WOODY--THE WORST

I'm of the age when I used to go to the movies they didn't show commercials, they didn't show lengthy previews, they didn't show what they shouldn't show, but they did show a cartoon or even two before the feature presentation. Also I can remember the news clips that they showed prior to the movie.

I always wondered why the adults laughed out loud at the cartoons. They weren't any funnier on the big screen. Until The Simpsons came around, adults didn't much like cartoons. Maybe a Rocky and Bullwinkle fan here and there, but mostly cartoons were left to kids. Until the grown ups got to the movies.

I like Rocky and The Simpsons. But not much else. The animation is not as good to me as in the old Disney days. The cartoon plots neither. But you couldn't ever really identify me as one who liked cartoons or comic books.

But the one I really didn't like was Woody the Woodpecker. What an annoying guy. All he did was peck and laugh. That's it. He annoyed others, too, who wanted to kill him. And that was the cartoon.

I'm reminded of two friends of mine who nearly parted their ways over a woodpecker. He'd been poking holes in his cedar siding. Ron caught him with a rat trap after repeated efforts to shoo him out. He happily revealed his catch to the anger of Lucy, an animal lover. She was really upset and informed him of other actions he could have taken to get rid of his nemesis, all taking a lot of effort. They never resolved their differences, but remained cordial to each other.

I like woodpeckers, but I probably sided with Ron. I mean that guy was doing some damage. Or maybe, I just picture Woody in the throes of the trap.