International Woodpecker

International Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker series
Directed by	Paul J. Smith
Produced by	Walter Lantz
Story by	Dick Kinney
Voices by	Grace Stafford Daws Butler June Foray
Music by	Clarence Wheeler
Animation by	Robert Bentley Les Kline Art Landy
Studio	Walter Lantz Productions
Distributed by	Universal International
Release date(s)	July 1, 1957
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	6' 11"
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	The Unbearable Salesman
Followed by	To Catch a Woodpecker

International Woodpecker is the 77th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on July 1, 1957, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal International.

Plot

Knothead and Splinter need help in their history lesson, and Woody digresses to tell them of their illustrious ancestors, starting with the caveman woodpecker who captured his mate. He tells of one family member in ancient Greece who mistook the columns of a temple for trees and caused the present-day picturesque ruins. Woody explains how another ancestor caused the Leaning Tower of Piza to lean; the collapse of the Roman Coliseum's wall; the disappearance of the nose on the Sphinx; an ancestor who was a matador in Spain; Woodpecker Raleigh, who introduced the king-size cigarette; a family member who rode the Mayflower; another who chopped down the cherry tree and didn't tell a lie; a great-granduncle named Wyatt Earp Woodpecker out West; and the story of Apache Woodpecker, who strolled in Gay Paree. When Woody's story ends, the kids want to match their ancestors' adventures, but what a disappointment when he tells them that they'll merely take a trip to the Moon.

References

• Cooke, Jon, Komorowski, Thad, Shakarian, Pietro, and Tatay, Jack. "1957". The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia.