A Woody Woodpecker Christmas

A Woody Woodpecker Christmas  is a 2020 traditional animated one-hour Christmas television special directed by Bill Kopp and produced by Lisa Melbye and Deidre Brenner for Universal Television and Universal Animation Studios. The special is based on the cartoon characters created by Walter Lantz, and stars the voice of Billy West, reprising his role as the title character from 2002's  ''The New Woody Woodpecker Show. ''It also features the voices of Jimmy Fallon, Al Roker, Amy Poehler, Mark Hamill, Kristen Bell, John Ratzenberger, Jerry Seinfeld, and country music star Blake Shelton. It celebrates the 80th anniversary of Woody Woodpecker's creation, and is his first appearance in any type of media in 18 years. It premiered on December 4, 2020, on NBC.

Plot
The story begins with Woody (Eric Bauza) getting ready for Christmas, and his best-friend-turned-girlfriend Winnie (Kristen Bell) arranging a first date with him. But due to Santa getting kidnapped by Woody and Winnie's arch nemesis - Buzz Buzzard - Woody has to help his old enemy Lance Walters (Timothy Omundson) out of prison and save Christmas.

Cast
Eric Bauza as Woody Woodpecker/Andy Panda/Wally Walrus

Kristen Bell as Winnie Woodpecker

E.G. Daily as Knothead

Nika Futterman as Splinter

Jimmy Fallon as Santa Claus

Amy Poehler as Ms. Meany

Jerry Seinfeld as Papa Panda

Mark Hamill as Buzz Buzzard

Blake Shelton as Smedley

Timothy Omundson as Lance Walters

John Ratzenberger as Officer Stafford

Al Roker as Narrator

Jim Cummings as various characters

Tom Kenny as various characters

Criticism from religious groups
The special has gained criticism from certain religious and conservative groups. The Family Research Council, an organization labeled as a hate and extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, criticized its alleged "pot shots" at Christians and the alleged "subliminal message about Christmas being hijacked by religious people from the Pegans." The Media Research Center, a conservative "media watchdog group", issued a statement regarding the special, saying "Hollywood's liberal values and attacks on religious belief invade even what's supposed to be a harmless holiday special aimed at children and their families. A Woody Woodpecker Christmas, whose title character has been irrelevant since the 1970's, continues their vicious assault on Christianity in particular by claiming it's "hijacked" the Christmas season from the Pegans. It's no surprise it would air on the liberal NBC network."