Ration Bored (1943) Poster

(1943)

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7/10
This is the fifth of six introductions by "Host" . . .
pixrox15 June 2023
. . . Walter L-a-n-t-z, Woody Woodpecker's co-creator, producer, sometimes director and sometimes animator, to be included as a bonus feature on Disc 2 of "The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Cartoon Collection," 2007. Dapper Walter uses animation clips and archival stills to trace the development of Woody from being a fully-feathered large wild bird with three toes into the much smaller, "streamlined," cuter, two-toed character with arms instead of wings, human hands and less flashing of the (human-like) teeth. Woody's original legs were more suited to tables than flying avian creatures, and his feathers were depicted in total disarray during his early days. Later Woody cleaned up his act.
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7/10
This horror flick documents the sort of Public Enemies . . .
pixrox117 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
. . . prolonging America's fight during World War Two, sabotaging the "Home Front" and making the use of atomic bombs necessary to win the war against the original Axis of Evil. A saboteur called "Woody" opens this picture by staring at a billboard commonly seen then in Real Life asking "Is this trip REALLY necessary?" to which this malignant miscreant replies, "Yup, I'm a Necessary Evil." During the remainder of this film, the animators do a good job of proving this to be an understatement, as Lucifer's minion fritters away precious gasoline driving around his gas hog sports car aimlessly, siphoning petrol from a police car, blowing up the law enforcement vehicle, destroying a battalion worth of Jeep tires and ultimately killing a cop. The filmmakers conclude by arguing that the Death Penalty is fitting for such sociopath selfish traitors content to make America lose the war.
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8/10
Rations with Woody Woodpecker
TheLittleSongbird9 July 2017
Was very fond of Woody Woodpecker and his cartoons as a child. Still get much enjoyment out of them now as a young adult, even if there are more interesting in personality cartoon characters and better overall cartoons.

That is in no way knocking Woody, because many of his cartoons are a lot of fun to watch and more and also still like him a lot as a character. Of the cartoons from his scene-stealing supporting appearance in the Andy Panda cartoon 'Knock Knock' to this, 'Ration Bored' is not one of his best and is not one of his best overall, but it's very entertaining but a lot of what is appealing about Woody and his cartoons is here.

'Ration Bored' does have more of a patriotic tone, and, while it's done well and was a very important subject back then it seemed very odd to have it in a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Cartoons known for their increasingly manic energy, the more patriotic tone the 'Ration Bored' sometimes didn't seem to fit. Despite some great lines, it is once the bulldog police officer shows up when 'Ration Bored' properly picks up and it becomes more like the Woody Woodpecker that we're familiar with.

As said many times, while there may be cartoon characters with slightly more interesting personalities and not as one-note early on, Woody is still at his best incredibly funny, never obnoxious and very lovable self, summing him up in one word it would be wonderfully nuts. His personality traits are well established and are unmistakably recognisable. The police officer is a great opponent and they play off each other well.

In 'Ration Bored', as with many Woody Woodpecker cartoons, the animation is great. Woody's character design and physicality have changed/evolved for the better. Even more impressive are the rich and vibrant colours, the meticulously detailed backgrounds and the quite smooth drawing.

Another standout quality is the music. It's characterful, lushly orchestrated and is not only dynamic with the action it even enhances it. The writing is suitably witty and raises a number of chuckles. the gags are razor-sharp in timing and often hilarious Voice acting is solid.

Overall, solid Woody Woodpecker cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox
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