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SOURCE-Universal DVD
Ahh Walter Lantz and his cartoons. Growing up all the old theatrical short cartoons aired either before school or after school Monday through Friday. All of us loved Looney Tunes. Most enjoyed Pink Panther,Popeye and Tom and Jerry. The Walter Lantz stuff,which was Broadcast as Woody Woodpecker show was the odd man out. It aired right when most of us were catching the cheese wagon,Old bus #7,to head to Orange Lake Elementary.
By the time I was in first grade we had a VCR, a BETAmax model. So I would have mom or dad set it to record Woody Woodpecker for me and Rocky and Bullwinkle. Bullwinkle aired at 3pm. I got out of school at 3pm and was 320pm before I got home.
Which meant most of my friends didn't see Woody,lots didnt see Bullwinkle. Then one morning while having breakfast I heard another kid at the table doing Woody's laugh. When we had recess that day went and found him. Learned he lived close to the school so each day he got to see at least the first short aired on the Woody show before the bus got there. We bonded over this and even now decades later we are still in touch.
Now the above pictured DVD,was found last month at what I refer to as "the good Junkstore". The place that is only open 2 days a week ,maybe. And DVDs/Blu Rays/4ks are 50 cents each. I just saw Woody and it was Holiday cartoons and added it to my pile early that morning.
Now it does contain 2 full episodes of The Woody Woodpecker show. But it is the 90s version. The one I never saw. In this one the cartoons were brand new. No more reairing the old shorts.
These two full episodes aren't bad. I love the Chilly Willy short where he is trying to hitch a ride on Santa's sleigh to go somewhere's warm. But Smedley the dog is Santa's helper and preventing this.
As a bonus Universal included 5 old Lantz Theatrical shorts.
Ski for two
I'm cold-more on this later
Toyland Premiere
Jolly Little Elves
Candyland
Those last three are typical theatrical shorts from that era. Set to a song and feels like someone telling you bedtime story.
Now I'm Cold is a classic Chilly Willy short. One I know I've seen many times.
We start with Chilly in his igloo freezing his butt off. He burns his last piece of wood. Is ripping pages out of what I am assuming is a Sears Roebuck catalog and sees a fur coat.
And the warehouse for the furs ain't far away. So off Chilly goes to steal him a fur. Guarding the warehouse is Smedley the dog.
After many attempts to steal furs,and Smedley locking them up in a vault,Chilly gets the bright idea to just shave Smedley's tail.
Yea I've seen this short many times since I was a kid and when I was watching this recently I was sitting there with a huge smile on my face. Not only was this a funny cartoon but that rush of nostalgia hit hard.
No clue how much of that 90s Woody show is on DVD. I wouldn't mind seeing more of the show.
So if you see this dvd for cheap and want to introduce someone to some classic holiday themed cartoons this is worth grabbing.
Woody Woodpeckers & Friends Holiday Favorites DVD gets a B-.
