Blog DVD Review: Woody Woodpecker Favorites

Saturday, March 21, 2009

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the weekly blog DVD review. This week we take a look at Universal Home Video's Woody Woodpecker Favorites. Woody Woodpecker is of course the classic TV woodpecker that made his mark in the 40s-70s in feature films! Not only do we get Woody cartoons, we also get classic theatrical cartoons of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Andy Panda, Chilly Willy, some Cartune Classics, and some Music Favorites. See my Blog DVD review of Woody Woodpecker Favorites:

Woody Woodpecker Favorites (Universal, $14.98) brings 15 classic unedited Woody Woodpecker cartoons and 5 other unedited classic cartoons from the legendary Walter Lantz to DVD on a sample one-disc set! If you have bought the first two volumes, then this is just a sample of that. We get select episodes here from those two volumes, along with some extras from those.
On this set we not only get 15 Woody Woodpecker cartoon favorites, but also 5 classic favorites featuring friends such as Andy Panda and Chilly Willy. The Woody Woodpecker cartoons generally are between 6-7 minutes. The other classic favorites on this set are also in that range. There are no chapter stops, which is acceptable here because the episodes are very short. There are 20 total shorts.
The video is digitally remastered and uncut and it looks great! If you have the two volumes, then you'll know. You see some dust and debris here and there. The audio is decent, nothing too bad about it. It is in mono, but very good for its age.
Packaging is a simple keep case, that is move style. It has a blue color scheme, and we get a nice artwork of Woody greeting us on the front. The back cover has information on the set and has some screenshots of the shorts along with a big photo of Woody. A box titled Bonus Features is also listed on the back of the box. Inside the case is of course the disc. The disc is totally in red with no artwork. Simple.
The menu screen has Play All, Cartoon Selection, Bonus, and Languages...exactly the same as the volumes. The main menu has Woody pecking to start and then we hear Woody's famous laugh....again the same as the volumes, but that is good! Languages section has us in English only, but subtitles can be added for English, Espanol, and Francais, as we had on the volumes. Bonus Features list the two full Woody Woodpecker Show episodes we have. Cartoon Selection is where we can choose the classic shorts...we get a list of titles in a tree hole.
Moving on to the extras. We have two full episodes of The Woody Woodpecker Show. Both of these are different from the full episodes we got each on the two volumes. So that is a plus and pure fans would want to get this, just for that! We get episode 53 and episode 56 and they run 27:01 and 26:58 with 6 chapter stops each. Nice!
I highly do recommend any fan of classic cartoons and Woody Woodpecker to pick-up this set...but really this is for fans who haven't gotten those yet or people who want to try this series. We certainly will need about 4-5 volumes to finish up the entire run, so let's hope Universal continues to do that. This favorites set is fine, but we need more volumes as well to keep fans happy and the series gets complete Let's hope we do and we get all of the Woody shorts released and the other Lantz shorts. So, this set is not all repeat, since we get two different Woody Woodpecker Show full episodes! Peck your way to buying this set, fan or tester...try it!
-- Reviewed by Pavan

(4/5 stars)

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Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
The Woody Woodpecker Show TV.com Page

Stay tuned next week for a Blog DVD review of Smurfs Volume 1! See if there is anything new there!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, February 26

Shifting Gears - "The Picnic" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The feud between Parker Customs and Premiere Dance Lab heats up when Matt confronts the owner over a picnic table placed in the shared alleyway. Meanwhile, Carter’s need for “me time” sparks a man-to-(almost)-man conversation with Matt.

Abbott Elementary - "100th Day of School" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
During Abbott’s 100th day of school celebrations, Barbara receives a surprise from her daughter. Melissa, Jacob and Mr. Johnson join forces to conduct a search party.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 24)

Wednesday, February 26

Mindy Kaling (Running Point/The Mindy Project/The Office) - Watch Mindy on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Natasha Rothwell (How to Die Alone) - Natasha is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Simu appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Sterling K. Brown (Starved) - Sterling is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rosebud Baker (Life & Beth) - Rosebud is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea talks about I'll Have What She's Having on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. She chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Kate Hudson (Running Point) - Kate discusses the new series Running Point on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Fam/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl and her husband, Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes, sit down for an EXCLUSIVE conversation about their choice to live in separate cities, which set off the internet on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross to discuss the hottest news stories on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Then, it's Drew & A and Drew is joined by Ross and Valerie to answer audience member's burning questions.
Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) - Sarah is telling Drew about starring as Daisy in The Great Gatsby on Broadway on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local lisitngs. Plus, she's answering questions from Modern Family co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson in a round of Fast Five.
Tori Spelling (Mystery Girls/So Notorious) - Tori talks about Lifetime's Abducted in the Everglades on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.