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. As far as the Woody Woodpecker cartoons go, there are better, such as 'Ski for Two', 'Woody Woodpecker' and 'The Barber of Seville' but 'Woody Dines Out' is very good still. Plus, while the Woody Woodpecker cartoons pre-Wally had a different design for Woody and were still evolving his personality, here he is closer to the Woody Woodpecker we're familiar with and his personality seems more fully formed.
'Woody Dines Out' is slight and predictable somewhat, and while the gags are still very good there are Woody Woodpecker cartoons where they are hilarious.
Perhaps there are characters with more interesting personalities, but Woody is still at his best incredibly funny, never obnoxious and very lovable self. 'Woody Dines Out' also sees us root for him and feel sorry for him when his situation gets more desperate.
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 the quite smooth drawing.
Can't praise the music enough either, characterful energy, dynamic, action enhancing and lushly orchestrated.
It's all nicely scripted, and the gags are fun and well timed if not quite hilarious.
The voice acting is solid, with Hans Conried standing out as the taxidermist, Overall, not quite great but very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox
