The Corny Woodpecker

Some cartoon directors loved having stuff come toward, and then away from, the camera. Bob McKimson did it at the beginning of his directorial career. So did both directors at the Lantz studio in the ‘40s. The effect probably looks a lot better on a movie screen than it does on TV. It works better in some cartoons than others. Many of McKimson’s attempts seem too contrived, like he had to do it whether it suited the action.

Over at the Lantz studio, both Shamus Culhane and Dick Lundy occasionally tossed in perspective shots like that in their cartoons. Culhane’s “The Dippy Diplomat” (1945) is an example.

Woody spots food in the Walrus back yard through a knot hole in a fence.





He reaches through and steals a cob of corn. He goes for another. Wally moves the plate of corn away. And it sweeps toward the camera as he does it. Two frames for each drawing.







Pat Matthews and Grim Natwick get the on-screen animation credits. Thad Komorowski tells me that Matthews did the Woody scene while he thinks Les Kline did the corn part.