The Barber of Seville (1944)

I've watched every single damn cartoon to feature that nutball buzzard Woody Woodpecker, and I can honestly say that out of all of them, this was the only one that I personally would say is actually a great one. I think all of the character's best efforts were the earliest where the animation was at its richest and the bird's design was the most garish and unhinged-looking. This is just wild and epic, plain and simple. I mean what isn't there to love about this short? The animation is great and beautifully coloured, the timing and choreography of the music and the action is excellent, there's a couple of really good sight gags, and oh yeah, opera! Woody's very own special brand of delightfully insane scary opera of course! After hijacking a barber shop and a comical if possibly not entirely politically-correct run-in with an old Indian chief, he gives a very unfortunate man the close shave of a lifetime! Go to Woody for a shave and a haircut and prepare to meet a demon bird to give Sweeney Todd a run for his money! He just goes completely wacko on the poor man while singing in a fine falsetto like some kind of demented tenor! I'm not even entirely sure what the man does to upset him so much, but I think it might have been when he calls him a dope! Woody is one psychotic little pecker as he really gets into the spirit of things, wildly swinging a straight razor at the terrified customer/victim who only wants to get away, not seeming to particularly care if he slices the guy's head off while he's doing so! Seriously, what merely starts out as a regular violent cartoon haircut degenerates into a tense fight for survival as Woody begins to blindly hack at the man like a maniac - is he actually trying to kill him? Who the hell knows!? By that point we're as much in the dark regarding that detail as that poor sap is! Which is what makes it so fun! A frenetic blast to watch, quite funny, and pretty scary besides!!! Totally awesome, loved it.

This is undeniably the greatest Woody Woodpecker cartoon ever made. Its filled with so much energy, beautiful animation, and laughs that it ranks among the greatest musical cartoons of all time, in the same league as "The Rabbit of Seville" and "Book Revue". But why exactly is it so great? The thing that makes this cartoon so witty and clever is that it catches the viewer by surprise. The first half of the cartoon is just as good as any run-of-the-mill Woody Woodpecker cartoon from the mid-forties. Then, suddenly, the viewer is bombarded with an utterly insane and hilarious three minutes of pure cartoon pleasure. The second half of the cartoon is so raucous that even a wacky director like Bob Clampett would be amazed by it. This is a must-see for anyone who likes cartoons, needs something to laugh at, or both.

Forget Duck Amuck. Screw What's Opera,Doc. This is the greatest 6 minutes i've ever spent.This is the greatest animated cartoon ever made. This cartoon should get more respect. It starts off like your average Woody Woody Woodpecker cartoon from the 40's, spending the first 3 minutes leaving you totally unaware of what hell is about to break loose.When the music begins, and Woody gets to shave his next victim, you know you are in for a treat. The cartoon EXPLODES like a time bomb, and Woody's behavior gets more and more insnane as the music gets faster and faster. The cartoon just goes farther and farther, seeing how far it could possibly go. When it finally decides to stop, and realizes it can't go any farther, and the short ends, you know you just watched something truly special.

This was the first appearance of the redesigned Woody Woodpecker, intended to make him more appealing -- no buckteeth. The ongoing competition to turn out the best short cartoons in the business were still on. The Fleischers were out of it, Paul Terry was idling at Fox with his guaranteed contracts, and Disney was distracted by features and the aftermath of a strike. Meanwhile, Tex Avery was being given a free hand at MGM, and Schlesinger had just sold his cartoon factory to Warner Brothers.But to turn out the best cartoons you needed a good character and good scripts. Lantz could buy talent, particularly talent eager to escape from Uncle Walt, but what about stars? A brief attempt to revive Oswald the Lucky Rabbit turned out too precious to stomach. Andy Panda was too bland and Wally Walrus was a good supporting comic, but nothing more. Woody Woodpecker had color, energy and sound. All he needed was a new look and a couple of vehicles to show him off to best advantage.And that's this movie. Seamus Culhane was an old hand in the field -- he'd been directing cartoons since 1930, and he directed this one for speed and energy, splitting Woody into five or six images at some points. The whole thing explodes off the screen and is a fine, funny cartoon. Plus it's a wonderful handling of the music from 'The Barber of Seville'.