Inspector Willoughby

Last updated
Inspector Willoughby
Woody Woodpecker character
First appearanceSalmon Yeggs (1958) (as Willoughby)
Rough and Tumbleweed (1961) (as Inspector Willoughby)
Last appearanceThe Case of the Elephant's Trunk (1965)
Created by Walter Lantz
Voiced by Daws Butler (1958–1960)
Dallas McKennon (1959–1965)
In-universe information
AliasInspector Seward Willoughby
NicknameSecret Agent 6 7/8
Species Human
GenderMale
OccupationSecret Agent

Inspector Willoughby is a cartoon character created by Walter Lantz, named after the Hollywood avenue which runs alongside the building where Lantz's office was housed (at 861 Seward Street). 12 cartoons were produced between 1960 and 1965. [1] His cartoons were often shown on The Woody Woodpecker Show alongside Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy and Andy Panda. [2]

Contents

Bio

Inspector Willoughby (AKA Secret Agent 6 7/8) was a secret agent with droopy eyes, a bushy mustache, and laconic voice. He solved mysteries and fought crime. [2] He was very similar to Tex Avery's Droopy in voice and stature. When on the job, he always goes after any villains which ends with them behind bars. Despite his diminutive height, he is able to physically restrain and use impressive judo moves on men twice his size. It was established in the cartoon short "Mississippi Slow Boat" that his first name is Seward.

Inspector Willoughby also had other jobs outside of his secret agent work, such as a truant officer, male nurse, and park ranger. It has been speculated that he has relatives in those jobs. The first appearance of a Willoughby character was a cannery security guard in Salmon Yeggs (1958). Although small bald men have also been seen in Tomcat Combat , Kiddie League , Billion Dollar Boner and Hunger Strife, they were not "true" Willoughbies.

Episodes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tex Avery</span> American animator and director (1908–1980)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Lantz Productions</span> American animation studio

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Woodpecker</span> Fictional cartoon character bird

Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures between 1940 and 1972.

John Frederick Hannah was an American animator, writer and director of animated shorts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Lantz</span> Italian American animator

Walter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.

Richard James Lundy was an American animator and film director who worked at several animation studios including The Walt Disney Company, MGM, and Hanna-Barbera. Lundy was a pioneer of personality animation and is best remembered as one of the creators of Donald Duck. Throughout his career he worked as a primary animator on at least 60 films, both short and feature-length, and directed 51 shorts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilly Willy</span> Fictional character

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.

<i>The Woody Woodpecker Show</i> American TV series or program

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.

<i>The New Woody Woodpecker Show</i> American animated television series

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas McKennon</span> American actor and voice actor

Dallas Raymond McKennon, sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American film, television and voice actor, who had a career lasting over 50 years.

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.

Ski for Two is the 12th cartoon short in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on November 13, 1944, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.

Wet Blanket Policy is the 30th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on August 27, 1948, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by United Artists. The film would later be reissued by Universal Pictures, Lantz's former distributor. The title is a play-on-words about a type of insurance policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Mouse</span> Comic book character

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.

Robert Jarvis Bentley was an American animator who worked for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Fleischer Studios, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, Tex Avery, Walter Lantz Productions, UPA, Hanna-Barbera and Filmation among others.

Homer Brightman was an American screenwriter who worked for Walt Disney Productions, Walter Lantz Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, UPA, Larry Harmon Pictures, Cambria Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

<i>Swing Symphony</i> Film series

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gil Turner (animator)</span> American animator

Gilbert H. Turner was an American animator, comic book artist and producer.

References

  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 95. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 Lehman, Christopher P. (9 October 2006). American Animated Cartoons of the Vietnam Era: A Study of Social Commentary in Films and Television Programs, 1961–1973. McFarland. ISBN   9780786451425 . Retrieved 17 August 2017 via Google Books.
  3. McCall, Douglas L. (31 October 2005). Film Cartoons: A Guide to 20th Century American Animated Features and Shorts. McFarland. ISBN   9781476609669 . Retrieved 18 August 2017 via Google Books.