Studio: Walter Lantz Productions
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Produced by: Walter Lantz
Short Synopsis
Written accounts of this early Woody short are scarce; what follows is taken from the film itself. Woody Woodpecker wants to see a baseball game, but has no intention of paying for a ticket. He sneaks into the ballpark, pursued by a uniformed attendant who keeps grabbing for his tail. In the grandstand he settles in beside a heavy-set fan in an enormous cowboy hat and needles him, popping up from behind his shoulder until the man is beside himself. Then Woody gets out onto the field itself. He takes over the pitcher's mound and winds up for a pitch with a comically elaborate, spinning delivery, the ball looping round him in circles. On the outfield grass he darts away from his pursuer, his feet kicking up a trail of dust, and slips out of reach every time a hand closes on his tail feathers. The game descends into chaos around him. How it finally ends is not described in any source this book could check.
Why It Matters
- Woody's wind-up on the pitcher's mound, with the ball whirling in circles around him before it ever leaves his hand, is a lively piece of exaggerated sports animation, and the film shows the early Woody at his most obnoxious, a gate-crasher who wrecks a whole afternoon just to amuse himself.
- It is the seventh Woody Woodpecker cartoon and comes from his first, wildest phase, before Lantz smoothed him into a gentler star. Directed by Alex Lovy in the busy wartime period, it belongs to the run of short sports and chase comedies that established Woody as Universal's leading cartoon character.
Notes and Trivia
- Woody at this stage still has green tail feathers and no gloves; his design changed later in 1943.
- See also: Knock Knock (1940), Pantry Panic (1941), Ration Bored (1943).