Friday, 31 May 2019

A Changing Woodpecker

Shots don’t always match in cartoons when scenes change.

Here are some examples from Misguided Missile, a 1958 Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Someone on the Walter Lantz staff seemed to like to draw Woody more squat and angular than others. These are consecutive drawings. Woody’s taller in the second frame. The guy with the newspaper has longer fingers in the first drawing and the bench (and its shadow) aren’t the same from drawing to drawing.



The next two frames are consecutive as well. Director Paul J. Smith cuts back to the stubby-legged Woody artist. Woody changes size and position and the guy’s hand is suddenly back holding his newspaper.



Bob Bentley and Les Kline are given the screen credits for animation on this cartoon.

3 comments:

  1. Details on newspaper change too.

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  2. Woody's size was very inconsistent in the studio's later years. A friend of mine has a 16mm print of a WOODY WOODPECKER SHOW episode. In that show, when we first see Woody, he is standing just inside Lantz's door and is taller than the doorknob. Later, he is sitting on Lantz's telephone and appears to be quite tiny.

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  3. these scenes are animated by les kline

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