The BEST episodes directed by Walter Lantz

#1 - Woody Woodpecker

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1941 - Episode 1

Woody Woodpecker spends his day singing loudly and pecking holes in trees. He infuriates the other woodland creatures - when he isn't baffling them with his bizarre behavior. Woody overhears a squirrel and a group of birds gossiping about him. Even though he just sang a song proclaiming his craziness, he denies their whispered accusations that he's nuts. But after they trick him into knocking his head on a statue, the poor bird hears voices in his head and decides the animals might be right. He decides to see a doctor. But leave it to Woody to choose Dr. Horace N. Buggy, a Scottish-brogue-burring fox, who is, if it's impossible, even madder than he is.

#2 - Slingshot 6 7/8

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1951 - Episode 4

A shooting contest (carrying a $1,000 prize) in a Western frontier town narrows itself down to two pretty sharp-eyed finalists: Indian Buzz Buzzard and his bow and arrow, and tenderfoot Woody Woodpecker. In Woody's hands, "Slingshot 6 7/8" is a weapon to be reckoned with.

#3 - Knock Knock

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1940 - Episode 1

Andy Panda asks Pop if you can really catch a bird by putting salt on its tail. Pop tells Andy not to bother him only to hear a knocking at the door. The "knocking" is really coming from a woodpecker pecking against their roof. Pop sets out to trap the bird but is no match for its screwiness. He uses a wind-up explosive decoy that the bird falls for but when it explodes, he just feels "betrayed!" After giving Pop a wild ride through the sky, Andy pours salt on his tail and traps it! Two ambulance attendants come to take the bird away but they too are just as looney!

#4 - The Hollywood Matador

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1942 - Episode 1

The bull is watching through a knothole as the great bullfighter, Woody Woodpecker, is showing off for the spectators. Unable to take it no longer the bull dashes into the arena and charges Woody so hard that he makes a shambles of the stadium. Woody, as always, equal to the task at hand is soon serving bull-burgers to the crowd.

#5 - Destination Meatball

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1951 - Episode 7

Woody Woodpecker wants food from Buzz Buzzard's supermarket. After trying to pay for his food with a rubber stamp of a hundred-dollar bill, Woody is knocked out and a bottle of invisible ink is spilled on him. When Woody sees how Buzz scams his customers, he decides to have some fun with the buzzard.

#6 - The Redwood Sap

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1951 - Episode 5

Lazy Woody would rather mooch off his woodland friends than collect for the winter. When a cold wave comes, a starving Woody is forced to face the consequences of his sloth.

#7 - Puny Express

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1951 - Episode 1

In the Old West, daring "Puny Express" rider Woody Woodpecker tries to get the mail through and elude gunman Buzz Buzzard in the meantime. Woody and his horse run onto many obstacles- including a "horned toad." Desperado Buzz waits for Woody as he crosses the river. Buzz plans to bomb Woody with a big boulder from above...

#8 - Sleep Happy

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1951 - Episode 2

A tired Woody stays at Wally Walrus' rooming house for the night, and the woodpecker's incessant snoring ends up keeping Wally awake as he fruitlessly tried to get rid of him.

#9 - The Woody Woodpecker Polka

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1951 - Episode 6

The story opens with various couples going into a barn to attend a barn dance. All of them sway to the rhythm of the music. Wally Walrus is the doorman who collects the tickets as they enter. Admission to the dance is $1, which entitles each purchaser to a ticket to "Free Eats." Woody Woodpecker is in a haystack sleepily watching the dancers go by. He sees by his watch that it's dinnertime, and he realizes that he's hungry. His glance falls on the "Free Eats" sign, so he proceeds to follow the crowd into the barn. He hands a rubber dollar bill to Wally, who discovers it after Woody has entered the barn. Woody's hungrily standing by a table laden with food, and just as he's about to really feast, Wally ejects him from the barn.

#10 - Wicket Wacky

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1951 - Episode 3

Woody Woodpecker has a way of making things happen even when all is quiet and peaceful, as it is while he plays a solitary game of croquet. Quiet, that is, until he hits the goal stake and knocks it over. When Woody pounds the stake into the ground, he sends it through the roof of a gopher's parlor and finds himself in a territorial dispute.

