Greedy Gabby Gator (1963)

Storyline:

Greedy Gabby Gator 1963 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 As has been noted by the previous reviewer, whose thoughts on the cartoon pretty much sum up mine except to me Jack Hannahs Woody Woodpecker and Gabby Gator outings were enjoyable and well done, Greedy Gabby Gator signals Sid Marcus first and only time directing a Woody and Gabby cartoon and for Gabbys final appearance of six cartoons with Woody One can really see why in both cases Although the alligator wanting to eat Woody concept was starting to tire and get repetitive and silly by Woodys Kook Out, Jack Hannah did do a very good job with his Woody and Gabby outings, even with animation limitations and predictability Gabby was actually endearing and funny, Woody was closer to his original personality and his cartoons contained some of the funniest and best timed material of the late Woody Woodpecker cartoons Paul J Smiths Little Woody Riding Hood was a very mediocre take on a done to death in animation story, and was vastly inferior in timing and how the characters were written but the concept at least sort of made sense Something that is not the case with Marcus Greedy Gabby Gator As said, the concept was starting to show signs of tiring in Hannahs last couple of efforts but still just about worked In Little Woody Riding Hood, it did feel too silly and repetitive Here with Marcus in Greedy Gabby Gator, the concept and Gabby are completely stripped of everything that made them work with Hannah The concept here is now completely stupid and the only time to me where it didnt properly make sense, here it is a one joke concept that is not just stale but strained beyond breaking point It was stale in Little Woody Riding Hood and that should have been a sign of the Woody and Gabby series having run its course, this felt like a cartoon or two too far Gabby here is neither remotely amusing or endearing He was a silly character to begin with but he was also crafty If you thought that Little Woody Riding Hood went overboard on his dumbness, which it did, Greedy Gabby Gator goes even more so Silliness is replaced by truly inept dumbness and it doesnt even try to include his crafty side or anything that would make one endear to him, here Gabby is just irritating Unfortunately, Woody is not much better He is far too toned down and subdued in Greedy Gabby Gator, nothing manic here and even his wit and craftiness lacks energy He also comes over as naive and stupid, usually he is none of those things even in his previous Gabby outings he is much cleverer and alert than here and it was hard to buy him not initially latching on to Gabbys blatantly obvious scheming The two together dont gel here, the comic timing is far too weak and the concept doesnt make sense here to make it work Execution of the thin story is bland and repetitive, every single moment can be seen from the very beginning, and energy wise its very routine, rather than the original manic energy That Woody and Gabby are both under characterised and their chemistry has been much stronger elsewhere undermines the conflict, and its very much unfunny throughout, with lacklustre timing, nowhere enough laughs and less than witty, witless is more apt, gags Just as problematic is the animation quality Time and budget constraints shows in the animation, which is very rushed looking in the drawing and detail wise its on the simplistic and careless side like many of Woodys cartoons from this period continuing through to the 60s Colours are pretty garish and flat, with sporadic like a couple touches of vibrancy Despite how damning this sounds, Greedy Gabby Gator has a few good points The music is bouncy, energetic and very lushly orchestrated, not only synchronising and fitting with the action very well but enhancing it Voice acting is good from both Grace Stafford and Daws Butler, all things considering A couple moments of nice colour Otherwise, the final Woody and Gabby pairing is also their worst and proof that an initially promising set of cartoons had run its course and went on too long 310 Bethany Cox