![]() ![]() How do you bring an old character back into the mainstream? The answer used to be, “throw a ton of money around.” The answer may now be, “run a trial and see how it goes.” Thanks to advancements in technology, that’s possible. The movie might be best understood as a reboot beta test or as a trial balloon. will be looking at proof that the character still has legs (or wings or what have you). If it rises up the on-demand charts, Warner Bros. If it made zero dollars it would have been a minor right down - not even worth mentioning for a studio head. Sure, the two films will have very different ROIs, but Woody Woodpecker will represent small win created without much risk. Compare that to the $125 million that went into Boss Baby. The movie cost roughly $10 million to make. A decade ago, making a live-action movie with an animated main character was debilitatingly expensive. Why return now? The most plausible answer is margins. ![]() This did not work and Woody more or less retired to drink grub-garnished martinis. foolishly tried to revamp the wild and crazy bird as a mild-mannered protagonist trying his best to do good in the world. While his animated contemporaries, including the Looney Tunes and the Disney menagerie, were able to remain relevant, Woody had wandered off into the wilderness by the late 1970s. Yet Woody faded from the public consciousness. The character first began to appear in cartoons in the late 1930s and his distinct voice (and laugh) along with his slightly unhinged, screwball sensibilities quickly made him popular with kids. Sure, he may never have been on the level of transcendent legends like Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse but he was a prominent and beloved figure in the Golden Age of animation. Historically, there’s little debate over the fact that Woody Woodpecker is an icon in animation. Ironically, Woody Woodpecker is indicative of the fact that the next big thing might actually be small projects. He’s basically Edward Abbey with ADHD and that kinda works.īut why is Woody Woodpecker making his cinematic comeback in a direct-to-DVD live-action movie ( a modest hit in Brazil!) that won’t garner much attention? The answer seems to have a lot to do with the character’s history and with, well, money. ![]() Still, Woody Woodpecker has a solid message about conservation and brings Woody back to his roots as a havoc-wreaking weirdo. As is the case with most middling kid’s movies, Woody Woodpecker relies less on plot than on lazy slapstick and phoned-in performances from human actors. ![]() The film tells the story of a greedy businessman who threatens to destroy the Pinegrove Forest of Pennsylvania because he believes that “big projects are the next big thing.” The only woodland creature standing in his way? Our titular hero, a fast-talking, mischievous woodpecker who teams up with the businessman’s son to help melt dad’s cold heart and save the forest. What the movie might be is broadly indicative of the direction children’s entertainment could be taking as the production of CGI-intensive movies that would have once commanded Space Jam-level budgets becomes significantly easier. It’s by-the-numbers and slight, but funny in places and not as annoying as it could be (what with the catchphrase and all) or demonstrably worse than, say, the Emoji Movie. That fact is especially given that Woody Woodpecker is not an especially bad movie. In the age of overhyped reboots, Woody got minimum attention and basically no ink. just quietly released a very loud, live-action Woody Woodpecker movie on DVD and on-demand after what may have been the most subtle marketing campaign in the history of children’s entertainment. ![]()
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