(Rick Goetz/Stars and Stripes)
Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 4, 1969: Walter and Gracie Stafford-Lantz — the creator and the voice respectively of Woody Woodpecker — visited school children at the Seoul American School. Lantz drew his famous cartoon character, while Ms. Stafford-Lantz delighted the children with Woody’s famous call, which she has been voicing for the past 20 years. The original laugh was created by the famous cartoon voice actor Mel Blanc.
The original 1969 Stars and Stripes article was published without any of Rick Goetz’ images — most likely because they were deemed unusable due to a light leak in the camera. Thanks to current film scanning technology and software, Stars and Stripes’ archive staff was able to save 17 of the images. Read Stars and Stripes’ 1969 article and check out some of the other images here.