With virtually every other franchise dragged out of the studio vault and dusted off for a makeover in the last few years, it’s almost surprising nobody’s made a concerted effort to bring Woody Woodpecker to the big screen before. However Universal, which bought the character back in 1985, is going to have a go and has teamed up with Despicable Me makers, Illumination Entertainment, to try and make it a reality.
THR reports that John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, who co-wrote Will Ferrell’s Blade Of Glory, have been hired to come up with the story of the film. The duo have animation pedigree, as they both worked on TV’s King Of The Hill and also had a crack at the long-gestating film version of The Jetsons.
It’s not clear whether the idea is to make a fully CGI movie or if it’ll be a hybrid mix (or even whether they’ve decided that yet). The rather anarachic woodpecker could make for a fun film, although whether younger audiences know about him isn’t clear. That didn’t stop Alvin & The Chipmunks conquering the cinemas though, so shouldn’t prove a problem for Woody.
Created by Walter Lantz, Woody Woodpecker first appeared on screen in 1940, initially in a series of cinema short, before making his way onto TV in the 50s.