Editing Walter Lantz Productions (section)

=== 1967–1972: Official final years ===
By 1969, other film studios had discontinued their animation departments, leaving Walter Lantz as one of the only two producers still making cartoons for theaters. The other one was the start-up [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]], working for Lantz' former contractor, United Artists. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-final-days-of-the-theatrical-cartoon-short/|title=The Final Days of The Theatrical Cartoon Short|access-date=2021-10-24}}</ref> 

From 1967 until the studio's second and official closure in 1972, Universal distributed the Lantz cartoons as packages, and theaters would play them in no particular order. Lantz finally closed up the studio in 1972; he later explained that by then, it was economically impossible to continue producing them and stay in business, as rising inflation had strained his profits, and Universal serviced the remaining demand with reissues of his older cartoons. ''[[Bye Bye Blackboard]]'', a Woody Woodpecker cartoon, was part of the final slate of cartoons made at the Walter Lantz studio. Thirteen were completed for the 1972 season: one with Chilly Willy, four starring the Beary Family, and the rest with Lantz' star character, Woody Woodpecker. Upon discovering that it would take a decade for his shorts to show a profit, Lantz himself decided to shut down company operations, and threw a farewell luncheon with his staff at the announcement on March 10 the same year, with him handing Woody watches to them.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Animation Anecdotes #134|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/animation-anecdotes-134/|last=Korkis|first=Jim|date=2013-11-01|access-date=2021-10-24|work=Cartoon Research}}</ref>