Cartoons with lots of caricatures can be lots of fun, but there are examples where some of the material can get lost on the viewer. 'The Woods are Full of Cuckoos' fits both extremes, it is an interesting curio but it is a case of some of the material working and other parts that do not.
The animation is great, with gorgeously vibrant colours, backgrounds that are rich in detail and the characters are smoothly drawn. The music consists of a lot of character, lush orchestration, clever instrumentation, bucket loads of energy and an ability to not just be dynamic to the material but elevate it. The voice work from Mel Blanc and Tedd Pierce is peerless as ever.
A good deal of the animal caricatures, based on celebrities of the day, are very funny and they clearly had a ball thinking of the animal names which are quite inventive.
However, there is always the danger of being unfamiliar with some of the people caricature cartoons caricature. There was unfamiliarity with quite a lot of the stars mentioned (had no idea for example who Tizzie Fish was meant to be), so some of the cartoon did go over my head as a result and are likely to be lost on present-day viewers (even fans of classic-era celebrities at that time).
Not working all the time also are the jokes, some are amusing but never hilarious but others feel very out of date, corny and forced in placement. The talent show is particularly true to this, excepting the loudmouths. The references can be obscure and the concept of can you guess who the star is does wear thin when you are constantly switching between who you recognise and where you draw a blank.
So all in all, a curio and both an interesting and inconsistent one. Worth seeing once or twice, but not a must-see or with watching over and over replay value. 6/10 Bethany Cox