The Screwball
The Screwball is the seventh animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on February 15, 1943, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.[1]
| The Screwball | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Alex Lovy |
| Produced by | Walter Lantz |
| Story by | Ben Hardaway Milt Schaffer |
| Starring | Kent Rogers Harold Peary |
| Music by | Darrell Calker |
| Animation by | LaVerne Harding |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 6' 50" |
| Language | English |
Plot
A local crowd gathers at a baseball park for a game between the Droops and the Drips. A policeman (voiced by Harold Peary, even doing his signature laugh from The Great Gildersleeve) stands at the park entrance discouraging spectators who have not paid to see the game by poking their eyes. Woody notices that kids returning baseballs can get in for free, so he tosses the cop a cannonball and enters the park.
Woody tries to watch the game but is discovered by the officer. He escapes by shaking a soda pop bottle and spraying it into his adversary's face, adding "No stopper, Copper!"
Woody joins the game as the pitcher for the Drips. When he is up to bat, he causes so much trouble that the entire team chases him along the baselines while the policeman waits for him at home plate. He escapes by pecking his way through a barrage of baseball bats. However, instead of getting away with it, Woody ends up being assaulted with a barrage of baseballs as soon as he pops out of the park's scoreboard.
Production notes
- The Screwball is set at a baseball park. It would also the last onscreen credit for director/animator Alex Lovy on a Woody cartoon for 12 years. He would direct one more entry (The Dizzy Acrobat) before departing the studio.
- This is one of the few Woody Woodpecker cartoons in which Woody loses at the end. The other shorts in which Woody loses include The Cracked Nut, Banquet Busters, Smoked Hams, Real Gone Woody, Woody's Clip Joint, A Fine Feathered Frenzy, Tepee for Two, Well Oiled, Ace in the Hole, Busman's Holiday, Bye Bye Blackboard, The Tenant's Racket, Rough Riding Hood, Chili Con Corny, Ski for Two, Knock Knock, The Dizzy Acrobat, What's Sweepin', The Coo Coo Bird, The Barber of Seville, Solid Ivory, and The Beach Nut.
Cultural references
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" can be heard in the background score during the establishing shot of the baseball park. The music is used sporadically throughout the film.
References
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.