Hi-Rise Wise Guys

Hi-Rise Wise Guys is the 178th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on August 1, 1970, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal International.^[1]

Summary

The cartoon starts with Woody Woodpecker sleeping peacefully in a treetop until the sound of a jackhammer disturbs him. He tries to cover his ears, but the noise gets louder. Fed up, he decides to go down to see what's happening. Woody notices a sign that says a high-rise skyscraper is going to be built at this location. Woody goes into an elevator and comes face to face with one of the workers, whose name is Jack Hammer. Jack Hammer then removes Woody from the location. Woody goes back and pecks Jack's head in retaliation. When Woody asks what kind of accident could happen, Jack uses his jackhammer on Woody. However, Woody falls down in the sand and Hammer quickly goes to see if he has injured Woody.

Next, the telephone rings and it is Jack Hammer's boss. He wants Jack to build the skyscraper quickly. Overhearing this, Woody has a few plans of his own. As Hammer tries to pull a cement-filled wheelbarrow vertically with a rope, Woody cuts the rope with a knife, and Jack Hammer falls into the cement. As he chases Woody, the cement hardens with him inside. Woody frees the foreman, but Hammer insists that he fell in the cement on purpose. The telephone rings again, and the boss advises Hammer to continue with work. Once again Woody stalls Jack's progress by entering the elevator before him, declaring that the elevator only has the capacity for one passenger, and going up without Jack. Hammer then orders the elevator to go down, only to be crushed by it. Woody changes the accidents-on-the-job sign to say Hammer was crushed, but Hammer comes back and says he was "clobberin' around".

Conclusion

In the final scene, Woody is at the top of the building. The two start a chase around the construction site. Hammer grabs Woody by the neck as the woodpecker attempts to change the accident sign. He accuses Woody of doing all this on purpose. The foreman grabs a piece of concrete to throw at Woody, but his throw misses and hits a steel girder of the skyscraper, causing it to become unbalanced. The structure collapses, causing Hammer to burst into tears. Woody can't stand to see this and makes a deal with the foreman. While Jack rebuilds the skyscraper, Woody sleeps peacefully in his tree that is half enclosed in a giant plastic bubble that Woody got in the deal he made with Jack Hammer.

References

External links

• Golden Age Cartoons - The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia - 1970
• http://goldenagecartoons.com links to Facebook page.