TheLittleSongbird
Was very fond of Woody Woodpecker and his cartoons as a child. Still get much enjoyment out of them now as a young adult, even if there are more interesting in personality cartoon characters and better overall cartoons.That is in no way knocking Woody, because many of his cartoons are a lot of fun to watch and more and also still like him a lot as a character. As has been noted by the previous reviewer, whose thoughts on the cartoon pretty much sum up mine except to me Jack Hannah's Woody Woodpecker and Gabby Gator outings were enjoyable and well done, 'Greedy Gabby Gator' signals Sid Marcus' first and only time directing a Woody and Gabby cartoon and for Gabby's final appearance of six cartoons with Woody. One can really see why in both cases.Although the alligator wanting to eat Woody concept was starting to tire and get repetitive and silly by 'Woody's Kook-Out', Jack Hannah did do a very good job with his Woody and Gabby outings, even with animation limitations and predictability Gabby was actually endearing and funny, Woody was closer to his original personality and his cartoons contained some of the funniest and best-timed material of the late Woody Woodpecker cartoons. Paul J. Smith's 'Little Woody Riding Hood' was a very mediocre take on a done-to-death-in-animation story, and was vastly inferior in timing and how the characters were written but the concept at least sort of made sense.Something that is not the case with Marcus' 'Greedy Gabby Gator'. As said, the concept was starting to show signs of tiring in Hannah's last couple of efforts but still just about worked. In 'Little Woody Riding Hood', it did feel too silly and repetitive. Here with Marcus in 'Greedy Gabby Gator', the concept and Gabby are completely stripped of everything that made them work with Hannah. The concept here is now completely stupid and the only time to me where it didn't properly make sense, here it is a one-joke concept that is not just stale but strained beyond breaking point. It was stale in 'Little Woody Riding Hood' and that should have been a sign of the Woody and Gabby series having run its course, this felt like a cartoon or two too far.Gabby here is neither remotely amusing or endearing. He was a silly character to begin with but he was also crafty. If you thought that 'Little Woody Riding Hood' went overboard on his dumbness, which it did, 'Greedy Gabby Gator' goes even more so. Silliness is replaced by truly inept dumbness and it doesn't even try to include his crafty side or anything that would make one endear to him, here Gabby is just irritating.Unfortunately, Woody is not much better. He is far too toned down and subdued in 'Greedy Gabby Gator', nothing manic here and even his wit and craftiness lacks energy. He also comes over as naïve and stupid, usually he is none of those things (even in his previous Gabby outings he is much cleverer and alert than here) and it was hard to buy him not initially latching on to Gabby's blatantly obvious scheming. The two together don't gel here, the comic timing is far too weak and the concept doesn't make sense here to make it work.Execution of the thin story is bland and repetitive, every single moment can be seen from the very beginning, and energy-wise it's very routine, rather than the original manic energy. That Woody and Gabby are both under-characterised and their chemistry has been much stronger elsewhere undermines the conflict, and it's very much unfunny throughout, with lacklustre timing, nowhere enough laughs and less than witty, witless is more apt, gags.Just as problematic is the animation quality. Time and budget constraints shows in the animation, which is very rushed looking in the drawing and detail wise it's on the simplistic and careless side like many of Woody's cartoons from this period continuing through to the 60s. Colours are pretty garish and flat, with sporadic (like a couple) touches of vibrancy.Despite how damning this sounds, 'Greedy Gabby Gator' has a few good points.The music is bouncy, energetic and very lushly orchestrated, not only synchronising and fitting with the action very well but enhancing it.Voice acting is good from both Grace Stafford and Daws Butler, all things considering. A couple moments of nice colour.Otherwise, the final Woody and Gabby pairing is also their worst and proof that an initially promising set of cartoons had run its course and went on too long. 3/10 Bethany Cox
tavm
This cartoon marked the last time Gabby Gator appeared in a Woody Woodpecker cartoon and the only time he was directed by Sid Marcus, Gator being a creation of the departed Jack Hannah. It's basically another of Gabby's useless pursuits of Woody for food. Seeing Woody getting sick and viewing a 3-D image of Gabby's finger-pointing is fascinating for a few seconds but otherwise it's just a witless series of tricks of Woody thinking he's having a bath while he's really being cooked. And seeing a crocodile constantly trying to eat Gabby makes absolutely no sense. Greedy Gabby Gator is only recommended for Walter Lantz completists.
