Official Synopsis:
It's time for more crazy tricks and treats with your favorite feathered friend in The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2! 75 hilarious theatrical cartoons from creator Walter Lantz are presented completely uncut and digitally remastered including 3 Academy Award nominees. Enjoy the side-splitting fun and wacky adventures of Woody along with Chilly Willy, Andy Panda, Wally Walrus, Buzz Buzzard and Woody's nephew and niece - Knothead and Splinter. Featuring rare Musical Miniature and Swing Symphony cartoons plus appearances by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Windy the Bear, Maggie and Sam and Inspector Willoughby, this outrageous collection is non-stop fun for fans of all ages!

  
Our Take:
The second DVD release of archival Woody Woodpecker cartoons from Universal is another bang-up job by the studio. I’ve never been a big fan of Woody Woodpecker per se, but I’ve always been interested in the history of television, film, and animation. Woody Woodpecker And Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 manages to satisfy both historical fans and Woody Woodpecker aficionados at the same time.

Included in this three-disc set are no less than 75 theatrical cartoons. So not only do you get dozens and dozens of cartoons, but these are the theatrical shorts and not television episodes that you might have watched over and over again as a kid. That makes this set a real treat in terms of both the quality and rarity of the source material. With each short having been completely remastered and presented uncut, you really are getting the cream of the Woody Woodpecker crop here. While the character grates on me after just a few cartoons, it’s nice to be able to go in, pick out one or two I want to watch, and revisit the set again later.

The extra features included on the DVD set are another big attraction for fans. Here’s what’s included:

* Behind the Scenes with Walter Lantz - Twelve making-of styled segments from The Woody Woodpecker Show TV series.

* The Woody Woodpecker Show TV Episode - A Full-length episode featuring Woody, Inspector Willoughby and the Beary Family.
* Walter Lantz TV Pilots – The true gem of the extras for fans of Walter Lantz’s work. Two rare TV pilot episodes of Secret Weapon (starring Space Mouse) and Jungle Medics (starring Sam ‘n’ Simian) are included. Where else could you ever find these historical rarities?

Woody Woodpecker has fallen slightly off the pop culture radar in the past decade or so, but Universal is doing the right thing by creating top-notch collections of the original material for serious collectors, not throwing together 10-episode, 40-minute kid-themed DVD’s. Woody Woodpecker And Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 is a must have for fans of this fine feathered fowl.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B-
DVD: A

- Mike Spring

Editor