Operation Sawdust

This is a better than usual Woody Woodpecker from director Don Patterson as Woody and the buzzard -- playing lumberjacks somewhere or other -- go at each other, starting with a good slapstick over flapjacks -- Woody never had enough to eat -- and escalating, in best cartoon fashion, to dynamite.

Given Patterson's usual lackluster indifference to weapons of mass destruction, I attribute the majority of the brightness of this short to writer Homer Brightman, who seems to have a hand in the better Woody Woodpeckers of the mid-fifties. Also, the backgrounding on this is less simplistic than on some of the others issued the same year. That always helps.

Why was Wally Walrus relegated to five seconds of screen time and one gag as the cook? Equal time for walruses!

. . . Col. K.'s final words from APOCALYPSE NOW: "The horror! The horror!!" However, young tykes likely will find it far more disturbing to watch an unhinged, runaway giant circular saw blade slice Buzz Buzzard in half than they would suffer through regarding anything the wacky colonel does to a cow during his stay in Vietnam's heart of darkness. As horrible as the vivisection of Buzz is, there are several other outrageous incidents of ultra violence that compete for the dubious distinction of being the worst moment of OPERATION SAWDUST. For instance, when Woody's explosives cause an ax handle to replace Buzz's head at the top of his neck, the image is pretty gross. Then there are a half dozen dinner table happenings sure to gag any maggot lacking a strong stomach. Is screening OPERATION SAWDUST for your young ones tantamount to child abuse? Decide for yourself.

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 never comes over too much of a jerk. Buzz, his personality getting stronger all the time and his chemistry with Woody more inspired, is a formidable and entertaining opponent, the comic timing from both is great.

My only complaint with 'Operation Sawdust' is the severe underusing of Wally. He is a great character and deserved much better than being barely in it.

As ever, the animation is great. 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. The whole cartoon goes at a snappy pace, especially in the second half, and there are some very well-timed and extremely funny gags.

In summary, great and near-quintessential Woody and Buzz. 9/10 Bethany Cox