#11 - Salt Water Daffy

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 6

A narrator tells how military recruits are trained on land and sea. Men get a physical, undergo basic training, do duties on board ship for gunnery practice, clean the decks, and prepare for battle. Lots of gags (very similar to Abbott and Costello's "In the Navy") concerning naval training, recruits' love of the ladies and tattoos, hatred of physical exams and their inability to fire a shot that hits the target. A sailor kisses his gal with such vigor that he gets the porthole ripped right out of the ship.

#12 - Hysterical Highspots in American History

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 4

A comical twist on the history of America.

#13 - Wicket Wacky

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1951 - Episode 3

Woody Woodpecker has a way of making things happen even when all is quiet and peaceful, as it is while he plays a solitary game of croquet. Quiet, that is, until he hits the goal stake and knocks it over. When Woody pounds the stake into the ground, he sends it through the roof of a gopher's parlor and finds himself in a territorial dispute.

#14 - The Hams That Couldn't Be Cured

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1942 - Episode 3

Algernon Wolf is about to be hanged for trying to take the lives of the Three Little Pigs. The wolf pleads for mercy. Via flashback, the wolf proves that the pigs actually tormented him! It seems that the wolf is a classical music teacher, but the pigs want to play that jive music. They wreck the wolf's home.

#15 - Man's Best Friend

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 11

Overworked, overtired hunting dog Snoozer has a hard time trying to get plenty of sleep to go hunting with his master the following day. Due to noise, lights, etc., he's up all night. The put-upon dog must put up with an assortment of classic cartoon annoyances from chirping crickets to loudly clicking clocks to a house fire. A classic end gag has the dog turning the tables on the hunter.

#16 - The Redwood Sap

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1951 - Episode 5

Woody Woodpecker's pursuing his favorite pastime, writing a tome on "Work and How to Avoid It," while all his friends of the forest work industriously to store food for the long winter ahead. He's warned by the other forest animals to store food, but he doesn't heed their warnings. With the first snow, the laugh's on Woody, who finds himself cold and starving during wintertime, a la "The Grasshopper and the Ants." He nearly starves to death sponging food off animals. They pour on the ice, but Woody merrily thaws his way out.

#17 - Mother Goose on the Loose

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1942 - Episode 4

Sight gags satirize famous Mother Goose stories. In one scene, Little Bo Peep loses her sheep on a bad throw of the dice.

#18 - The Lamp Lighter

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1938 - Episode 1

#19 - Destination Meatball

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1951 - Episode 7

A line of people (including Woody) drool at the window of the shop of market butcher Buzz Buzzard. A short series of gags ensues about how Buzz dishonestly (and literally) "jacks" up all his prices. Since Woody is broke as usual, he sneaks in and gets thrown out by Buzz. On the way out, Woody collides with a bottle of invisible ink and turns partially invisible. Buzz can only see parts of Woody's body, and, in a somewhat gruesome scene, thinks that he's been dismembered, so he sweeps him into a trap door to get rid of him. When Woody awakes, he realizes what is happening, and he douses himself with the rest of the ink in order to pose as a ghost.

#20 - Yokel Boy Makes Good

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1938 - Episode 3

#21 - The Golfers

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1937 - Episode 1

The three monkeys try out their luck on the links. The "boys" get attacked by a mechanical golf cart that looks like a robot.

#22 - House of Magic

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1937 - Episode 2

First seen as incidental characters in an Oswald the Rabbit cartoon, these three monkeys act is reminiscent of the Three Stooges. Acting out in pantomime, the monkeys were a bit hit with audiences in the mid-1930's.

#23 - Woody's Jalopy

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1941 - Episode 2

Woody Woodpecker is driving through the countryside and is, shall we say, not a stickler for the rules. He's practically asking for trouble when he confronts a traffic cop who explains he is looking for speeders. Woody reveals himself to be a speeder by driving to Alaska and back in less than a minute. The cop tries to arrest him but Woody states, "I bet ya wouldn't be so tough without that uniform." The officer undresses but Woody attacks him with a boxing glove camera. Woody also gets his goat by dressing as a farmer on horse-and-buggy and as a Chinaboy with rickshaw. Finally, the cop flips out and is sent to a mental hospital with Woody as his caretaker. The TV version of the cartoon re-titled as Woody's Jalopy.

