If I Had a Gun...

“If I had a gun, I’d shoot myself,” says down-and-out Woody Woodpecker, putting a finger to his head. The finger turns into a gun.



He fires. The bullet actually goes through his head. But it happens in two drawings so you just get the effect; you don’t see it.



Woody has real expression in these United Artists releases, like “Wacky Bye Baby” (1948) Woody’s eyes grow wild when he realises what he’s done, his pupil slowly turns to look at the gun and then Woody fumbles with the weapon before throwing it away in panic. Here are some of the drawings.



Les Kline and Pat Matthews get the animation credits on the cartoon but Matt Yorston says this scene was done by Ed Love.