Woody Woodpecker in LA BAMBA (1987)

Woody Woodpecker shows up in the 1987 Columbia Pictures movie, La Bamba.

Story

Ritchie Valens' half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales) and his cowork are garbagemen who ride a garbage truck into Columbia Pictures studios to pick up the trash. They start throwing comedically large, and light, props into the back of the truck when Bob finds stacks of artwork. Could be cells, could be sketches. He names and shows his coworker (and the camera) a Woody Woodpecker sketch, and also mentions Buzz Buzzard. Bob goes on to rescue the artwork from the trash, saying "finders keepers".

Scene Notes

• A large poster for the Columbia Pictures movie, The Werewolf (1956), can be seen on the outside wall of the studio.
• A second poster can be seen on the wall for Abandon Ship! (1957).
• A third poster can be seen on the wall for Hot Blood (1956).
• The sign on the side of the garbage truck reads, "Dream Disposal Co. KL5-2323".

Columbia Pictures

Woody Woodpecker is a Universal Pictures character and not a Columbia Pictures character. (Sony bought Columbia in 1989.) So it is odd that Columbia Pictures would have Walter Lantz material to throw in the trash. Columbia did distribute early Disney cartoons from 1929-1932, and Screen Gems did distribute early Hanna Barbera cartoons in the late 50s early 60s, but it's super unlikely that Columbia was involved with the creation of Woody Woodpecker cartoons in 1957, the setting of the movie.

La Bamba (1987)

La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film follows the life and short-lived musical career of Mexican-American Chicano rock and roll star Ritchie Valens. The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck and Joe Pantoliano. The film also covers the effect that Valens' career had on the lives of his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig, and the rest of his family. The film is titled after a Mexican folk song of the same name, which Valens would later transform the song by turning it into a rock and roll rendition in 1958. In 2017, La Bamba was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the US Library of Congress being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.

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