Wolfninjajedi Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) Clearly the stellar box office grosses for Despicable Me 2 are having an effect on Universal's future animation plans. Veteran animator Bill Kopp (Eek! The Cat, Schnookums and Meat, Dan Vs., etc) has just announced on his Facebook page that he has been tapped to revive Woody Woodpecker for Universal Pictures. "It's official folks. Universal Pictures has hired me to put the Woody back in the Woodpecker! Hooray!! There will be 3 stories woven together into a feature length cartoon - plus a 6-7 minute short that we will put into theaters hopefully." Walter Lantz originally produced Woody Woodpecker in theatrical shorts for Universal (and one season for United Artists) between 1940 and 1972. The character made a cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and starred in Fox Kid's The New Woody Woodpecker Show in 1999. The character has long been a mascot at the Universal theme parks. A new Woody Woodpecker feature was first announced two years ago by Illumination Entertainment, then developing the film with co-writers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky - who were planning to "modernize the character for contemporary audiences". Kopp has vowed on Facebook to return Woody to his original and proper insanity. It sounds like the Woodpecker revival is finally on the right track. Source I posted this elsewhere on a site, figured I see if there are any other Woody Woodpecker fans here? That post is rather recent and before that there was talk of him getting a movie still, so it seems likely. I'm rather glad that Universal is doing this, putting their mascot on the big screen in a movie for good or bad(which is subjective). Edited May 29, 2014 by Wolfninjajedi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellenvardos Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 This is one of those things I would never have brought up on my own ,but, yeah, he was my favorite when I was a kid. I'm in a bit of a bind right now. My daughter is too old to take to the cinema as an excuse to see a cartoon, but too young to make me a grandfather. Might have to swallow my pride for this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfninjajedi Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 This is one of those things I would never have brought up on my own ,but, yeah, he was my favorite when I was a kid. I'm in a bit of a bind right now. My daughter is too old to take to the cinema as an excuse to see a cartoon, but too young to make me a grandfather. Might have to swallow my pride for this one. Hey now, cartoons are not only for kids. I mean certainly the Golden Age cartoons could be watched and enjoyed by anyone, so no shame if ya see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellenvardos Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Oh, I know. I just don't like to go to the cinema alone. Animated movies especially are more fun to see with kids. The Universal animations never got the cultural traction that Disney and Warner did, and I think that's a shame. Hopefully this era will give those characters a second chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfninjajedi Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Oh, I know. I just don't like to go to the cinema alone. Animated movies especially are more fun to see with kids. The Universal animations never got the cultural traction that Disney and Warner did, and I think that's a shame. Hopefully this era will give those characters a second chance. Ah I see...and true, though Universal has made some great animated stuff over the years. But yeah..we shall see how it all comes together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNahash Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 This is what happens when you combine the studios' desire to make easy money by capitalizing on people's memories, running out of originality and coming up with the worst possible idea. There are tv shows (both animated and live action) of the past that could actually be better in a modern day version that would benefit from new technologies.Woody Woodpecker is, sadly, not one of them. This, to me, is disgraceful.Woody belongs in a different era. It was funny when it aired but today's children are not us or our fathers. They laugh with different things and need new heroes to look up to. And Woody was always just a quirky woodpecker with a weird laughter at the end of each episode. There is virtually no reason for them to bring him back except to take advantage of his name.I just hope they don't screw it up that bad, that it leaves a bad taste in both our children's and our mouths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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