International Woodpecker

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International Woodpecker
Internationalwood-title.jpg
Directed by Paul J. Smith
Produced by Walter Lantz
Story by Dick Kinney
Starring Grace Stafford
Daws Butler
June Foray
Music by Clarence Wheeler
Animation by Robert Bentley
Les Kline
Art Landy
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Universal International
Release date
July 1, 1957
Running time
6' 12"
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

International Woodpecker is the 78th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on July 1, 1957, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal International. [1]

Plot

Knothead and Splinter need help in their history lesson, and Woody digresses to tell them of their illustrious ancestors, starting with the caveman woodpecker who captured his mate.

He tells of one family member in ancient Greece who mistook the columns of a temple for trees and caused the present-day picturesque ruins. Woody explains how another ancestor caused the Leaning Tower of Pisa to lean; the collapse of the Roman Coliseum's wall; the disappearance of the nose on the Sphinx; an ancestor who was a matador in Spain; Woodpecker Raleigh, who introduced the king-size cigarette; a family member who rode the Mayflower; another who chopped down the cherry tree and didn't tell a lie; a great-granduncle named Wyatt Earp Woodpecker out West; and the story of Apache Woodpecker, who strolled in Gay Paree.

When Woody's story ends, the kids want to match their ancestors' adventures, but what a disappointment when he tells them that they'll merely take a trip to the Moon.

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References

  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 157–158. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7.