Pantry Panic

Who do you think would be labeled "Weather Forecaster Extraordinary?" How about "Prof. Weatherby Groundhog!" Oh, man, cartoon writers sure loved corny puns back in the "old days." Usually, though, I think they are fun to read and hear.

With a bulletin that cold weather is approaching, all the birds zip up their houses and leave in a hurry. Who's skeptical about the weather warning? Woody, of course. He's like one of these dumb people who get hurricane warnings but stay home....and then disaster hits.

The birds warn him: you're going to freeze and have no food. Woody just laughs at them, but not for long. The temperature drops from about 80 to 130 degrees below zero! (Hey, even the cartoon makes fun of that nonsense.)

Things get worse in a hurry as our obnoxious friend gets quickly humbled and winds up fighting it out with a cat - each wanting to cannibalize the other! Yeah, the humor becomes dark.

On a lighter note, the village in this story is absolutely beautiful. This is colorful and very nice artwork.

This early Woody Woodpecker cartoon is a lot more vicious than the later ones--which is exactly why I liked it! Additionally, it gives you a chance to see how different the early Woody drawings were compared to the more familiar later ones.

When the cartoon begins, the weather prognosticating groundhog tells everyone to migrate south because a bad winter is coming. All the birds take off except for cocky Woody who announces he has plenty of food and he's staying. Well, the storm arrives in cartoon fashion--quickly and taking Woody's food! Now, after a month of nothing to eat, a cat knocks on the door. The cat intends to eat Woody--and Woody intends to eat the cat. The cartoon is full of cartoony violence and is pretty funny--and edgy to see such a beloved character behaving rather viciously. Well done and about as good as any of the cartoons coming from Warner Brothers at that time.

Pantry Panic (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Being his typical, reckless self, Woody Woodpecker refuses to take a warning and fly South for the winter. Sure enough a major storm hits, which puts him near starvation but thankfully a hungry cat shows up and the two are soon trying to each one another. This is yet another winning cartoon in the series and one with several big laughs. The highlight would have to be an early scene where Woody is swimming and goes to jump in the water just as the winter storm hits and turns him into an ice cube. Another great sequences comes towards the end when a moose shows up as Woody and the cat are fighting. The way it ends is something that could only happen in a cartoon of this era. Fans of Woody Woodpecker will find this to be a very entertaining little gem that's well worth watching.

When the groundhog predicted an extremely bad winter, all the other birds migrated south. A cocky Woody Woodpecker chose to stay behind as he thought he is snug and safe with plenty of food.

Pantry Panic sees Woody Woodpecker starving after a spell of bad weather leaves him hungry and dispirited.

An icy tornado took his food away and he is now staring starvation in the face.

A hungry cat knocking on the door could be just the feline fricassee he badly needs.

This clever and entertaining cartoon shows Woody and the cat fighting as to who can get their prey into the banquet table first. I felt sorry for the moose.

Incredibly fun and well done. Walter Lantz delivers incredible comedy and a really darkly toned short with Woody Woodpecker. This is incredibly fun, and the humor landed with me.

Despite the warning, Woody doesn't fly south after hearing winter is coming. He becomes more and more hungry but an opportunity for a meal comes along. Unfortunately, that meal is a cat and it´s also looking for food.

I really loved the humor here and that is the highlight of this short. The text and fourth wall break really land and the jokes are good between the cat and Woody. The dark humor is also good. It´s a dark comedy where Woody is portrait as evil as the cat that is trying to eat him. It even had a dark twist I did not see coming.

The voice acting is so good. Woody and the cat is voiced so well and they land their lines so well making jokes work.

The animation is also good. The expressions of characters look dark and demented and it works well for the plot. The house and transformation from autumn to winter is also really good. The character design also really looks great here.

I loved this short, while not doing anything that unique it feels like a comedy short, I could watch again and again. The humor is good and lands, the concept is dark and fun, the animation is good, what´s not to like?