''The Beach Nut'' is the 11th

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 subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

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 October 16, 1944, 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 ...

. The title is a play on " beech nut". Wally decides to go to the beach to relax for his day off, but is constantly disturbed by surfer Woody. Returning to the present, Wally ties Woody to an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

and hurls him into the ocean. The rope snags on the pier, demolishing first the pier and then the entire

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

. The cartoon ends with Woody swimming away toward the horizon, pursued by Wally, and both of them pursued by the other beachgoers.

Production notes

''The Beach Nut'' marked the debut of Woody Woodpecker's recurring

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

Wally Walrus Wally Walrus is an animated cartoon character who appeared in several films produced by Walter Lantz Productions in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He has also since appeared in various cartoon programs of more recent decades. History Wally is an ...

. Voiced by actor Jack Mather, Wally became Woody's primary rival until 1948, before being replaced with

Buzz Buzzard Buzz Buzzard is a fictional animated character who appeared in several films produced by Walter Lantz Productions in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. History Buzz is an anthropomorphic common buzzard and scammer making efforts to scam Woody W ...

in ''

Wet Blanket Policy ''Wet Blanket Policy'' is the 30th animated cartoon short subject in the ''Woody Woodpecker'' series. Released theatrically on August 27, 1948, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by United Artists. The film would l ...

''. Woody would lose more battles to Wally than any of his other opponents.

References

External links

*
''The Beach Nut''
at the

Big Cartoon Database The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beach Nut, The 1944 animated films Walter Lantz Productions shorts Woody Woodpecker films 1940s American animated films Universal Pictures animated short films Animated films about animals Films set on beaches 1944 films Films directed by James Culhane