the cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Productions, and were distributed by Universal Pictures, United Artists and Universal International. Also listed are miscellaneous cartoons that feature Woody but are not a part of the main short series.
The Barber of Seville is the tenth animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on April 22, 1944, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Wally Walrus is an animated cartoon character who appeared in several films produced by Walter Lantz Productions from the 1940s through the 1960s. He has also since appeared in various cartoon programs of more recent decades.
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 is a three-disc DVD collection of theatrical cartoons starring Woody Woodpecker and the other Lantz characters, produced by Walter Lantz Productions for Universal Pictures between 1932 and 1965. The set was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on April 15, 2008. Included in the set are seventy-five cartoon shorts, including the next forty-five Woody Woodpecker cartoons, continuing the production order from Volume 1. The other thirty cartoons include five Andy Panda shorts, five Chilly Willy shorts, five Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts, five Musical Favorites, and ten Cartune Classics.
Life Begins for Andy Panda is a 1939 American short subject cartoon created by Walter Lantz, as the very first Andy Panda film.
The first Space Mouse is a comic book character published from 1953 to around 1956 by Avon Publications. Space Mouse is also the name of a 1959 Universal Studios cartoon featuring two mice and a cat named Hickory, Dickory, and Doc. A second Space Mouse character was published by Dell Comics from 1960 to around 1965. The Dell Comics version was also featured in a 1960 cartoon produced by Walter Lantz, entitled The Secret Weapon.
Homer Pigeon is an animated character created by Walter Lantz, who made his first appearance in the cartoon "Pigeon Patrol" in 1942. His final appearance was in 1964, in The Woody Woodpecker Show episode "Spook-A-Nanny".
The Merry Old Soul is a 1933 animated short film by Walter Lantz Productions, as part of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. The cartoon was nominated for an Academy Award.
Swing Symphony is an American animated musical short film series produced by Walter Lantz Productions from 1941 to 1945. The shorts were a more contemporary pastiche on Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, and often featured top boogie-woogie musicians of the era. While the first cartoon include the characters Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda, it mainly features a variety of different characters created exclusively for the series, with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit making an appearance in one cartoon.
Meatless Tuesday is Andy Panda cartoon produced by Walter Lantz Productions. It was directed by James Culhane and released on October 25, 1943. It is the second and last cartoon to pair Andy with Charlie Chicken.
Fish Fry is a 1944 Andy Panda cartoon directed by James Culhane and produced by Walter Lantz Productions. The plot centers around a street cats endless attempts to eat Andy's goldfish after ordering it from a pet shop.