Wicket Wacky (1951)

Wicket Wacky Review

Wicket Wacky is a 1951 animated short film from the Woody Woodpecker series. It is a pretty fun flick.

Woody is playing croquet, but a gopher is there to interrupt and annoy him. I have just recently seen a Donald Duck cartoon starring a gopher, so this one came off not only as a coincidence, but also as unnecessary. Still, I preferred this short due to at least a couple of scenes that were so much fun.

The ending was wonderful. It is rare seeing a Woody Woodpecker short where he shows some humanity, so seeing him care for the wounded gopher and the other way around was so sweet. The gopher is cute himself and I liked Woody here quite a bit, but I did find most of the gags to be uninspired. Woody being silent is a trope from this period that I continue to dislike.

Wicket Wacky has a wonderful ending, but everything that came before that scene was subpar. It’s a solid, but familiar gopher-centered cartoon.

My Rating – 3.7