The Barber of Seville

Looking for a haircut. Woody Woodpecker ends up in a barbershop from which the proprietor has left to get his army physical, so the frenetic fowl tales on tonsorial duties as assorted customers come in. The cartoon starts slowly as Woody attempts to cut the hair of a stereotypical Indian, resulting in typical sight-gags involving head-dresses and cigar stores, but really takes off when an equally stereotypical Italian construction worker enters the shop and Woody breaks into a whirlwind rendition of Rossini's 'Largo al factotum' while inevitably wielding shaving-foam and a straight-razor. This manic opera parody predates the better known (and IMO superior) Bugs Bunny version by six years and is the wild woodpecker's only appearance in the 50 Greatest Cartoons' (at #44).

This was the first appearance of the redesigned Woody Woodpecker, intended to make him more appealing -- no buckteeth. The ongoing competition to turn out the best short cartoons in the business were still on. The Fleischers were out of it, Paul Terry was idling at Fox with his guaranteed contracts, and Disney was distracted by features and the aftermath of a strike. Meanwhile, Tex Avery was being given a free hand at MGM, and Schlesinger had just sold his cartoon factory to Warner Brothers.

But to turn out the best cartoons you needed a good character and good scripts. Lantz could buy talent, particularly talent eager to escape from Uncle Walt, but what about stars? A brief attempt to revive Oswald the Lucky Rabbit turned out too precious to stomach. Andy Panda was too bland and Wally Walrus was a good supporting comic, but nothing more. Woody Woodpecker had color, energy and sound. All he needed was a new look and a couple of vehicles to show him off to best advantage.

And that's this movie. Seamus Culhane was an old hand in the field -- he'd been directing cartoons since 1930, and he directed this one for speed and energy, splitting Woody into five or six images at some points. The whole thing explodes off the screen and is a fine, funny cartoon. Plus it's a wonderful handling of the music from 'The Barber of Seville'.

Forget Duck Amuck. Screw What's Opera,Doc. This is the greatest 6 minutes i've ever spent.This is the greatest animated cartoon ever made. This cartoon should get more respect. It starts off like your average Woody Woody Woodpecker cartoon from the 40's, spending the first 3 minutes leaving you totally unaware of what hell is about to break loose.When the music begins, and Woody gets to shave his next victim, you know you are in for a treat. The cartoon EXPLODES like a time bomb, and Woody's behavior gets more and more insnane as the music gets faster and faster. The cartoon just goes farther and farther, seeing how far it could possibly go. When it finally decides to stop, and realizes it can't go any farther, and the short ends, you know you just watched something truly special.

Like Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker is unflappable. He steps into places and dominates. In this case, the barber, Figaro, has gone to get his army physical. It's well into the U.S. participation in World War II, so able bodied men would be leaving for war. Anyway, Woody decides to take over for the barber. There is the racist treatment of a stereotypical movie Indian. Then he cuts the hair of a construction worker. He literally terrorizes those he treats. Woody's manic being is so crazy, that I, as a viewer, see him as a true danger. This is borne out. We do get to hear Woody sing the frantic aria in that awful reedy voice. Still, Walter Lantz deserves a bit of animation credit.

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. 'The Barber of Seville' is a perfect example of why. Others have said that 'The Barber of Seville' is among Woody's best, could not agree more and also one of the funniest, cleverest and most colourful. Plus, while the previous Woody Woodpecker cartoons 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.

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 increasingly manic energy is a delight to see and his singing of the arrangements of the wonderful music from one of Rossini's best operas is musical and comic genius.

As ever, the animation is great and actually 'The Barber of Seville' is one of the best-looking Woody Woodpecker cartoons. 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. 'Il Barbiere Di Siviglia' has been used a lot in animation and often to fantastic effect, personally think that 'The Barber of Seville' is one of the best uses of it which is high praise. The writing is suitably witty and raises a number of chuckles, especially when we're about three minutes in and the mania increases to explosive effect. The gags are razor sharp in timing and often hilarious.

Voice acting is as usual solid.

All in all, a Woody Woodpecker treat and one of his absolute best. 10/10 Bethany Cox