#24 - Stage Hoax

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1952 - Episode 2

Woody Woodpecker, tired and perspiring, is walking down a dusty road of the old West carrying a heavy suitcase. Hearing a stagecoach approaching, he stands in the road thumbing a ride, but the stage passes him by in a swirl of dust. He opens his suitcase, which contains an assortment of artificial limbs used to display women's stockings, wigs, dresses, etc. Woody transforms himself into a young woman by putting on artificial limbs, a wig and a dress. Wally Walrus, driver of a stagecoach, approaches Woody in the road. Woody coyly lifts his skirt to display the shapely limbs. Wally quickly stops the stage, and Woody enters. Woody, in the coach's dining room, orders a sumptuous meal from Wally, now dresses as a waiter. Woody's wig falls off. Wally realizes his mistake, and he hands Woody a check for $30. Woody and Wally argue over the price, and Wally pulls a lever, which ejects Woody over the stagecoach roof. Woody jumps from the stagecoach and runs away. Woody then drives the stagecoach and meets the real "Buzz Buzzard the Bandit" astride a horse. Buzz forces Woody to drive to his hideout cottage. Woody, again disguised as a woman, causes Buzz's heart to flutter as he hastens to put his house in order, dress in "full dress and silk hat," and get ready to welcome Woody. A giant commotion emanates from the cottage. Woody rushes out the door with Buzz in full chase. Woody jumps into the stage, with Buzz making a close second.

#25 - Everybody Sing

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1937 - Episode 3

Oswald is the conductor of an orchestra composed of several birds. Things are going well until three crows ransack their place.

#26 - Duck Hunt

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1937 - Episode 5

#27 - Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 3

Lazy folks in Lazy Town (Pop. 123½) are napping and attracting flies. They are so lethargic they even fight in slow motion. Then a riverboat arrives with a red hot mama on board and she quickly has everyone moving to a Harlem boogie beat, dancing, scrubbing clothes, and eating watermelon. As the boogie-woogie comes to a close, Mammy hoists her skirt. Her big bottom reads "The End".

#28 - Sleep Happy

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1951 - Episode 2

A sleep-deprived Woody crashes for the night at Wally Walrus's boarding home. Seeking a night's rest, he finds that the only lodging available is a spare bed in the hotel manager's office. But pretty soon, it's Wally who ends up not sleeping. Wally finds his ears full as soon as Woody's head hits the pillow. Woody's snoring is keeping Wally awake, so Wally attempts to stifle Woody's snoring in some unique ways.

#29 - Dizzy Kitty

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 5

Pop throws out Andy's dopey cat Romeo, but when he finds out that the feline can win $25 at a cat show, he catches Romeo, figuring that the prize money should not go unclaimed by a member of the family. Andy and his dad try to pretty up Romeo. They try bathing him, resulting in a riot of claws, fur and water. Furious fun on a springboard leads to a yowling climax.

#30 - Scalp Treatment

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1952 - Episode 4

In a long shot of an Indian village way out West, all of the tepees have TV antennas, and some of the tepees are shops displaying Indian-made wares and merchandise. In the foreground is a millinery shop with a window full of feathered hats and coats, etc.; in the rear is a barber shop, complete with revolving barber pole. We discover Woody Woodpecker in the barber's chair reading a magazine, with Indian barber Buzz Buzzard stropping the blade of a tomahawk. Buzz tests the blade's sharpness by dropping a feather, which lands on the blade and slowly splits into two parts, each part floating in the air. Buzz trims the feathers on Woody's head, then, with "Feather Tonic," he gives Woody a vigorous scalp massage which, when finished, gives Woody's head the appearance of an Indian headdress, beautiful to behold. At this time, they discover a cute Indian maiden looking in the window and admiring a feathered bonnet, so they both zip out of the shop and tip their feathers to the maid. She continues to admire the bonnet, which carries a "$2,000.00 Wampum" price tag. She first asks Woody to buy the bonnet, but he's broke; she then asks Buzz, who's also without the necessary funds. The maid, with scorn, turns up her nose and walks away, leaving the two rejected swains very dejected and alone. Buzz then suddenly spies the beautiful feather-do that Woody has and, in a vision, dreams how it would look if transferred to the maid. With a malicious grin on his face, Buzz pulls out his tomahawk and starts for Woody, intending to acquire Woody's feather bonnet for the maid. From here on, there's a fast series of gags, with Buzz determined to get the feathers and Woody avoiding him at all times. Woody finally disposes of Buzz. In the final scene, we see Woody, his feathers all gone, now adorning the Indian maiden; Woody is stripped but happy.

