Chilly Willy | |
---|---|
Woody Woodpecker character | |
First appearance | Chilly Willy (1953) |
Created by | Paul J. Smith (original) Tex Avery (redesign) |
Adapted by | Walter Lantz Productions |
Designed by | Tex Avery |
Voiced by | Sara Berner (1953) Grace Stafford (1954, 1957, 1963) [1] Nancy Wible (1955) (singing voice in Hot and Cold Penguin opening) Bonnie Baker (1956, 1961) (singing voice in the openings) Gloria Wood (1957) [1] Daws Butler (1964–1972) Brad Norman (2018) Dee Bradley Baker (2020–present) |
Spinoffs | Appearances |
Years active | 1953–present |
In-universe information | |
Species | Penguin |
Gender | Male |
Significant other | Chilly Lilly |
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. [2] Fifty Chilly Willy cartoons were produced between 1953 and 1972. [3]
Chilly Willy was inspired by mystery writer Stuart Palmer, according to Scott MacGillivray's book Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide. Palmer used the Lantz studio as a background for his novel Cold Poison, in which the cartoon star was a penguin character, and Lantz adopted the penguin idea for the screen. [4] The character Pablo the Penguin from the 1945 Disney film The Three Caballeros was the inspiration for Chilly Willy. [5] Paul J. Smith initially based Chilly's design on a separate penguin character from Lantz' 1945 cartoon Sliphorn King of Polaroo, but would later be redesigned by Tex Avery in his second appearance, I'm Cold in 1954. [6]
Chilly Willy appeared in 50 theatrical short subjects produced by Lantz from 1953 to 1972, most of which involve his attempts to stay warm, and often meeting opposition from a dog named Smedley (voiced by Daws Butler). Smedley has a large mouth and sharp-pointed teeth (which he shows off when yawning), but is never shown viciously trying to bite Chilly or anyone else with them. There were times, however, when Chilly and Smedley got along, as they did in Vicious Viking and Fractured Friendship, but Chilly never referred to Smedley by name. Most times that Chilly was in opposition with Smedley, it wound up with the two of them being friends at the end. Chilly was more of a nuisance to Smedley than an enemy, often showing up where Smedley is working, usually for some mean employer. Many times, the notion of a plot was extremely weak, appearing to be a random collection of loosely related gags as opposed to a coherent story.
Two of Chilly's friends in the later cartoons were Maxie the Polar Bear (voiced by Daws Butler) and Gooney the "Gooney Bird" Albatross (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Joe E. Brown). Maxie has appeared with Chilly more than Gooney has. There have been only two cartoons in which all three characters have appeared together: Gooney's Goofy Landings (where Chilly and Maxie try to perfect Gooney's landings) and Airlift a la Carte (where Chilly, Maxie, and Gooney go to the store owned by Smedley).
In some episodes, Chilly Willy also deals with a hunter named Colonel Pot Shot (voiced by Daws Butler) whom Smedley has been shown to work for in some episodes. Pot Shot would give orders in a calm controlled voice, and then would explode in rage when he told Smedley what would happen should he fail in his objective. Also, two episodes had Chilly Willy outsmarting Wally Walrus when Chilly Willy comes across his fishing projects.
Paul Smith directed the first Chilly Willy cartoon, simply titled Chilly Willy, in 1953. The initial version of Chilly Willy resembled Woody Woodpecker, except with flippers and black feathers, but he was redesigned in to his more familiar form in subsequent cartoons. [7]
Tex Avery revived the character for two of his shorts, I'm Cold (1954) and the Academy Award nominated The Legend of Rockabye Point (1955). After Avery left the studio, Alex Lovy assumed as director, starting by directing Hot and Cold Penguin .
Chilly was mute in most of his 1950s cartoons and early 1960s cartoons, although he was voiced by Sara Berner in the initial entry. The next time he spoke was in The Woody Woodpecker Show Halloween special Spook-A-Nanny in 1964, with Daws Butler providing Chilly's voice until the end of the series in a style similar to his Elroy Jetson characterization. The character always speaks in the comic book stories based on the character. Also in the comic book stories, Chilly had two nephews named Ping and Pong, similar to how Woody Woodpecker is uncle to twins Knothead and Splinter.
When the Lantz cartoons were packaged for television in 1957 as The Woody Woodpecker Show , Chilly Willy was a featured attraction on the show, and has remained such in all later versions of the Woody Woodpecker Show package.
In the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Chilly Willy is mentioned by Eddie's acquaintance Angelo.
Chilly Willy is featured in The New Woody Woodpecker Show where he has no dialogue. Like the shorts, Chilly has gone up against Smedley. Later episodes introduce Sgt. Hogwash (voiced by Blake Clark) and Major Bull (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) who operate in an Antarctic military base that Chilly tends to trespass in. The Legend of Rockabye Point was also featured early on, dubbed "A Classic Chilly Cartoon".
Chilly Willy is a supporting character in the 2018 Woody Woodpecker animated series, voiced by Brad Norman and Dee Bradley Baker. [8]
Chilly Willy makes a cameo appearance in the 2024 film Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp as a wood sculpture Woody makes.
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.
Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio that was active from 1928 to 1949 and then from 1950 to 1972. It was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures.
Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon 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 theatrical cartoon 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.
Charles Dawson Butler, professionally known as Daws Butler, was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera characters, including: Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Augie Doggie, Loopy De Loop, Wally Gator, Snooper and Blabber, Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Lippy the Lion, Elroy Jetson, Lambsy, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom and Hair Bear. While at Walter Lantz, he did the voices of: Chilly Willy, Smedley, Maxie the Polar Bear, Gooney and Sam in the Maggie and Sam series.
Michael Maltese was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist for classic animated cartoon shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of Merrie Melodies cartoons with director Chuck Jones. This collaboration produced many highly acclaimed animated shorts, including 4 of the top 5 "greatest cartoons" as judged by 1000 animation professionals; "What's Opera, Doc?" tops this list as the best animated short of all time.
The Woody Woodpecker Show is an 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.
The New Woody Woodpecker Show is an American animated comedy television series based on the animated short film series created by cartoonist and animator Walter Lantz. It was co-developed by animators Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong, was produced by Universal Cartoon Studios and aired from May 8, 1999, to July 27, 2002, on Fox's Fox Kids programming block.
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection is a three-disc DVD collection of theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lantz Productions for Universal Pictures between 1930 and 1956. The set was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on July 24, 2007, and marks the first time a collection of cartoons starring Woody Woodpecker and the other Lantz characters have been widely available on home video.
The Legend of Rockabye Point is a 1955 Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Tex Avery and produced by Walter Lantz. The short was repurposed in episode 3 of The New Woody Woodpecker Show as "A Classic Chilly Cartoon".
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.
Inspector Seward Willoughby is a cartoon character created by Walter Lantz and Paul J. Smith, named after the Hollywood avenue which runs alongside the building where Lantz's office was housed.
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".
I'm Cold is a 1954 Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Tex Avery and produced by Walter Lantz. It was the first Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Avery. Chilly Willy also got a major redesign by Avery. This cartoon features the debut of Smedley Dog, who would appear in later Chilly Willy Shorts.
Hot and Cold Penguin is a 1955 Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Alex Lovy and produced by Walter Lantz.
Gilbert H. Turner was an American animator, comic book artist and producer.
Ray Abrams was an American animator and director. He began his career as an animator at Walter Lantz Productions, and also worked for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio and Hanna-Barbera.