Great Images, Jon!

[Thad Komorowski]

In case anyone didn't get to see the covers of our (me and Jon's) dream Woody Woodpecker DVD, here's the images:

http://www.megalink.net/~cooke/woody-dvdfront.jpg

http://www.megalink.net/~cooke/woody-dvdback.jpg


Excellent job, Jon! What do you guys think?

-Thad:D

[Thad Komorowski]

Also, the cartunes on this DVD are:



[list=1]
"The Barber of Seville"
"Knock, Knock"
"Apple Andy"
"The Legend of Rockabye Point"
"Crazy Mixed-Up Pup"
"Mousie Come Home"
"The Mad Hatter"
"I'm Cold"
"Niagara Fools"
"Overture to William Tell"
"The Poet and the Pesant"
"Musical Moments from Chopin'"
"Convict Concerto"
"Fish Fry"
"Half-Baked Alaska"
"Woody Dines Out"
"Drooler's Delight"
"Smoked Hams"
"Dog Tax Dodgers"
"Termites from Mars"
BONUS: "Walter, Woody, and the World of Animation: The Walter Lantz Story"
[/list=1]

Pretty good choices, hmmm?

-Thad:D

[Sogturtle]

Thad (and of course Jon)~

Pretty darn cute!!! Great choice of titles. Superb mix of Tex Avery, Shamus Culhane, Sid Marcus, Don Patterson, Hugh Harman, and Dick Lundy. Paul J. Smith appears to have been "accidentally" neglected... Thank God!!

[barnyarddawg]

Great Job! It looks very professional

[Nelson]

Great dream Lantz DVD cover, you should send this to Univ/MCA Home Video and give them some hints. Also where is "Oswald" on this set? you can't forget him on this dvd set.

[Jon Cooke]

Thanks guys... now only if it were a real DVD... (here's a closer look (http://www.megalink.net/~cooke/woody-dvdbackbig.jpg) at that back cover). I had fun putting that fake cover together, maybe we could make a fake Volume 2. ;)

Some of my picks for a Vol. 2. "Scrappy's Birthday", "Egg Cracker Suite", "Pixie Panic", and "Space Mouse" (I have never seen those before and they all sound interesting).


-Jon

[Matt Yorston]

Jon...

As a big Walter Lantz fan, I loved your idea for this great dream DVD (you certainly included some good ones; "Knock! Knock!", "Smoked Hams", "Crazy Mixed Up Pup", "Drooler's Delight", and "Termites From Mars" are all faves of mine). My only quibble is that a lot of the content had been already released to video by Universal before (back in the good ol' days when Universal still cared about its cartoons). Mind you, the ones that you chose that would be "new-to-video" are some good choices (like the aforementioned "Termites From Mars").

A fake volume 2 would be a good idea. Again, you made good choices. "Scrappy Birthday" is a great cartoon (Andy Panda's swan song, in fact) with gags that were directed by Dick Lundy but seem like they belong in an Avery cartoon (unsurprising since Avery storyman Heck Allen is credited with story on this short!). "Space Mouse" is another great cartoon (however, it does not star the Lantz comic book character, Space Mouse. It merely has his name in the title for some odd reason). The cartoon's storyline concerns elegant cat Doc attempting to capture two mice, Hickory and Dickory, to sell to a NASA-like space station for use in space exploration. Needless to say, all his plans fail miserably.

Here are some of my picks for a volume two:

"Jungle Jive" (1944) - a rare Swing Symphony with great piano music by Bob Zurke.

"The Beach Nut" (1944) - the first cartoon to feature Wally Walrus (No, it wasn't "Ski for Two").

"Kiddie Koncert" (1948) - my favorite of the Musical Miniatures series. Some great gags including one involving a drummer who uses his knitting needles as drumsticks.

"Puny Express" (1951) - my favorite of the Woody Woodpecker "western" series.

"What's Sweepin'?" (1953) - one of my favorite 1950's Woody cartoons. A great premise: Woody is tired of his street sweeping job and resigns, disguising himself as a cop. Wally Walrus (who happens to be a *real* cop) is displeased by this.

"Dig That Dog" (1954)- a fun little one-shot involving a loveable Great Dane named Cuddles who buries *everything* he sees in the backyard (and, yes, that means everything).

"Bunco Busters" (1955) - A great spoof of 1950's detective shows. Woody is taken by con man Buzz Buzzard in "the case of the gullible woodpecker".

