Ben Hardaway
1895 - 1957While at the Leon Schlesinger / Warner Bros. studio during the late 1930s, Hardaway, in 1938, co-directed Porky's Hare Hunt, the first film to feature a rabbit. When this unnamed, embryonic rabbit was given a new model sheet for a later short, since, according to Chuck Jones, Hardaway "didn't draw it very well", designer Charlie Thorson inadvertently offered a permanent name by titling the model sheet "Bugs' Bunny" since it was meant for Hardaway's unit. By the time the rabbit was redesigned and refined for the film A Wild Hare, the name was already being used in relation to the character in studio publicity materials.
In 1940, Hardaway joined the staff of Walter Lantz Productions, where he helped Walter Lantz in creating the studio's most famous character, Woody Woodpecker. Hardaway wrote or co-wrote most of the stories for the 1940–1950 Woody Woodpecker shorts, as well as supplying Woody's voice between 1944 and 1949.
[biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]
Woody Woodpecker and Friends
Mel Blanc, Daws Butler
A compilation of ten classic Walter Lantz cartoons: Knock Knock (1940), The Bandmaster (1947), Ski for Two (1944), Hot Noon or 12 O'Clock for Surf (1953), The Legend of Rockabye Point (1955), Wet Blanket Policy (1948), To Catch a Woodpecker (1957), Musical Moments from Chopin (1946), Bats in the Belfry (1960), and Crazy Mixed Up Pup (1955). Also includes the interesting documentary short on Walter Lantz's career "Walter, Woody and the World of Animation". Note: This is NOT the 2007 and 2008 DVD collections titled "The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection" shown as the cover image.
Woody Woodpecker and Friends
Wild and Woody!
Dick Lundy
Mel Blanc, Ben Hardaway
Woody Woodpecker gallops into a wild western town, which can't keep a sheriff very long due to the notorious outlaw (and sheriff-killer) Buzz Buzzard. Woody volunteers for the position but barely has time to shine up his badge before Buzz rides in with intent to do harm to Sheriff Woody. But Woody has no intentions of allowing Buzz to follow through on his intents.
Wild and Woody!
The Reckless Driver
Shamus Culhane
Mel Blanc, Hans Conried
Driving down a U.S. highway, Woody passes a billboard which reminds him that he should renew his drivers' license. He heads to the department of motor vehicles and asks Officer Wally Walrus, who takes an immediate dislike to Woody, to give him the test. He puts Woody through the eye test, the reflex test, and the fingerprint test...with Woody constantly making short work of the walrus' patience.
The Reckless Driver
Who's Cookin Who?
Shamus Culhane
Will Wright, Mel Blanc
In this Walter Lantz Color Cartune---the correct house-name brand for the Woody's, and not Swing Symphony as some Keyworder seems to think---Woody, per usual, is sleeping and idling while the ants and grasshoppers are gathering food for the winter, and Woody even has a nightmare about it. He awakens, under a blanket of snow, to find that both Winter and a hungry wolf are knocking at his door. The wolf has intentions of eating Woody...but Woody also has the same thoughts regarding the wolf.
Who's Cookin Who?
Woody Dines Out
Shamus Culhane
Mel Blanc, Ben Hardaway
Woody Woodpecker goes out to dine and accidentally stumbles into a taxidermist's shop, thinking it is a restaurant. The taxidermist, wanting a woodpecker to stuff, doesn't inform Woody otherwise, and drugs the 'meal' he serves Woody. But, before he can stuff Woody, he comes to and knocks the literal stuffing out of the taxidermist.
Woody Dines Out
Smoked Hams
Dick Lundy
Ben Hardaway, Jack Mather
Wally Walrus is a day sleeper and requires daily rest while his neighbor in the adjacent apartment, Woody Woodpecker, is a night sleeper who does his chores during the day. Needless to say, Woody's noisy chores tend to keep the hapless Wally from getting any slumber particularly when he burns his leaves in the backyard, the smoke from the burning pile travelling into Wally's room eventually turning the pipes in his bed into a musical organ! But Wally gets the last laugh...
Smoked Hams
Pantry Panic
Walter Lantz
Mel Blanc, Ben Hardaway
Woody's friends warn him that the groundhog has predicted a blizzard. Unconcerned, Woody decides not to go South with his pals. Soon enough, the blizzard sweeps in and destroys the loony woodpecker's stash of food. Facing starvation, a glimmer of hope arrives in the form of a cat. The cat is also starving and it turns into a match of brawn and wits to see who eats who.
Pantry Panic
Ski For Two
Shamus Culhane
Mel Blanc, Hans Conried
Planning a vacation, Woody reads in the newspaper about Swiss Chard Lodge which promises lots of good food (which, as Woody says, is his "favorite dish"). He heads over to said lodge but, upon arriving, is told by owner Wally Walrus that he must make reservations ahead of time... which he has not. Wally throws the pest out but Woody is able to re-enter the premises disguised as none other than Santa Claus. He robs Wally of his food but, once alone with his sack, discovers quite a surprise inside.
Ski For Two
Chew-Chew Baby
Shamus Culhane
Mel Blanc, Ben Hardaway
Boarding house proprietor Wally Walrus takes out an ad in the local paper looking for a sweetheart. Woody reads this and decides he might be able to trick Wally out of some cooking if he dresses up like a girl and answers the ad.
Chew-Chew Baby
The Beach Nut
Shamus Culhane
Mel Blanc, Ben Hardaway
A crowd gathers at the beach to witness vacationer Wally Walrus thrashing Woody Woodpecker. Wally explains, in flashback, why he is trying to rid himself of Woody... it seems he went to the beach for his day off and, unfortunately, the obnoxious woodpecker had the same idea disrupting Wally's peace and quiet with his antics, even disguising himself as a swami to fool Wally into "finding" him. Back to the present, Wally concludes his story and hurls Woody into the ocean but not without bringing the entire dock down with him, sending Wally and the crowd into the drink themselves!
The Beach Nut
Woody the Giant Killer
Dick Lundy
Ben Hardaway, Harry Lang
Out of work, Woody complains about his not having any living quarters. A slick talking con man convinces him to buy some "magic beans" promising they will guarantee him a home. Sure enough, Woody climbs the resulting beanstalk and finds a huge castle at the top. Unfortunately, the castle is already occupied by a sleeping giant who Woody eventually outwits, turning his castle into a series of apartments with the giant as a bellboy and Woody as his manager.
Woody the Giant Killer
The Loose Nut
Shamus Culhane
Mel Blanc, Ben Hardaway
Woody Woodpecker goes to the park for a game of golf, and quickly gets at odds with some city-workers who are laying a cement walk. His hooks and slices keep landing into the wet cement. But he smooths everything out by putting a couple of cement-trowels on his feet, and gliding over the surface as if it was ice.
The Loose Nut
