Witch Crafty (1955) - Woody Woodpecker Theatrical Cartoon Series

One of My Faves, and And the Best Post Hawkings Wo

Sue me for saying this, but I found a lot of Paul J. Smith's direction to be boring and "held-back" at best.

But then there's the exceptions, and Witch Crafty is one of them. This cartoon scores high in my book just for it's antagonist. For one reason or another slapstick subjects with female characters on the receiving end were a rare occurrence. For every Wild E. Coyotee, or Tom, there was never any female characters trying to catch w/e-or taking any anvils.

That's the essence of what makes this cartoon so great to me-it's doing something new. It's also one of Paul J Smith's creative high points-the gags in this were very great and Avery-esque (I love the one with the Woodchipper) and it was enjoyable seeing this witch fail after every attempt. It's a shame he didn't carry much of this over into his Meany shorts.