A Tribute to Walter Lantz and Universal Studios Animation

Cartoon historian Jerry Beck returns to the Wex to introduce a program of classic cartoons produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and released by Universal. Best known for creating the iconic Woody Woodpecker, Lantz enjoyed a nearly 50-year career in animation that also saw him produce cartoons featuring such beloved characters as Andy Panda and Chilly Willy, as well the post–Walt Disney run of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Tonight’s program features Woody Woodpecker’s debut in Knock Knock (1940), Tex Avery’s Chilly Willy vehicle The Legend of Rockabye Point (1955), a rare 1930s behind-the-scenes-at-the-studio film Cartoonland Mysteries (1936), and much more!

Beck is the author of such books as The 50 Greatest Cartoons (1994), The Hanna-Barbera Treasury (2007), and The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons (2010) and is the editor of Cartoonresearch.com. (Program approx. 90 mins., DCP)

Program:

Wax Works, with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Walter Lantz, 1934)
She Done Him Right, with Pooch the Pup (1933)
Cartoonland Mysteries, narrated by Lowell Thomas (Charles E. Ford, 1936)
Knock Knock, with Andy Panda and the first appearance of Woody Woodpecker (1940)
Abou Ben Boogie (Shamus Culhane, 1944)
Fish Fry, with Andy Panda (Shamus Culhane, 1944)
Fair Weather Fiends, with Woody Woodpecker (1946)
Crazy Mixed Up Pup (Tex Avery, 1955)
The Legend of Rockabye Point, with Chilly Willy (Tex Avery, 1955)

Thanks to Paul Ginsburg, Universal Studios, for his assistance with this program.