Was very fond of Woody Woodpecker and his cartoons as a child. Still get much enjoyment out of them now as a young adult, even if there are more interesting in personality cartoon characters and better overall cartoons.
That is in no way knocking Woody, because many of his cartoons are a lot of fun to watch and more and also still like him a lot as a character. This is going to be a reiteration of a lot of my reviews for the later Woody Woodpecker cartoons, but mainly because the later Paul J. Smith-directed cartoons have pretty much the same strengths and faults. Not all Smith's efforts are average or less, 'Niagara Fools' is one of the not many very good and more Woody Woodpecker cartoons of his (excellent in that cartoon's case despite the lacking animation).
'The Genie with the Light Touch' is Woody's penultimate theatrical cartoon and also to me one of his weakest. Not even Woody or Buzz Buzzard can save this and they deserved much better. There were exceptions but at this point Woody was well past his past, and 'The Genie with the Light Touch' is a good example of why and can understand why it's one of the lowest rated Woody Woodpecker cartoons.
If there was a best asset, it would have to be the music score. It is bouncy, energetic and very lushly orchestrated, not only synchronising and fitting with the action very well but enhancing it.
Voice acting is solid. Grace Stafford continues to prove why she was the best voice actor for the character and the one that understood him the most.
Buzz Buzzard is one of Woody's better foils and of his later Woody Woodpecker appearances (from the late 60s) he put a lot of Woody's other conflicts from this period to shame. Here, not even his presence is enough to save the cartoon from being weak. He has very little of note and the cartoon loses what was so good about the character and his interaction with Woody in his prime. The Indian character is both bland and annoying.
Furthermore, Woody compared to his original manic personality is just too subdued and his material is too obvious and safe, one misses the manic energy and the risk taking. The chemistry lacks the same spark of their earlier appearances together, with the material being significantly less strong.
Generally, the timing could have been sharper and the humour is primarily let down by that it is derivative of better and fresher humour in other Woody Woodpecker cartoons and also the lack of wit and consistent energy. The laughs are not enough and they are not particularly funny either. Plus the story is very over-familiar, very few surprises here with too much repetition, and the cartoon could have done with more variety.
Certainly, the story was rarely a strong suit in even the good-and-more Woody Woodpecker cartoons but they had much more energy and variety and Woody had a far more interesting personality. That 'The Genie with the Light Touch' and many other 60s onward Woody Woodpecker cartoons generally lack those things makes it far less easier to forgive.
Just as problematic is the animation quality. Time and budget constraints shows in a lot of the animation, which is very rushed looking in the drawing and detail wise it's on the simplistic and careless side like many of Woody's cartoons from this period continuing through to the 60s.
Overall, weak and even with Buzz's presence it is one of Woody's weaker efforts. 3/10 Bethany Cox
