THIS PRODUCTION CAME along when the Woody Woodpecker character was still in its embryonic stages. The woodpecker had not developed into what we consider his best and far before his being the victim of creator/producer Walter Lantz's preoccupation with having a "cute" Woody; instead of a truly funny and irreverent wise guy. (This latter stage happened to coincide with the Woodpecker's words being voiced by actress, Grace Stafford (Mrs. Lantz).THE ON SCREEN presentation of starvation and the struggles between a manic starving bird and an equally hunger driven cat is a hard backdrop for comedy presentation. After prolonged struggling, the two are shown finishing up a feast on a hapless moose; who just wandered into the story during this extended period of extremely arctic-like conditions.WE'RE OF THE opinion that the powers that be at Universal Pictures wanted Producer Lantz to come up with an answer to Leon Schlesinger's BUGS BUNNY over at Warner Brothers' LOONEY TUNES/MERRIE MELODIES. This is a status that would be achieved, if only for a short period, some several cartoons later.WOODY WOODPERCER at the time of PANTRY PANIC may have had the proper lunacy, but gave us precious little to identify and sympathize with.

Who do you think would be labeled "Weather Forecaster Extraordinary?" How about "Prof. Weatherby Groundhog!" Oh, man, cartoon writers sure loved corny puns back in the "old days." Usually, though, I think they are fun to read and hear.With a bulletin that cold weather is approaching, all the birds zip up their houses and leave in a hurry. Who's skeptical about the weather warning? Woody, of course. He's like one of these dumb people who get hurricane warnings but stay home....and then disaster hits.The birds warn him: you're going to freeze and have no food. Woody just laughs at them, but not for long. The temperature drops from about 80 to 130 degrees below zero! (Hey, even the cartoon makes fun of that nonsense.)Things get worse in a hurry as our obnoxious friend gets quickly humbled and winds up fighting it out with a cat - each wanting to cannibalize the other! Yeah, the humor becomes dark. On a lighter note, the village in this story is absolutely beautiful. This is colorful and very nice artwork.

I saw some Woody Woodpecker cartoons when I was really young, but never took to them like I did the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons. Now that I've seen "Pantry Panic" and am old enough to offer an analysis, I'll say that what it portrays doesn't look far off. Yes, it was probably intended as nothing more than a silly cartoon, as Woody and an unidentified cat try to devour each other. But the idea of being all cooped up during the winter? "The Shining" portrayed that (just imagine Woody doing what Jack Nicholson did). And because of the declining precipitation in the southwestern US, not only will there likely be water wars, but maybe food wars.But that's merely my interpretation. It's a pretty funny cartoon. Not clever in the sense of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies genre, but worth seeing.I never knew that Mel Blanc also did Woody's voice. And is it just me, or does the name "Woody Woodpecker" sound a little pornographic?

This short, also available on a great many public domain tapes under the alternate title of Pantry Panic, is proof that the difference between predator and prey is a matter of who is the hungriest. Entertaining but unexceptional. Fairly easy to find. Worth watching. Recommended if you like Woody.