#31 - The Lumber Camp

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1937 - Episode 6

#32 - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company 'B'

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 10

Walter Lantz uses an all-black cast and swings the heck out of the story. Hot-Breath Harry (The Harlem Heatwave) is "the hottest trumpet man in town" until he's drafted by the army. When he gets his draft notice, he's sure that he can get out of serving, but no such luck. His sarge assigns him as the new bugle boy. But that's no great honor- the last one was done in by the guys in the squad. Harry's only chance is to swing it. Like many Lantz cartoons of the era, this combines a hit song of the day with broadly-drawn racial stereotypes.

#33 - Slingshot 6 7/8

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1951 - Episode 4

A shooting contest (carrying a $1,000 prize) in a Western frontier town narrows itself down to two pretty sharp-eyed finalists: Indian Buzz Buzzard and his bow and arrow, and tenderfoot Woody Woodpecker. In Woody's hands, "Slingshot 6 7/8" is a weapon to be reckoned with.

#34 - Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 7

The peace and quiet of Birdland comes to an end when Woody Woodpecker begins to annoy the inhabitants with zany antics. Their countermeasures are hilarious, but they fail to dim Woody's zest and enthusiasm. Woody sings, "Everybody thinks I'm crazy." The other animals manage to convince him that he is, so he sees a shrink named Dr. Horace N. Buggy, a fox who's as crazy as he is. Woody heckles Dr. Buggy.

#35 - The Screwdriver

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 9

Woody Woodpecker is driving along a country road when his car breaks down. The redhead does such a good repair job that he's unable to restrain the car when he starts off again. He drives a policeman crazy in various disguises on the highway. The TV version of the cartoon re-titled as Woody's Jalopy.

#36 - Knock Knock

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1940 - Episode 7

When Woody Woodpecker interrupts the peace and quiet at the Panda home, Andy's poppa tries to run the pest off while Andy tries to catch him by putting salt on his tail.

#37 - Good-Bye Mr. Moth

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1942 - Episode 5

Andy has a problem: he operates a tailor shop ("Zut Suits," the sign reads) and has a troublesome moth. The moth can eat a suit in minutes, a fur coat just as fast. Andy hangs a fur coat made of skunk fur in the closet, and it halts the moth. Then, Andy hangs a rubber raincoat on the rack; the moth almost loses his teeth chewing on it.

#38 - The Woody Woodpecker Polka

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1951 - Episode 6

The story opens with various couples going into a barn to attend a barn dance. All of them sway to the rhythm of the music. Wally Walrus is the doorman who collects the tickets as they enter. Admission to the dance is $1, which entitles each purchaser to a ticket to "Free Eats." Woody Woodpecker is in a haystack sleepily watching the dancers go by. He sees by his watch that it's dinnertime, and he realizes that he's hungry. His glance falls on the "Free Eats" sign, so he proceeds to follow the crowd into the barn. He hands a rubber dollar bill to Wally, who discovers it after Woody has entered the barn. Woody's hungrily standing by a table laden with food, and just as he's about to really feast, Wally ejects him from the barn. Woody then dresses up as a femme fatale and vamps Wally into letting him enter the barn dance. Woody's main object is to get food; Wally's, to dance with this new gal who has really excited him. Thus, we see a struggle on the one hand for food; on the other, the enjoyment of dancing. Woody finally gets to the food-laden table and ultimately obtains more than his share of the food, storing the excess in his dress in spite of Wally's efforts to keep him dancing. Wally finally discovers that his exciting gal is really Woody in disguise, and realizing that a fool he has made of himself, he violently kicks himself.

#39 - Man Hunt

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1938 - Episode 2

Although the main plot is a bunch of cute forest animals getting their revenge by fighting a war on some hunters, the hunters here are atrociously racist, not just typically stereotypical.

