Walter Benjamin Lantz was born in 1899 in New Rochelle, New York, to Italian immigrant parents, Francesco Paolo Lantz (formerly Lanza) and Maria Gervasi from Calitri. Lantz’s father was given his new surname by an immigration official. At the age of 15, Lantz was hired as an office boy in the art department of The New York American newspaper where he washed paint brushes for legendary illustrator Winsor McCay. Lantz attended art school at night while working at the newspaper.
By the age of 16, Lantz was working in the animation department. Lantz then worked at the John R. Bray Studios on the Jerry On The Job series. In 1924, Lantz directed, animated, and even starred in his first cartoon series, “Dinky Doodle”, which included the popular fairy tale animated shorts Cinderella (1925) and Little Red Riding Hood (1925). He also worked briefly for director Frank Capra and was a gag writer for Mack Sennett comedies.
In 1929, Lantz began producing “Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit” cartoons. Later he used Oswald in Universal’s first major musical, “The King of Jazz”. When Oswald had worn out his welcome, Lantz needed a new character. After creating multiple characters, one character, Andy Panda, stood out and soon became Lantz’s headline star for the 1939–1940 production season.
In 1940, Lantz married actress Grace Stafford. The same year, Woody Woodpecker made his debut, along with his iconic laugh, in an Andy Panda short entitled “Knock Knock”. According to Lantz, he came up with the character during his honeymoon, when he and his wife kept hearing a woodpecker incessantly pecking on their roof. Woody Woodpecker became an instant hit and got his own series during 1941. Grace Stafford would later become one of those who supplied Woody Woodpecker’s voice. In 1948, the Lantz studio created a hit Academy Award-nominated song titled “The Woody Woodpecker Song”, featuring Woody’s iconic laugh.
In 1979, Mr. Lantz received an Academy Award for life achievement and for contributions to the art of animation. In 1982, Lantz donated 17 artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, among them a wooden model of Woody Woodpecker from the cartoon character’s debut in 1941. In 1990, Woody Woodpecker was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Walter Lantz died in Burbank, California from heart failure in 1994, at age 94.
Some characters in the Walter Lantz cartoons (both cartoons and comics) are Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Andy Panda, The Beary Family, Maggie & Sam, Maw and Paw, Space Mouse, Woody Woodpecker, Inspector Willoughby, Homer Pigeon, Chilly Willy, Lil’ Eightball, Charlie Chicken, Wally Walrus, and many more.