Convict Concerto (1954)

Convict Concerto Review

Convict Concerto is a 1954 animated short film from the Woody Woodpecker series. It is a pretty great flick.

Woody Woodpecker is a piano player forced to play after a bank robber hides out in the piano and points a gun at him. This is one of those cartoons that focus on classical music to create a truly timeless piece of animation. There is lacking that energy and vigor of the similarly themed Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry shorts as more could have been done with this premise, but for the most part the movie is very strong and one of the better in the series for sure.

The animation is stellar, the score is naturally superb and the movie is particularly effective in its characterization. The dumb and incompetent policeman was quite amusing and the gangster was definitely very well voiced and quite memorable. Woody actually has a job here and the pressure that he is put under was so huge that it led to a different kind of story for him. The final sequence is bombastic in the best way possible.

Convict Concerto is a very good Woody Woodpecker short that benefits from a great mixing of classical music with animation. The characterization is superb here.

My Rating – 4.1