"Freeloading Feline" (1960) - I haven't seen this short for almost 20 years. I seem to remember enjoying it though. Needless to say, I'd love to see it again.

That's it for now (Phew!).

[Jack]

I'd certainly buy it! The cover is excellent too, it looks so real. You need to be running Universal...



Jack:D

[J Lee]

Excellent work on both the designs and the selections guys. Now if only you can get Barry Diller at USA Networks or the Frenchies at Vivladi/Universal (not sure which one is the Lantz cartoon rights-holders as of now) to see the light and do it, we'd all have something to invest or money in.

[Bobby B]

Originally posted by Matt Yorston
"Bunco Busters" (1955) - A great spoof of 1950's detective shows. Woody is taken by con man Buzz Buzzard in "the case of the gullible woodpecker".


"If Woody had gone straight to the police, this never would have happ-"

"Oh shut up!"

[Knothead]

What continues to baffle me---- year after year---- is how so many of the studios seems to be IGNORING their very own assets! The Woody videos are several years old and now out of print, and the DVD format is SUCH a better way to view a program of shorts, so long as the transfers are good.

I guess I'm preaching to the converted..

I should just be writing lots of letters, huh?

[Pietro]

Wow! That's great! It reminds me of one of those GAOLT Laserdiscs!

-Pietro

[Jon Cooke]

I seem to think that Universal doesn't realize that the classic Lantz characters could be a merchandise goldmine for them. IF they were smart enough to get the characters back into the public eye. Get the Lantz cartunes back on TV and video! I mean, look at Chilly Willy... I bet he could be just as popular as Tweety.

Anyway, how would this sound for a fake "Best of Woody Woodpecker and Friends, Vol. 2":

1- "Wet Blanket Policy"
2- "Hot and Cold Penguin"
3- "Scrappy Birthday"
4- "Banquet Busters"
5- "Kiddie Koncert"
6- "Space Mouse"
7- "What's Sweepin'?"
8- "Pixie Panic"
9- "The Bandmaster"
10- "Yukon Have It"
11- "Dig That Dog"
12- "Freeloading Feline"
13- "The Loan Stranger"
14- "Swing Your Partner"
15- "The Beach Nut"
16- "Belle Boys"
17- "Little Televillain"
18- "Bunco Busters"
19- "Playful Pelican"
20- "The Woody Woodpecker Polka"

I would like to thank Matt for his suggestions.


-Jon

[Jack]

I mean, look at Chilly Willy... I bet he could be just as popular as Tweety.
That would be a good idea, it'd be great if the Lantz characters could get even near the popularity WB characters get. Granted, it would be disturbing to see little girls running about in shirts with Chilly Willy wearing pink on the them, though. Andy Panda is also rather cute looking.

I wonder what would be a good bonus, like the first one. Maybe you could put in some Woody Woodpecker show segments, unless that is included with "Walter, Woody, and the World of Animation: The Walter Lantz Story." What is "Walter, Woody, and the World of Animation: The Walter Lantz Story" about?

How long did it take you make that cover?

Looking forward to volume 3!


Jack:D

[Nelson]

YOU CAN'T HAVE A LANTZ CARTOON DVD SET WITHOUT "OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT"

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by Jack
I wonder what would be a good bonus, like the first one. Maybe you could put in some Woody Woodpecker show segments, unless that is included with "Walter, Woody, and the World of Animation: The Walter Lantz Story." What is "Walter, Woody, and the World of Animation: The Walter Lantz Story" about?

How long did it take you make that cover?

"Walter, Woody and the World of Animation" was a short, 15 minute documentary made in the early 1980s. It was released on the old Woody & Friends Vol. 1 VHS. It has Walter Lantz and Woody hosting and narrating the history of the Lantz cartoons and they show a bunch of clips (including a somewhat lengthy B&W clip of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit!).

The cover (front and back) took about an hour or so. I was killing time while waiting for a rather big file to download (remember, I have a modem connection).

I also don't know what could be included as bonus material on Volume 2...


-Jon

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by Nelson
YOU CAN'T HAVE A LANTZ CARTOON DVD SET WITHOUT "OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT"

Hmm... maybe we could have a couple Oswald cartoons as bonus material on Volume 2! :D :D


-Jon

[Nelson]

Now that sounds much better Jon, include two "Oswald" cartoons and as a special bonus...A "Pooch The Pup" cartoon short

[Pietro]

"Heel's Heels"
"Confidence"
"The Zoo"
Should be the three Oswald cartoons and the Woody and Friends Vol. 2.

-Pietro