Under the Counter Spy

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. He is a lot of fun in 'Under the Counter Spy' and never comes over too much of a jerk. "The Bat" is a suitably sinister but entertaining and well-matched opponent and the parody of 'Dragnet' is inspired, with the right amount of wild comedy and criminal suspense.

'Under the Counter Spy's' showdown is a terrific set-piece, suspenseful and lots of fun as one would hope.

As ever, the animation is great. The characters are well drawn, but even better are the rich colours, meticulously detailed backgrounds and smooth backgrounds.

Music is another strength here. It's characterful, lushly orchestrated and is not only dynamic with the action it even enhances it. The whole cartoon goes at a snappy pace, especially in the second half, and there are some very well-timed and extremely funny gags and a great atmosphere.

Overall, wonderful and a huge improvement over the disappointing previous cartoon 'Alley to Bali'. 10/10 Bethany Cox

OK, so "Dragnet" is a very easy show to spoof (and I've heard that it deserved to get spoofed, as it had no other purpose except to glorify the police). Thus, the folks behind the Woody Woodpecker cartoons did so with "Under the Counter Spy". What I really liked in the cartoon was how every time that Woody drank the stuff, it gave him super-strength and he inadvertently went around trashing things; that would be really fun to do!

So, while I don't consider Woody's cartoons as clever as the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies ones, this one's still pretty neat. You can watch it on YouTube.

I wonder why Mel Blanc wasn't doing Woody's voice anymore.

. . . TV situation comedy called something such as Drag the Net. It's about two guys--Al Crusoe and his servant, Joe Friday. Since they're stranded on Hawaii, they bungle around fighting the rampant crime pervading that precinct. Some of their most notable episodes had them trying to figure out who attacked Pearl Harbor, who sunk the Maine and exactly how many ships were launched by Helen of Troy. They never forgot the Alamo, since that rental car vendor was a big sponsor. UNDER THE COUNTER SPY captures the essence of Drag the Net, because it features the same sort of silly narrators and inane plots. However, some young tots might become frightened by a bird with biceps.

First of all, "Under the counter spy" is an excellent cartoon. Second, it has a surprisingly intriguing plot. Third, the animation is good, albeit lower budget. Fourth, the music is great, and it really gets me excited in the climax. Fifth, and most importantly, Woody is absolutely adorable in this short. One of my favorite woody cartoons. Absolutely incredible. 10/10.