Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (partially lost series of Walt Disney animated short films; 1927-1928)
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Oswald ending card from the Disney era.
Status: Partially Lost
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is a series of shorts from the late 1920s. After the failure of his Laugh-O-Grams and Lafflets, and the minor success of the Alice Comedies, Walt Disney started to compete with stronger cartoon characters of the era like Felix the Cat. After successfully pitching Oswald, Winkler Pictures gave him a talented animation staff and a budget.
Walt began production on the shorts in 1927. Oswald himself was well received and became the first Disney character to have his own tie-in merchandise. Oswald's success over the competition was due to the more ambitious, innovative, and raunchy animation and humor. Despite the success of the films, around 26 shorts in,[1] the budget was cut by more than half and nearly half of Walt's animation team was moved to other projects. Disney soon quit working at Winkler and starting his own animation studio with some of his most talented Oswald staff. He lost the rights to Oswald, so he created a new character named Mickey Mouse.
After Disney left Winkler, Oswald's shorts were animated by many rising animation legends, such as a young Tex Avery. Oswald cartoons eventually featured color and sound, but was ultimately discontinued in 1943 due to a fall in popularity.
In 2005, Oswald's copyright expired, and Universal (the umbrella company that Winkler was under) gave the Walt Disney company the rights to Disney's original Oswald shorts. A DVD collection was released in 2006 containing 13 of the original 27 shorts. One more emerged in 2011, an incomplete print of one of the shorts emerged in 2014. Two more emerged in 2015. A print emerged in 2016. A copy of the 27th episode which was thought to be a Winkler short emerged in 2017. But seven of the original 27 Walt Disney shorts are still missing.[2]
Theatrical Shorts
| # | Short Title | Year Produced | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poor Papa | 1927 | Found |
| 2 | Trolley Troubles | 1927 | Found |
| 3 | Oh Teacher | 1927 | Partially Lost |
| 4 | The Mechanical Cow | 1927 | Found |
| 5 | Great Guns! | 1927 | Found |
| 6 | All Wet | 1927 | Found |
| 7 | The Ocean Hop | 1927 | Partially Lost |
| 8 | The Banker's Daughter | 1927 | Lost |
| 9 | Empty Socks* | 1927 | Found |
| 10 | Rickety Gin | 1927 | Lost |
| 11 | Harem Scarem | 1928 | Lost |
| 12 | Neck 'n' Neck | 1928 | Lost |
| 13 | The Ol' Swimmin' Hole* | 1928 | Found |
| 14 | Africa Before Dark | 1928 | Found |
| 15 | Rival Romeos | 1928 | Found |
| 16 | Bright Lights | 1928 | Found |
| 17 | Sagebrush Sadie | 1928 | Lost |
| 18 | Ride 'Em Plowboy | 1928 | Lost |
| 19 | Ozzie of the Mounted | 1928 | Partially Lost |
| 20 | Hungry Hoboes | 1928 | Found |
| 21 | Oh, What a Knight | 1928 | Found |
| 22 | Sky Scrappers | 1928 | Found |
| 23 | The Fox Chase | 1928 | Found |
| 24 | Tall Timber | 1928 | Found |
| 25 | Sleigh Bells* | 1928 | Found |
| 26 | Hot Dog | 1928 | Lost |
| 27 | High Up* | 1928 | Found |
(*) While reels of these films are known to exist, they are not currently available for public viewing.
See Also
- Poor Papa, the first Oswald short.
References
- ↑ Oswald series overview on the Disney Wikia. Retrieved 25 Mar '16.
- ↑ Oswald filmography on Wikipedia. Retrieved 25 Mar '16.