Andy Panda

Andy Panda is a funny animal cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947, and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The titular character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a cute panda. Andy became the second star of the Walter Lantz cartoons after Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He achieved considerable popularity until being eventually supplanted by Woody Woodpecker.

History

When Oswald the Lucky Rabbit retired in 1938, following a nine-year run, Walter Lantz's studio went for months without recurring characters. It wasn't until late 1939, when Lantz had a trip to a zoo. There, the main attraction of the place was a young panda which Lantz drew pictures of. He would then use his drawings to construct a new character.

Andy's first cartoon was the aptly titled Life Begins for Andy Panda in 1939. (This was obvious wordplay on the perky titles of the popular Andy Hardy movies of that era. Ironically, a later Andy Hardy film was actually titled Life Begins for Andy Hardy.)