Woody and an artist compete to see who can win a prize for the best painting of a desert flower. The competition quickly escalates into violence.
This very good Woody Woodpecker movie dates from the period when Tex Avery was a refugee at the Lantz studio and it looks like this one shows his influence in the pattern of rising attacks that Woody and the painter engage in. There are also a number of "paint them and they become real gags" of the type that Avery enjoyed doing, although that could simply be a matter of matching the gags to the story.
Let us put aside any speculation of Avery's involvement. The director of this one is Paul J. Smith. He entered the industry in the 1920s, working for Disney on the Alice comedies; went with Harman-Ising following the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Mintz; worked for a few years for Schlesinger -- like many in the cartooning industry, he was a nomad. Then in 1943 he went to Lantz, first as an animator and then, beginning in 1953, as a director. He was still there in 1972 when the boss closed down the studio.
This very good Woody Woodpecker movie dates from the period when Tex Avery was a refugee at the Lantz studio and it looks like this one shows his influence in the pattern of rising attacks that Woody and the painter engage in. There are also a number of "paint them and they become real gags" of the type that Avery enjoyed doing, although that could simply be a matter of matching the gags to the story.
Let us put aside any speculation of Avery's involvement. The director of this one is Paul J. Smith. He entered the industry in the 1920s, working for Disney on the Alice comedies; went with Harman-Ising following the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Mintz; worked for a few years for Schlesinger -- like many in the cartooning industry, he was a nomad. Then in 1943 he went to Lantz, first as an animator and then, beginning in 1953, as a director. He was still there in 1972 when the boss closed down the studio.