Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context YMMV / WoodyWoodpecker

Go To

1!!The shorts
2* ArchivePanic: 198 classic theatrical shorts (only 90 of which are on DVD) and 53 modern TV episodes (each of which are split into three segments, and exactly one episode has seen a DVD release), and that's not counting tie-in materials such as the comics.
3* DesignatedHero: Woody is shown to be this as he is always the protagonist of the shorts but he's also not above heckling and harassing whomever he encounters [[KarmaHoudini and he will get away with it]].
4* DesignatedVillain: Wally Walrus ain't really a bad guy. He's usually going along his day when Woody is being a pest to him.
5* EnsembleDarkhorse:
6** That creepy badger from ''The New Woody Woodpecker Show'' shorts.
7** Gorgeous Gal, a female, rich and older bird who fell in love with the Woodpecker instantly. She flirted, kissed him many times, chased after him, tried to seduce him, and finally trapped and married him (all against his will).
8* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
9** Woody is very popular in Latin America, especially in Brazil, to the point where all of his cartoons are still aired there to this day (even the post-1955 ones - in fact, ''especially'' these)! Brazilian TV Record even has become infamous [[AdoredByTheNetwork for having the toons frequently in their programming]], as the sole feature of their children's block, and particularly before the night news (it got worse as the Woody Woodpecker reruns aired after - and at times instead of - their 2012 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames coverage). [[Film/WoodyWoodpecker The live action/CGI hybrid film]] even came out first in Brazil, and only it and other Latin American countries issued it in theaters (it came out straight to DVD abroad). [[https://youtu.be/OUmCReKDtR8 Also,]] [[https://youtu.be/IaSgRPm8-Ks four]] [[https://youtu.be/9UIUIj_TMx0 episodes of the]] [[https://youtu.be/a3fYUWRBj-0 2018 webseries]] are set in Brazil.
10** Woody Woodpecker is also popular in CIS countries, matching the levels of popularity of Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry and Donald Duck. This is because the cartoons were released on VHS with unlicensed translations during the late 80s and cartoons were also broadcast on free-to-air channel STS from the late 90s to the late 2000s during afternoon, when Russian children usually return from school.
11** In South East Asia, especially Indonesia, along with [[Creator/HarveyComics Harveytoons]], it was also a fad during the mid-to-late 90s to the early 2000s, though not as memorable as fellow cartoon series ''Tom & Jerry''.
12* GrowingTheBeard: The early shorts were fun, but sloppy attempts at imitating ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''. Things started improving when Creator/ShamusCulhane came and improved the direction and art of the cartoons, but the series truly reached its peak when Dick Lundy began directing.
13* GeniusBonus: Woody Woodpecker [[DolledUpInstallment being the star of the video game]] ''[[VideoGame/TheBugsBunnyCrazyCastle Crazy Castle 5]]'' seems bizarre considering that WesternAnimation/BugsBunny was the star of the previous four games--but when you're familiar with the history of both characters, and know that the "Proto-Bugs" from shorts like "WesternAnimation/PorkysHareHunt" was quite similar in personality to Woody (even having a non-sped up take on his famous laugh) and that both characters were (initially in Woody's case) [[Creator/MelBlanc voiced by the same actor]] and that both Woody and the Proto-Bugs had Ben Hardaway on board for them, you could say that things came full circle.
14* HilariousInHindsight:
15** Two of the major characters in the series are named [[Franchise/ToyStory Woody and Buzz]]. There's even an [[WesternAnimation/AndyPanda Andy]] among the supporting cast.
16*** If we're counting all of Creator/{{Pixar}}, there's also a character named [[WesternAnimation/WallE Wally]].
17** From the short "Pantry Panic", "[[Series/GameOfThrones Winter Is Coming!]]"
18* HarsherInHindsight: Of a FridgeHorror case, as Woody's the only one of his species that we see. He's an ivory billed woodpecker, which is presumed extinct [=IRL=].
19* IAmNotShazam: It's "Woody Woodpecker" not "Woody ''the'' Woodpecker"
20* MemeticMutation:
21** People have noticed that Kellyanne Conway's infamous Gucci coat has a similar color scheme to Woody's plumage, whigh has led to numerous joke pics about "Who wore it better?"
22** On par with the GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff status the shorts enjoy in Brazil, the RunningGag in "Niagara Fools" (the people in yellow raincoats cheering whenever the guard goes over the falls in a barrel) has this status there. Became an AscendedMeme in a [[https://cinema.uol.com.br/noticias/redacao/2017/09/26/pica-pau-revive-cena-classica-do-desenho-nas-cataratas-do-iguacu.htm promotional action for the 2017 movie]].
23*** Brazil also made a meme out of Woody saying "I've been duped!" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmiS8apqnck which in English is a much less fun]] "why, ''you''...!") in "Witch Crafty".
24*** A line from "Crowin' Pains", in which Jubilee, the titular crow, thanks Woody by saying "Obrigado, amigo, você é um amigo. Adeus, amigo." ("thanks, pal, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment you're a pal. Goodbye, pal]]") is often used as a meme to express gratitude thanks to its comical exaggeration, either genuinely or ironically.
25*** From ''The New Woody Woodpecker Show'', the dubbed version of the badger's {{Character Catchphrase}} "Hi, my friend" ("Oi, meu chapa") is used as a meme due to its tone.
