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. While toned down compared to his early years, when he was a manic pest (there's not enough of that here), he is likable enough and he is charismatic and at times amusing. Knothead and Splinter are cute characters without being cloying. With that being said, 'International Woodpecker' had an intriguing premise that was very different for Woody Woodpecker, but didn't do enough with it.
'International Woodpecker's' best asset is the music. It is bouncy, energetic and very lushly orchestrated, not only synchronising and fitting with the action very well but enhancing it. The locations are colourful and really fun to watch and spot, there's lots of them and they are more memorable than the gags (of which a couple are mildly amusing).
Enjoyed Woody's interaction with Knothead and Splinter and their sweet, but not too cutesy scenes together that break things up nicely. The voice acting is solid.
On the other hand, 'International Woodpecker' does suffer from weak animation quality, time and budget constraints started to show around this period. The drawing lacks refinement, the detail is static and simplistic and the colours are sometimes vibrant but often flat. The Tower of Pisa scene was one of the worst examples, though it was tolerable in the Woody, Knothead and Splinter scenes.
Very few of the gags are memorable, let alone funny. Timing can be limp and the thin story is episodically written and is crowded with many gags and locations but not exploring them enough. As fun as it is to have as many of these as possible if done right, the cartoon would have benefited from more of a less is more approach.
Lastly, the ending is a strange, random one and doesn't really fit with the rest of the cartoon.
To conclude, watchable but could have done much more with an intriguing premise, that for a Woody Woodpecker cartoon was a pretty creative one but executed less than creatively. 5/10 Bethany Cox
