Misguided Missile

Misguided Missile
Woody Woodpecker series
Directed by	Paul J. Smith
Produced by	Walter Lantz
Story by	Michael Maltese
Voices by	Grace Stafford Dal McKennon
Music by	Clarence Wheeler
Animation by	Robert Bentley Herman Cohen Laverne Harding Gil Turner Art Landy
Studio	Walter Lantz Productions
Distributed by	Universal International
Release date(s)	January 27, 1958 (1958-01-27)
Color process	Technicolor
Running time	6' 03"
Language	English
Preceded by	Fodder and Son
Followed by	Watch the Birdie

Misguided Missile is the 82nd animated cartoon short subject in the Woody Woodpecker series. Released theatrically on January 27, 1958, the film was produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal International.

Plot

As Woody pecks for crumbs in the park, an activity he thinks is "for the birds," he sees the newspaper classified ads and decides to go after the easiest job he can find: selling insurance door to door. He is assigned to cover the city's low-rent district, where he runs afoul of Dapper Denver Dooley, who insists that he does not need a policy. Only after several of the accidents covered by it (being hit by a safe, falling into a printing press, etc.) happen to Dooley does he agree to sign up; however, he throws Woody out of the house without paying.

Woody advises Dooley to read the policy's fine print, which says that he is not covered if hit by a guided missile, and proceeds to launch one after setting it to "Deadbeat." The missile chases Dooley all over the city, its clockwork ticking loudly enough to announce its arrival, and eventually blows him up. In the hospital, he calls for his breakfast and a nurse puts some bread into the toaster for him; thinking that its ticking noise is another missile, he dives out the window. On the way down, he signs up for a new policy offered by Woody but learns, from its fine print, that he is not covered for what he has just done. Once more, as was usual for Dooley, he burst into tears when he realized that he had lost his coverage.

Notes

Grace Stafford received onscreen credit as Woody's voice for the first time.

References

• Cooke, Jon, Komorowski, Thad, Shakarian, Pietro, and Tatay, Jack. "1958". The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia.