The Dizzy Acrobat

The Dizzy Acrobat
Directed by	Alex Lovy
Produced by	Walter Lantz
Story by	Ben Hardaway; Milt Schaffer
Starring	Kent Rogers
Music by	Darrell Calker
Animation by	Emery Hawkins
Color process	Technicolor
Production; company	Walter Lantz Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	May 21, 1943;
Running time	6' 40"
Country	United States
Language	English

The Dizzy Acrobat is the eighth animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on May 21, 1943, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures.[1]

Plot

Woody Woodpecker visits a traveling circus. He attempts to sneak into the big top but a caretaker kicks him out. He says that if Woody wants to see the show, he will have to water the elephant. Woody attaches the elephant to a water spout and attempts again to enter the tent.

The caretaker chases him around the circus and into the big top. He continues to try to catch Woody but finds himself caught in several circus performance contraptions, including a trapeze, a tightrope, a perch pole, a lion's cage and a bicycle.

Academy Award

This film was nominated for an Academy Award in 1943 for Best Short Subject, Cartoons. It lost to MGM's The Yankee Doodle Mouse, the first of seven Tom and Jerry cartoons to win this award. It was the fifth film from Walter Lantz to be nominated in this category.

Cultural references

Woody sings the popular children's tune "Animal Fair" at the start of the cartoon.
A sign indicates that the circus's Rubber Man is "Gone for the duration." This is a gag referencing the United States rationing of rubber during World War II.
While Woody is on the trapeze, a variation of Johann Strauss II's "Blue Danube Waltz" can be heard in the background score.

Notes

The Dizzy Acrobat was Alex Lovy's final effort as director on a Woody short for about 12 years, as he was drafted into the US Navy. The next Woody "cartune" he would direct was 1955's The Tree Medic. He does not receive on-screen credit as director.
This is one of the few Woody Woodpecker cartoons in which Woody loses at the end. The other shorts in which Woody loses include The Cracked Nut, Banquet Busters, Smoked Hams, Real Gone Woody, Woody's Clip Joint, A Fine Feathered Frenzy, Tepee for Two, Well Oiled, Ace in the Hole, Busman's Holiday, Bye Bye Blackboard, The Tenant's Racket, Rough Riding Hood, Chili Con Corny, Ski for Two, Knock Knock, The Screwball, What's Sweepin', Woodpecker in the Rough, Under the Counter Spy, The Coo Coo Bird, The Barber of Seville, Solid Ivory, and The Beach Nut.

References

Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.

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[1] Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.