Woody Woodpecker, one of the most bedeviling characters in animated cartoons, was created by Walter Lantz-- his distinctive voice by feminine intrigue.
One can only wonder what mild-mannered Walter Lantz was thinking of when he created Woody Woodpecker. For one thing, the red-headed scamp is probably the most politically incorrect cartoon character of all time -- at least he was at first. He would think nothing of stealing, would do anything to get girls and, at times, was almost sadistic in his efforts to inflict pain. Unlike similar cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, the early Woody looked, sounded, and acted downright evil. And many of the early cartoons carried a clear message that deviltry (not to mention crime) pays.
On screen he looked like an oversized bully, drawn in sharp angles, with a long, pointed beak that reminded viewer of a rapier. He liked to perch on another character's shoulders and painfully hammer away at their heads.
Why did Woody Woodpecker become popular? That's a good question. Perhaps, as some have suggested, Woody was merely an extension of the viewer who really wanted to do the things that the woodpecker did, in real life -- to thumb their nose at society and give it the "bird", so to speak. He was the very opposite of milder Lantz characters of the time -- Andy Panda and Oswald the Rabbit.
In spite of his lack of personal charisma, Woody lasted a very long time -- from 1940 to 1975 -- and his cartoons were in theatrical production longer than those of any other studio. Eventually, Lantz made 400 six-minute Woody cartoons, most of which are still being shown on television.
The birth of Woody Woodpecker was like a situation out of one of his cartoons. Lantz and his wife, Grace, were on their honeymoon at Sherwood Lake in California. They kept hearing a knock, knock, knock on the roof. When Lantz went out to investigate, he discovered a woodpecker drilling holes in the shingles -- and they were made of asbestos. This would never do. The bird continued pounding away unabated until Lantz got its attention. Then it flew away with a defiant scream.
Back at his cartoon studio (he had been an animator since 1916, predating even Walt Disney) Lantz held a meeting with his key personnel. He told them the saga of his noisy honeymoon. Then he asked them to develop the cartoon character of a pesky woodpecker that would bedevil anyone who it came in contact with. The eventual result was Woody.
However Lantz, by now, had cooled somewhat to the idea. He decided that instead of giving the woodpecker his own starring cartoon right off, he would furnish Woody a supporting role in another short -- a tryout. Thus, in 1940, Woody debuted in the Andy Panda short, "Knock, Knock" that, in plot, was very much like Lantz's own honeymoon experience. Much to Lantz's surprise, Woody was an immediate hit. The next year, the first Woody Woodpecker cartoon hit the silver screen.
Woody needed a distinctive voice. Lantz turned to the master, the versatile Mel Blanc. Blanc created a laugh that, while it fit the character at the time, only served to reinforce Woody's evil nature. It was a low, evil-sounding, rapid laugh that was as far removed from Woody's familiar "Ha-Ha-Ha-HA-Ha" as you could possibly get. Before Blanc left Lantz to work for Warner Brothers, he improved on the laugh a bit so that it didn't sound quite so evil. A Lantz writer by the name of Bugs Hardaway provided Woody's voice until 1948, but it was Blanc's laugh that was used in subsequent Woody Woodpecker cartoons.
Nineteen forty-eight was a banner year for Woody. That was when the novelty tune, "The Woody Woodpecker Song" was released on record. It was immensely successful and climbed rapidly to the No. 1 spot on the charts. Unfortunately, Lantz had used Blanc's laugh on the record and Blanc sued for half a million dollars. Lantz eventually settled out of court and decided that Woody needed a new voice to avoid litigation in the future.
United Artists, instead of Universal, was now releasing Walter Lantz cartoons and Lantz began casting around for Woody's voice. His wife, Grace, suggested that she do it, but her husband turned her down because Woody was a boy.
Soon Lantz was nearly at his wits end. The new Woody cartoons were in production, but none of the woodpecker voices that he had heard thus far were right. One day, a director brought in a new stack of voice auditions for Lantz to listen to. When they got to audition No. 7, Lantz suddenly sat up and took notice.
"That's perfect!" he shouted. "Who is it?"
"Your wife," the director answered with a grin.
Grace, aided and abetted by the director, had sneaked her own recording in the stack. "Oh, no," Lantz moaned. "What are people going to think when they find out that the producer's own wife is doing Woody?"
The solution was to bill his wife not as Grace Lantz, but under her maiden name. From then on, until the last Woody Woodpecker cartoon was produced, Woody's voice was provided by Grace Stafford.
Woody's voice not only underwent a transformation in the 1950s, but so did the woodpecker's personality. His sharp features were softened and his bill was blunted. He lost a lot of his sadistic tendencies, as well as his penchant for larceny. In fact, he became positively endearing. He still could still rattle his perennial nemesis Wally Walrus but, at least, he gave the bumbling oaf a sporting chance. When Woody provided the opportunity, Wally usually outsmarted himself.
Walter Lantz died on March 22, 1994, at age 93. Grace died two years earlier. However, they both lived long enough to see Woody become a legend in his own time.
A wooden sculpture of the woodpecker now rests in a place of honor in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and, in 1979, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Lantz a special Oscar "for bringing joy and laughter to every part of the world."