#40 - Trade Mice

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1938 - Episode 4

#41 - Born to Peck

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1952 - Episode 1

A very old Woody Woodpecker reflects on his life, starting with his infancy. Woody's funny life is traced in amusing verse.

#42 - Crazy House

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1940 - Episode 5

When Andy Panda and his father are stranded miles away from home by a thunderstorm, they take shelter in a nearby house. Little do they realize that the house where they're spending the night is actually a fun house, with hidden practical jokes everywhere. The house also has a noisy merry go-round, a trick drinking fountain,and a dance floor with an ever-changing background.

#43 - The Big Race

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1937 - Episode 4

#44 - Woodpecker in the Rough

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1952 - Episode 3

When the golfing bug bites Woody Woodpecker, he's ready for the game, but the question is: "Is the game ready for him?" as he tries to match play with a power golfer. Woody's attempts to play golf are interrupted by a big, burly man who makes a bet with him.

#45 - Pantry Panic

The Woody Woodpecker Show - Season 1941 - Episode 3

Woody's friends warn him that the groundhog has predicted a blizzard. Unconcerned, Woody decides not to go South with his pals. Soon enough, the blizzard sweeps in and destroys the loony woodpecker's stash of food. Facing starvation, a glimmer of hope arrives in the form of a cat. The cat is also starving and it turns into a match of brawn and wits to see who eats who.

#46 - Pantry Panic

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 12

In a peaceful bird village in the heart of the forest, a weatherman, Professor Groundhog, predicts a terrible cold front. He reports a storm warning that a blizzard is coming, and that all birds are to go south immediately. The birds close their houses and start leaving. Seeing the birds flying away, Woody Woodpecker asks why, and he's told of the coming storm. Enjoying himself in a swimming pool, Woody doesn't pay any attention. Suddenly, a blizzard hits. Woody's caught in midair as he makes a dive, and he's blown right to his door and into the house. Weeks later, Woody runs out of food- a roaring wind takes all his rations- and starvation stares him in the face. A hungry tomcat knocks at his door, and Woody lets him in. Each eyes the other as a source of food: visions of roast woodpecker to the cat, roast cat to Woody. A battle of wits ensues as to who shall feed on whom. There's a wild riot in the kitchen for a morsel of food. Woody and the cat try to eat each other for supper.

#47 - Recruiting Daze

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1940 - Episode 6

Military humor featuring military equipment, Punchy, and an assortment of other characters. It's a whole army in a daze throughout this wacky nonsense in a soldier camp where the awkward squad makes everything awkward until powder magazines blow up, sausage balloons are sliced for lunch, and a Big Brass council of war argues over tic-tac-toe! This army would make an enemy laugh himself helpless!

#48 - Syncopated Sioux

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1940 - Episode 8

Wild, musical Indians in a cartoon with minimal dialogue, but lots of swing jive music and hilarious war dances. The Indians whistle at a "hot squaw number" and salute "The Chief," which rolls along at 90 miles an hour. Palefaces get red faces as a few cowboys get arrows. A tepee makes like a toupee. When the Indians do a war dance, one gets ambitious and dons a suit of armor, then shoots down a big bird that turns out to be an airplane.

#49 - Puny Express

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1951 - Episode 1

In the Old West, daring "Puny Express" rider Woody Woodpecker tries to get the mail through and elude gunman Buzz Buzzard in the meantime. Woody and his horse run onto many obstacles- including a "horned toad." Desperado Buzz waits for Woody as he crosses the river. Buzz plans to bomb Woody with a big boulder from above...

#50 - Fair Today

Woody Woodpecker and Friends - Season 1941 - Episode 2

Fairs, rides, attractions and horses at the county fair are all made fun of. Like a world's fair, there are some ultra-modern exhibits. You'll see the Rubber Man, the Fat Lady, the Tattoo Man, the Sword Swallower, elephants, lions and a giraffe... but the real problem is a little old lady looking for her dog. A "Cream Separator" is operated by a small child with a bowl. A "Crazy Quilt" lives up to its name. Announcer: "Say, this turkey has no neck!" Turkey: "Aw, nobody eats the neck, anyway!" There's a hog-calling contest ("You're a hog!").