Archive Panic: 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.
Designated Hero: 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 and he will get away with it.
Designated Villain: Wally Walrus ain't really a bad guy. He's usually going along his day when Woody is being a pest to him.
That creepy badger from The New Woody Woodpecker Show shorts.
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).
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 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 Olympic Games coverage). 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). Also,fourepisodes of the2018 webseries are set in Brazil.
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.
In South East Asia, especially Indonesia, along with 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.
Growing the Beard: The early shorts were fun, but sloppy attempts at imitating Looney Tunes. Things started improving when Shamus Culhane came and improved the direction and art of the cartoons, but the series truly reached its peak when Dick Lundy began directing.
Genius Bonus: Woody Woodpecker being the star of the video gameCrazy Castle 5 seems bizarre considering that Bugs Bunny 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 "Porky's Hare Hunt" 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) 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.
Harsher in Hindsight: Of a Fridge Horror case, as Woody's the only one of his species that we see. He's an ivory billed woodpecker, which is presumed extinct IRL.
I Am Not Shazam: It's "Woody Woodpecker" not "Woody the Woodpecker"
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?"
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, you're a pal. Goodbye, pal") is often used as a meme to express gratitude thanks to its comical exaggeration, either genuinely or ironically.
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.
Wally Walrus saying "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.
Speaking of The New Woody Woodpecker Show, the scene from "Baby Buzzard" where Woody gives the badger to a terrified Buzz as a "bedmate" has seen occasional use as an exploitable.
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.
Seasonal Rot: 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 The '50s) 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.
Retroactive Recognition: 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 El Chavo del ocho and El Chapulín Colorado, 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).
So Okay, It's Average: 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.
Tear Jerker: "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!
Values Dissonance: "The Screwdriver" has Woody dressing up as a rather politically incorrect depiction of a "chinaboy" with carriage for a gag.
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".
The Woobie: 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.
The 2017 film
Audience-Alienating Premise: The idea of a film centered around a cartoon character that is now 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 Cliché Storm like previous cartoon-to-live-action film adaptations.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: 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".
Harsher in Hindsight: The premise is not so lighthearted when in the years afterwards the Amazon saw an increase of forest fires affecting local tribes and wildlife .
Memetic Psychopath: 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.
Took the Bad Film Seriously: Timothy Omundson as Lance Walters. Ditto Eric Bauza, whose Woody is often considered one of the film's only redeeming qualities.
four