''Pantry Panic'' is the third

animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

in the ''

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lan ...

'' series. Released theatrically on November 24, 1941, the film was produced by

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1972 and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Studios. The studio was originally formed as Universal Cartoon Studios on the initiative o ...

and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. This is the only cartoon of when Woody doesn't say "Guess Who?", although his trademark laugh is still present.

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. 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 Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...

, 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 duel. 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 and the cat, who instantly resume their game of trying to eat each other.

Voice cast

* Danny Webb as Woody Woodpecker, Korny Kat, and Moose **

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

as Woody Woodpecker (some lines) * Margaret McKay as Birds * Marjorie Tarlton as Birds *

Kent Rogers Kent Byron Rogers (July 31, 1923 – July 9, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in several live-action features and shorts, and a voice actor for Warner Bros. Cartoons and Walter Lantz Productions. Career For Warner Bros. Cartoons, R ...

as Woody Woodpecker (one line), Birds

Production notes

Like most of early 1940s Lantz cartoons, ''Pantry Panic'' carried no director's credit. Lantz himself has claimed to have directed this cartoon. ''Pantry Panic'' was the third cartoon in the Woody Woodpecker series, featuring an early, garish Woody Woodpecker design. It was the only short with Danny Webb as Woody's voice (and also the last short to feature

since Blanc had recorded Woody's earliest dialogue before he got an exclusive contract to do voice work for cartoons solely for

Leon Schlesinger Productions Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

). However, the woodpecker's laugh (provided by

) would continue to be recycled until 1951, when

Grace Stafford Grace Lantz ( Boyle, November 7, 1903 – March 17, 1992), also known by her stage name Grace Stafford, was an American actress and the wife of animation producer Walter Lantz. Stafford is best known for providing the voice of Woody Woodpecker, ...

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.Cooke, Jon, Komorowski, Thad, Shakarian, Pietro, and Tatay, Jack.
1941
". ''The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia'' ''Pantry Panic'' was 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 2021, this entry is the only ''Woody Woodpecker'' cartoon in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. As such, it is freely distributed, and can be downloaded from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

and seen on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

References

External links

Watch ''Pantry Panic'' in fully restored HD on YouTube
* * {{BCDB title, 5196 1941 short films 1941 comedy films Films directed by Walter Lantz Walter Lantz Productions shorts Woody Woodpecker films 1940s American animated films Articles containing video clips Universal Pictures short films Universal Pictures animated short films Animated films about animals Animated films about birds 1941 animated films American comedy short films 1940s English-language films American animated short films