The Mad Hatter (film)

The Mad Hatter is the 26th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on February 16, 1948, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by United Artists.[1]

The Mad Hatter
Directed byDick Lundy
Produced byWalter Lantz
Story byBen Hardaway
Webb Smith
StarringJack Mather
Ben Hardaway
Music byDarrell Calker
Animation byKen O'Brien
Fred Moore
LaVerne Harding
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Universal Pictures (reissue)
Release date
  • February 16, 1948 (1948-02-16) (U.S.)
Running time
6' 43"
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Woody Woodpecker, dreaming of becoming a great screen lover, is awakened by a telegram from the studio telling him to come to work. His screen test starts at 9 a.m., and he must be wearing a top hat. The months have wrecked Woody's hat, so he has to buy a new one. Wally Walrus, proprietor of a hat store, makes a stubborn hat stay on Woody's head by screwing it on. An electric fan, however, soon blows the ornery hat off, and it lands on a frog. In trying to get the hat away from the frog, Woody becomes involved with a bucket and a goose. He fastens a skyrocket onto the goose to get it out of his hat, but he goes up into the sky himself. He arrives at his new job by crashing through the roof, and he's fired immediately. He throws the hat away, but it boomerangs and knocks him out. Woody's dream of fame as a great screen lover ends with a spat with his dream glamour girl.

Notes
  • The Mad Hatter was the first Woody Woodpecker short distributed by United Artists. Walter Lantz was not fond of his arrangement with the distributor, and went back to Universal in 1951 (although it would be known as Universal International until 1963).[2]
  • The Mad Hatter features a modified version of the 1944 opening title; Woody now pops from a tree instead of a log. The re-orchestration of the 1944 theme has the first bars speeded up.
  • Woody's feathers are now a brighter blue color.
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References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
  2. Cooke, Jon, Komorowski, Thad, Shakarian, Pietro, and Tatay, Jack. "1948 Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine". The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia


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