Walter Lantz Productions - Legacy

Legacy

Unlike other major animation studios of America, the studio never continued full-time in existence during the classic period of American animation, closing down in 1940 for two months, and then in 1948, reopening its doors two years later (both closures were caused by financial problems inside Lantz's distributors); it was shut down again (permanently) in 1972, after the end of the Golden Age of American animation. Since then, the characters of the studio have continued to be used in syndicated television series, in licensed merchandise. From 1931 to 1932, Walter Lantz re-issued 6 of the Disney Oswald cartoons, like Trolley Troubles, Great Guns and The Ocean Hop.

In 1984, Lantz sold everything outright to MCA/Universal. Though Lantz did remain active in overseeing how Universal handled his characters (for merchandise, TV, home video, theme parks, limited edition cels, etc.) up until his death in 1994.

In February 2006, the now-NBC Universal (who still owns the Lantz library) sold the trademarks rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit along with the copyright to the original 26 cartoons produced Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. At the time Lantz took over the series with Disney's blessing are the only Oswald related material plus the 26 cartoons created at Charles Mintz Studio that were not part of the sale still remains property of Universal. The sale was part of a deal that centered around both the rights to Oswald and NBC's acquisition of the rights to the NFL's weekly Sunday night game; in exchange for NBC Universal selling the rights to Oswald to Disney, Al Michaels was freed from his contractual obligations with ESPN and ABC so he could join NBC and become the Sunday Night Football play-by-play man.

In July 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection, a three-disc DVD box set compilation of Lantz Cartunes. A second volume was released in April 2008, followed by a vanilla release in 2009, Woody Woodpecker Favorites, which contained no new to DVD material. Animation historian Jerry Beck, partly involved in the production of the DVD releases, has stated that plans for further volumes are currently on hold.