[music]
>> John Forsythe: No form of art will provoke a child's laughter more quickly than the antics of a favorite cartoon character.
One of the most enduring duos in animation history is a raucous bird whose call is
familiar to grandparents and grandchildren alike Woody Woodpecker and his creator Walter Lantz.
>> Walter Lantz: In 1940, I got the crazy idea for for a woodpecker... and produced thought producing Woody Woodpecker
and he's been going ever since he's now 50 years, old my wife Gracie did his voice for 40 years.
Gracie and I had a cottage up at Sherwood Lake, which is near here and one morning I was I'd
hear the woodpecker pecking on the roof. So Gracie said, "Well Walter, why don't you animate a woodpecker
you might as well rabbit, Andy Panda and other characters but no one has ever done a woodpecker."
I thought I'd try it out and I produced a picture with them and sent it back to Universal, and they
said Walter you're out of your mind. Woodpecker will never go. I said well let's try it out.
Put in the theaters and see what will happen. So they did and the first Woody Woodpecker was
in the picture with Andy Panda and the picture was a smash. It got a lot of laughs and Universal
realized that they had something different to something new and asked me if i would produce a
series of Woody Woodpeckers which, I did and that was 50 years ago and he's still very much alive.
[music]
>> John Forsythe: Fievel's Playland is a mouse-sized amusement park but it's just right for human-sized kids,
and they are more than welcome to join Fievel and his friends in Tin Can Alley.
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>> Theatre Narrator: They came from many lands with hope in their hearts for a brighter tomorrow.
>> John: Fievel and company take to the stage in the American Tales show, based on one of the most popular animated films ever made.
It's a musical gala celebrating the Mousekewitz family's arrival in a new world of freedom... America.
[music]
>> Fievel: And we won't have to worry about cats again.
♪♪ But there are no cats in America ♪♪
♪♪ and the streets are paved with cheese ♪♪
♪♪ oh, there are no cats in America, so your mind at ease ♪♪
[cat meow]
♪♪ Somewhere out there ♪♪
♪♪ if love can see us through, we'll see us through ♪♪
♪♪ we'll find one another ♪♪
♪♪ then we'll be together ♪♪
♪♪ Somewhere out there ♪♪
♪♪ Out where dreams come true ♪♪
[applause] >> Thanks for coming everybody.
>> John The fractured fantasies of Frostbite Falls have a new home right here, Wowmoose Chinese Theater.
Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha and all their friends are the stars.
>> Rocky: And now here's something I hope really like.
>> Bullwinkle: As you can see... nothing up my sleeve, unless you count my arms, of course. Abracadabra, hokus-pokus, bubba conunsh.
hmm... no rabbit. Oh well, the shoe must go on.
>> Rocky: Yeah, but it's not even your size.
>> Bullwinkle: Okay Mr. Rabbit, come to papa... here we go.
Humm, here wait. I got something, definitely nope.
Boy, somebody's gonna get a bang out of this.
[music]
uh oh
[explode sound effects]
>> Theatre Narrator: Oh be sure to join us next time for aggregate aggravation or someday my prince will come.
[music]
[wind howling]