What's Sweepin'

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.

Can definitely understand where the previous reviewer is coming from, despite liking it more. Love Woody and Wally Walrus together, and while 'What Sweepin' is a long way from either of them at their best it is still a good representation of what is fun about their partnership in the first place and how well they work together. Story-wise, it's hardly original and for a Woody Woodpecker cartoon very familiar structurally albeit a different setting and Woody and Walrus taking on different jobs.

Pacing definitely could have been sharper, it is agreed that 'What's Sweepin' sags in the middle and that it could have been clearer what the setting was. Woody and Wally have done funnier and more imaginative cartoons, especially before 'What's Sweepin'.

Neither Woody or Wally disgrace themselves. Wally is characterised very well and faithfully, taking the butt of the jokes well and is easier to root for. Personally don't mind Woody's milder personality, it fit with the start of the cartoon and the situation and he carries the cartoon very well, though there were times where the cartoon called for his more manic personality and it wasn't quite there.

As ever, the animation is very good. 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. There are still some amusing gags timed well if not in the most inspired of ways, and the pace does pick up at the end for a typically wild finale.

Overall, decent if unexceptional. 7/10 Bethany Cox

--that is, Universal of FRANKENSTEIN MUMMY DRACULA fame--is carefully crafted to document the Terrible Truth that Our U. S. Homeland always has been a land Of the Bullies, By the Bullies and For the Bullies. As depicted in WHAT'S SWEEPING, most often the Bullies wear a uniform to denote that their Lives of Crimes against Humanity are being forcibly underwritten by their unwilling, coerced and swindled victims, such as working stiff Woody here. Wally the crooked cop terrorizes fruit vendors, trashes a dress shop, destroys a circus and enslaves Woody in heavy iron shackles at the conclusion of this sorry tale. Even Today in this Our Modern 21st Century, U. S. cops are constantly murdering defenseless citizens on public streets and sidewalks, usually waltzing away with no consequences after these outrageous slayings due to an injustice system rigged against the working class from America's inception. Some say that one honest cop can excuse or atone for a whole barrel of rotten ones, but WHAT'S SWEEPING provides no evidence to support this inane fallacy.

This episode of the Woody Woodpecker franchise is saggy in the middle, because of the relatively weak gags, and the the inconsistency of the setting -- at first it seems to be turn-of-the-century, given Wally Walrus' antique police uniform and Woody's occupation as a 'White Wings' street sweeper, but there is a television set used as part of one gag....

Even worse than those is the watering down of Woody's manic personality in the decade since Seamus Culhane was in charge of his best shorts. It may have been more realistic to not have Woody split into four or five doppelgangers, as in THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, as if realism was a primary concern of of cartoon makers. But it's a heck of a lot less interesting.