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 enlist the help of his old friend Tommy Walters (Graham Verchere) and his father Lance (Timothy Omundson) in order to 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
 * Mark Hamill as Buzz Buzzard
 * Blake Shelton as Smedley
 * Timothy Omundson as Lance Walters
 * Graham Verchere as Tommy 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."