Knock Knock

I don't remember much about watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons. I had seen this short online and really enjoyed it; it was quite funny. Of course, I didn't know this cartoon marked Woody Woodpecker's first screen appearance. I didn't realize that Mel Blanc voiced the character; he sounds just like Daffy Duck from his early cartoons!

I love the scene where Mr. Panda tries to shoot Woody. The gun malfunctioned, so Woody tested it, and it worked. He returned it to Mr. Panda, who tried to shoot again, but the gun handle transformed into a boot and hit him in the face. I also love the scene with the exploding decoy.

Walter Lantz produced and directed several Memorable cartoons, he was always a persevering man who continued to work and do what he liked even if he was not in good times, after a couple of shorts of an Andy Panda Character, Lantz included a new character in which he inspired after a woodpecker made holes in the roof of a cabin where he spent his honeymoon, his wife reassured him and encouraged him to create a caricature of it, Lantz also thought of shooting the bird!, but he just chased him away and he himself made a sound similar to a laugh, and from there Woody's iconic laugh was born! Which, Some Characters and Ideas arose after some situation that happened to the Creator, Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in revenge against Universal for Stealing the Rights of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit!, but let's ignore that and focus on Universal.

Lantz had already worked at Universal with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but after Oswald the Lucky Rabbit lost popularity, he decided to look for new ideas and characters, among them the one that stood out the most was Andy Panda, who had several short films until "Knock Knock" arrived in 1940. In which as I said was the first appearance of Woody, Woody achieved popularity in the public and although critics treated the character badly for his ugly design and strange personality, Lantz did not listen to criticism and continued making Woody Woodpecker shorts.

To be the first appearance of our favorite woodpecker is not bad at all, although the protagonist is Andy Panda and his father, Woody steals the show, we see him for the first time playing a trick on the father thinking that they were knocking on the door so that Finally Andy told him that Woody was actually hitting the ceiling, after saying his Iconic Phrase "Guess Who" Andy Panda and his Father decide to kill Woody!.

The Animation in this short was very good, I liked the backgrounds, they look quite detailed and although the character design, especially Woody's, looks bizarre, they are quite decent and have fluid movements that favor visual pleasure.

Frank Marsales offers good music and this was the last job he had with Lantz, the music has some rhythm to it and although it is not as energetic as Carl Stalling's music or as fun as Scott Bradley's, it is a decent effort as it is nice to listen to and syncs up nicely with the animation.

The Incredible Mel Blanc did the Voice of Woody in his First 4 Shorts, this veteran of Voice acting discovered a voice of his in High School and after practicing it for a while he unknowingly created Woody's Iconic Voice and Laughter! Of course, the Other characters have good voices but no one beats the Great Mel Blanc!.

Without knowing it, Walter Lantz created the Universal Animated Star, although it was not well received at the beginning, it currently has the recognition it deserves and has amused and entertained us all, the Animation is Good as well as the Music, the Cartoon has Good rhythm and it favors some gags that are out there that are quite funny and show that Woody was already Crazy from the start!.

In itself, Knock Knock is not the best of Woody but it was a great First appearance that he shared with Andy Panda, I liked the Animation and the Gags, it was fun to see how The Pandas failed in their Mission and Woody Ended up victorious, although somewhat petty, Woody is a great character here, I liked how he humiliated Andy's father, the Pandas are also fun but nothing that beats the Great Woody!.

For everything I said above, Knock Knock gets an 8.

Woody Woodpecker's screen debut, as others have pointed out, was really an "Andy Panda" cartoon but Woody apparently made such a strong impression that he went on to be a animated movie star.

"Can you really catch a bird by putting salt on its tail? That's the question asked, and how we are introduced to WW. Little Andy had asked the question to his dad, who was busy reading the day's Racing Form (which was filled with puns. Take the time to freeze the picture and you'll get some laughs or groans.)

The rest is kind of juvenile but that had to be the intended audience, at least early on. Also, it's 1940 and humor - especially with cartoons, in my opinion - got much better - by the middle of the ''40s. Early Tom & Jerry cartoons, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, etc., all didn't hit their prime until then.

"Knock Knock" is the first cartoon with Woody Woodpecker, though it was considered an Andy Panda movie by Universal Studios. However, Andy really has little to do in the film...it's mostly Andy's dad fighting with this annoying Woodpecker!

The story is very simple. The Panda household is being annoyed by incessant pecking on their house by the woodpecker (his name is never given in the film). So, Papa Panda tries to stop the woodpecker...with expected results.

The quality of this cartoon is nearly as good as a film by Looney Tunes or MGM. This quality of animation and story were not the norm for Universal....usually they were more limp. Worth seeing...especially for its historical value.

Knock Knock (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Andy Panda wants to know if you can catch a woodpecker simply by putting salt on its tail and he gets his shot of finding out when Woody Woodpecker shows up to drive his father crazy. This isn't the greatest cartoon ever made but it was the first to feature the famous woodpecker so that there makes it rather historic and worth seeing. There are certainly some funny moments here with the majority of them going to Woody so there's no question as to why he ended up becoming a big star. The movie's best moments happen after a fake, sexy woodpecker is used to kiss Woody who then goes on a rampage through the forest. Another funny sequence happens when the father panda thinks he has captured Woody but soon the two go flying. I really didn't find either panda overly interesting here but Woody makes it worth sitting through.