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

Thursday, January 23

Shifting Gears - "Accommodations" (ABC, 9:02PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Matt joins Riley at Carter’s high school open house, where he’s unsettled to learn about the “accommodations” made for his grandson’s anxiety. Meanwhile, Riley reconnects with Caitlin, a former classmate, and sets her up with Gabriel.

Only Murders in the Building - "Sparring Partners" (ABC, 9:33PM ET/PT)
Closing in on the killer, Mabel takes her investigative talents into the ring; Oliver and Charles duke it out over a birdcage only to end up confronting their deepest paternal struggles.

Only Murders in the Building - "I Know Who Did It" (ABC, 10:12PM ET/PT)
The question of who did it remains, along with a few more questions that have been raised.

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "An Old Mustang" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie worries that he’s leaving Connor out of his new project with Jim. Meanwhile, Mandy and Audrey struggle to decorate CeeCee’s nursery without fighting.

Ghosts - "The Primary Source" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Sam’s book publisher requires source material for her biography on Isaac, she and Jay take a field trip to find a diary he claims he hid when he was alive.

Animal Control - "Baby Kangaroos and Chickens" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Victoria compete to win Fiona's affections at the new kennels' fundraiser; Emily gets some very bad advice from Bettany on her speech; Patel and Shred find themselves facing the world's most charming squatter.

Going Dutch - "Korfball" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Everyone in town is talking about the upcoming Korfball match between the Americans and the Dutch; the colonel refuses to lose to the Dutch and Quinn brings out her high school alter ego "The Rocket" to make her dad proud.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Thursday, January 23

James Marsden (30 Rock) - Catch James on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Fortune Feimster (FUBAR/Kenan/Bless the Harts/Champions) - Fortune appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Denis Leary (Going Dutch/No Good Deed/Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/The Job) - Denis stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Nick appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Britt Lower (Ghosted/Man Seeking Woman/Big Lake) - Britt is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Thomas, Paul and Joe are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Al Madrigal (Lopez vs Lopez/About a Boy/Gary Unmarried/Welcome to The Captain) - Al appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Jason Biggs (Outmatched/Mad Love/Drexell's Class) - Jason and his wife Jenny Mollen are telling Drew about their new show Dinner and a Movie that features an episode focusing on 50 First Dates on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.