Jittery Jester

Jittery Jester is the 89th animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on November 3, 1958, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal International.[1]

Jittery Jester
Directed byPaul J. Smith
Produced byWalter Lantz
Story byHomer Brightman
StarringGrace Stafford
Dal McKennon
Music byClarence Wheeler
Animation byRobert Bentley
Lester Kline
Don Patterson
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal International
Release date
November 3, 1958
Running time
6 minutes
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A king, seated on the throne, says to official court jester Dapper Denver Dooley, "Make me laugh, jester." The jester does his best to comply, but his gags are old and stale, and they evoke no response from the king. The king goes to the window and sees Woody Woodpecker busy in a tree singing. Woody's antics so please the king that he laughs long and loud, and he orders Dooley to bring Woody to him, punctuating his demand by telling Dooley that should he fail, he would lose his head.

The jester, now on a horse, orders the drawbridge opened, and he starts out of the castle. A knight boat whistles for clearance, and the drawbridge quickly raises. Dooley and horse run smack into it. After a second time which lands Dooley in the moat, the horse laughs at Dooley's misfortune and earns him a sock in the jaw. The angry horse mutters, "Ooohhhh, I HATE him!"

The jester again tries and finally gets near the tree where Woody's located. Dooley, knowing that his job's at stake, has no desire to take Woody to the king, and he uses all kinds of tricks and devices to try to eliminate the competition.

Woody outwits the jester; some of Dooley's tactics end up harming the king, who uses the line "Tain't funny, Dooley (a parody of a catchphrase from Fibber McGee and Molly, when Molly {Marian Jordan} sometimes tells McGee {Jim Jordan}, "Tain't funny, McGee"), and we finally see Woody, in the jester's costume, before the king, with Dooley clapped in the stocks. (In the previous scene, Dooley had hit what he thought was Woody with a mace, until Woody pointed out the outraged king. Upon discovery, Dooley, as was the norm when he is finally beaten, bursts into tears.)

The king says to Woody, "Make me laugh, jester." Woody more than fulfills the King's request when he throws a soft, mushy pie into Dooley's face, punctuating it with the line, "This will be a good trick, when someone invents television!"

As we fade out, the king is really having a big laugh for himself.

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 157–158. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
  • Cooke, Jon, Komorowski, Thad, Shakarian, Pietro, and Tatay, Jack. "1958". The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia.


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