26*** Wally Walrus saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE2pPzTn5Go "Bolinha de golfe]]" ("little golf ball") in "Bathing Buddies", after a golf ball thrown by Woody ends up exiting through the sink of Wally's bathtub. Wally's funny accent when saying that line led to it becoming a meme in the late 2010s.
27** Speaking of ''The New Woody Woodpecker Show'', the scene from "Baby Buzzard" where Woody gives the badger to a terrified Buzz as a "bedmate" [[https://www.reddit.com/r/MemeTemplatesOfficial/comments/16n3keq/woody_woodpecker_badger_meme/?rdt=49117 has seen occasional use as an exploitable]].
28** For some reason, the line "If Woody had gone right to the police, this would never have happened." from "Bunco Busters" has become a minor meme among fans of the series. Likely due to the repetition of it in said short.
29* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Woody's famous rat-a-tat laughter.
30* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: ''Woody Woodpecker Racing'' for the Platform/GameBoyColor is a surprisingly good kart racer game, with plenty of content, good design and challenge.
31** ''Woody Woodpecker: Escape From Buzz Buzzard Park'' for the [=PS2=] got mixed reception, but it's usually just considered [[SoOkayItsAverage an average game at worst, and somewhat good at best.]]
32* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''VideoGame/FeriasFrustradasDoPicaPau'' for the Platform/SegaGenesis is terrible in many ways. The GBA game ''Woody Woodpecker In Crazy Castle 5'' is a really mediocre game as well.
33* SeasonalRot: Pretty much all of the cartoons from 1955 onward, where the animation and art direction not only took a nosedive, but the humor of the cartoons degenerated into boring, witless filler, with the perpetually-deteriorating direction of Lantz veteran Paul J. Smith during this period often exposing or exacerbating these issues further. Likewise, the conversion of Woody into a bland-as-wheat everyman (a process rooted in several of Dick Lundy's late-40s shorts yet accelerated and normalized during TheFifties) as opposed to the roguish trickster or comically irresponsible, destructive interloper his most well-received '40s appearances often characterized him as, further diluted the series' former comedic energy into successions of generic antics. Some even argue that the decline began earlier, right after 1949, when the last Woody cartoon directed by Dick Lundy was released before the Lantz studio was briefly shut down until the next year. Even the early fifties cartoons, despite their relatively spartan animation and cruder design work relative to the lusher, more Disney-esque articulation of the '40s, are held in higher esteem (chiefly due to director Don Patterson's oft-striking layouts and use of color composition) than their successors.
34* RetroactiveRecognition: In the Brazilian dub of "Crowin' Pains", done in the late 70's, the crow Jubilee is voiced by the late Marcelo Gastaldi. One decade later, Gastaldi would become widely recognized for voicing the titular characters of ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' and ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'', becoming the most iconic voice of Roberto Gomez Bolaños in the country (both shows were already in production for several years during the late 70's, but they didn't air on Brazil until 1984).
35* SoOkayItsAverage: ''The New Woody Woodpecker Show'' comes off as this. The series is far from memorable, but it's not bad, and many hilarious moments came out of the show.
36* TearJerker: "Born to Peck", featuring an elderly, possibly dying Woody reminiscing about his childhood, is a really stark contrast to a series otherwise loaded with comedy. And the ending even has him attempt suicide!
37* ValuesDissonance: "The Screwdriver" has Woody dressing up as a rather politically incorrect depiction of a "chinaboy" with carriage for a gag.
38 ** [[YellowPeril Chinese]], American Indians and other racial caricatures have been featured in more than one shorts such as "Scalp Treatment", "Barber of Seville" and "The Screwdriver".
39* TheWoobie: Mr. Woodpecker, Woody's father, considering "Born to Peck" establishes that his wife left him with their daughters to raise a wild uncontrollable son all alone.
40
41!!The 2017 film
42* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The idea of a film centered around a cartoon character that is now [[MainstreamObscurity virtually unknown]] (at least in the US, not so much in Brazil) due to the fading popularity of his cartoons didn't exactly appeal to many people. This wasn't helped by the trailers indicating that it would be a ClicheStorm like previous cartoon-to-live-action film adaptations.
43* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Woody's short rap about himself. It's there for no reason other than reviving the classic song from his starring debut "Everybody Thinks I'm Crazy".
44* HarsherInHindsight: The premise is not so lighthearted when in the years afterwards the Amazon saw an increase of forest fires affecting local tribes and wildlife .
45* MemeticPsychopath: Due to his over-the-top antics and the film's inability to create a world where cartoony humour can work, this version of Woody receives this treatment.
46* TaintedByThePreview: The trailers for the film... weren't well-received, due to showing that the film would be a [[ClicheStorm generic]] HumanFocusedAdaptation like ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'', such as including ToiletHumour.
47* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Timothy Omundson as Lance Walters. Ditto Creator/EricBauza, whose Woody is often considered one of the film's only redeeming qualities.
48

Top