Article: Before Beavis and Bart came Lantz's Woody

You can't appreciate the late Walter Lantz and his contributions to popular art until you appreciate his most popular creation.

Years before Beavis and Butt-head (heh-heh) and Bart Simpson there was Woody Woodpecker (heh-heh-heh-HEH-heh), perhaps the hardest-edged of the animated pests of his time but one whose sly, devious and persistent charm triumphed over his transgressions.

When Lantz, the creator of Woody Woodpecker, died Tuesday at 93, he left behind this loud, brash character who remains a fixture in millions of homes on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons. So popular is the manic blue bird with the punk-style red crest that he now appears in 60 languages in 70 countries around ...

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