Pantry Panic

Pantry Panic (originally titled What's Cookin'?[1][2]) is the third animated cartoon short in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on November 24, 1941, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.[3]

Pantry Panic
Directed byWalter Lantz
Produced byWalter Lantz
Story byBen Hardaway
L.E. Elliott
StarringDanny Webb
Sara Berner
Bernice Hansen
Jack Mercer
Pinto Colvig
Mel Blanc
Music byDarrell Calker
Animation byArtists:
Alex Lovy
Lester Kline
LaVerne Harding (uncredited)
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • November 24, 1941 (1941-11-24)
Running time
6' 55"
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Woody stays behind to swim while the other birds in the forest migrate south for the winter. Just after the other birds leave, the cold of winter sets in instantly, to the point that Woody's swimming hole freezes solid after he jumps in ("Must be hard water", he remarks). Woody does not worry, because he has stored up plenty of food. However, a snow storm enters his house and makes off with all of his possessions, food included.

Two weeks later, Woody is delusional and literally staring starvation, personified as something vaguely resembling the Grim Reaper, in the face. A month later, a hungry cat happens upon Woody's cabin, and conspires to eat the woodpecker. The famished Woody, however, plans just as quickly to eat the cat, and the two have at it. Eventually a moose appears at Woody's open door, and the starving cat and woodpecker chase after it to capture and eat it. Afterwards, however, the meal proves not to be enough to satisfy both Woody (whose voice is suddenly much different) and the cat, who instantly resume their game of trying to eat each other.

Voices

Danny Webb was the voice of Woody Woodpecker;[4] Korny Kat and the Moose, and bird voices were likely done by Sara Berner, Bernice Hansen, Jack Mercer, Pinto Colvig, and Mel Blanc.[5][6]

Production notes

Like most of the early 1940s Lantz cartoons, Pantry Panic carried no director's credit. Lantz himself has claimed to have directed this cartoon, which features animation by Alex Lovy and LaVerne Harding, a story by Ben Hardaway and Lowell Elliott, and music by Darrell Calker.

Pantry Panic was the third cartoon in the Woody Woodpecker series, featuring an early, garish Woody Woodpecker design. It was the first short with Danny Webb as Woody's voice. However, the woodpecker's famous laugh (provided by Mel Blanc) would continue to be recycled until 1951, when Grace Stafford rerecorded a softer version. Woody's "Guess Who?" (also Blanc), however, would continue to be used in the opening titles until the end of the series in 1972.[7]

Pantry Panic would be reworked in 1946 as Who's Cookin' Who?. The starvation personification would also reappear in the remake as well as 1951's The Redwood Sap. As of 2020, this entry is the only Woody Woodpecker cartoon in the public domain. As such, it is freely distributed, and can be downloaded from the Internet Archive and seen on YouTube.

References
  1. Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New American Library. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-452-25993-5. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. Lenburg, Jeff (1983). The great cartoon directors. McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-89950-036-2. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
  4. "Pantry Panic (1941) - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  5. "Pantry Panic (Film, Cartoon): Reviews, Ratings, Cast and Crew - Rate Your Music". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  6. DataBase, The Big Cartoon. "Pantry Panic (Walter Lantz Productions)". Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB). Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  7. Cooke, Jon, Komorowski, Thad, Shakarian, Pietro, and Tatay, Jack. "1941". The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia
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