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 here and is never obnoxious or a jerk. While it is a little toned down, there are shades of his original personality as a manic pest, yet one can sympathise with his situation. The villain works with Woody very well, and is in his own right a formidable and entertaining opponent. Really enjoyed the horse character too.
Sure, the story when it comes to the Woody Woodpecker action has its typical moments, the wild west setting is also a very familiar one for Woody and has been executed with more imagination elsewhere, and the main premise with the insurance is executed a little repetitiously occasionally.
Time and budget constraints shows in some of the animation, which is a little rushed looking in the drawing and detail wise it's on the simplistic and careless side like many of Woody's cartoons from this period continuing through to the 60s.
Music however is bouncy, energetic and very lushly orchestrated, not only synchronising and fitting with the action very well but enhancing it. The whole cartoon goes at a lively pace, especially in the second half.
Gags are always very amusing and never less than that, some of it is actually very funny and timed very well. The voice work is solid, with Grace Stafford continuing to prove why she was the best voice actor for the character.
In summary, decent but there are better Woody Woodpecker cartoons including from this weaker (prime Woody Woodpecker was long gone by this point), hit-and-miss period (especially 'Niagara Fools'). 7/10 Bethany Cox
