Ace in the Hole

" . . . Show" including this cartoon also provides Woody mastermind Walter Lance, aka the Good Walt, an opportunity to teach America the four basic shapes from which all cartoon characters are constructed--even that evilly voracious rodent Mick the Mouse whom the bad Walt unleashed upon the world to gobble up everything in sight--ABC, the Muppet's, ESPN, Star Wars, the Marvel Universe, P-i-x-a-r, you name it. Unlike the Bad Walt, his saintly counterpart gave drawing lessons to sick kids in hospitals rather than stealing every possible credit and intellectual property from the world's actual creative types to fashion a dangerous monolith to aggrandize his blob-like money miser ways. These teachings single out a simple circle, oval, pear shape and hot dog outline as the basic building blocks for all things making up the World of Cartoons.

I like that old ('40s) expression (see summary headline) which Woody uses frequently in this animated cartoon. He's at a military base (this is World War II, as this cartoon was made in 1942) and he's studying to be a pilot, reading "How To Fly A Plane From the Ground Up."

Unfortunately, the only assignments he gets from the stereotypical gruff sergeant are mundane, lower-echelon ones like clipping the horse with some electric shaving razor.

Through a series a slapstick occurrences, Woody, predictably, gets to fly "a real plane" and takes off in the "PU-2." The flying scenes were funny and had some very good artwork, too. So far, I thought this was the best of the early Woody Woodpecker cartoons.

Was very fond of Woody Woodpecker and his cartoons as a child. Still get much enjoyment out of them now as a young adult, even if there are more interesting in personality cartoon characters and better overall cartoons.

That is in no way knocking Woody, because many of his cartoons are a lot of fun to watch and more and also still like him a lot as a character. To me 'Ace in the Hole' is among his best early cartoons. Not a new idea but done in a way that's hugely entertaining and relatable, even though it's in the flying scenes where 'Ace in the Hole' in particular kicks into gear.

While there may be cartoon characters with slightly more interesting personalities, Woody is still at his best incredibly funny, never obnoxious and very lovable self, summing him up in one word it would be wonderfully nuts. His personality traits are still evolving and while a few are different others are unmistakably recognisable. He's also very cute and one does have to feel sorry for the poor guy at the end. The sergeant character is in a way stereotypical, but suitably gruff and provides a good personality contrast and source of conflict.

As ever, the animation is great. Woody's character design and physicality have changed/evolved for the better. Even more impressive are the rich and vibrant colours, the meticulously detailed backgrounds and particularly the visuals in the flying scenes which are pretty exhilarating.

Another standout quality is the music. It's characterful, lushly orchestrated and is not only dynamic with the action it even enhances it. The writing is suitably witty and raises a number of chuckles, and all the gags are fun. One does feel sorry for Woody at the end and relates to him, especially those who have had their minds set on wanting to have or do something but having to face obstacles to get there.

Voice acting is good.

Overall, great and one of the best early Woody Woodpecker cartoons. 9/10 Bethany Cox