Illumination Entertainment, whose past offerings include Despicable Me, Hop, and the upcoming The Lorax, is planning a 3D-animated adaption of Woody Woodpecker, for which they’ve hired the Blades of Glory writers for some reason. Woody Woodpecker first appeared in 1940 when he was voiced by a pre-Bugs Bunny Mel Blanc, and was more or less your standard lovable mischief-maker. Them trying to update an old property should come as no surprise to anyone who heard the news about planned adaptations of Ouija Board, Legos, Bazooka Joe cartoons, and the View Master (all real projects, by the way). In any case, I’m sure Brendan Fraser is waiting patiently by the phone.
To me the most interesting aspect of the story is what the state of slang must’ve been like in the forties. Naming a character “Woody Woodpecker” at least from the 1980s on is basically calling him “Erection McHardpenis.” Not exactly something you want your kids playing with.
I wonder if it will be half as racist as this, another cartoon from Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lanz.
Holy hell. I still don’t get the watermelon thing. Had white people not tried watermelon back then? Because it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me making fun of someone for eating something undeniably delicious.
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Here’s one where he pretend blows his brains out. Probably wouldn’t get away with that today.
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And this one’s called “Loan Stranger.” Is it wrong that I expected it to be way more racist?