Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

After the Disney Company swapped a sports announcer to Universal to regain control of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit -- which Disney lost control of in 1929 to Charles Mintz, who promptly lost him to Universal -- there was a DVD release of the extant silent Oswalds, then silence. Now that silence has been continued with the first new Oswald cartoon since 1944, a silent, one-minute short director by Eric Goldberg. It's very good.

I've been a particular fan of Goldberg's work since his segment of FANTASIA 2000, using Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". He also did "The Carnival of Animals". He's a loving talent who deserves more attention from animation lovers.

After all this waiting, Mickey Mouse's brother Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is back! I've always enjoyed watching Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat cartoons. And since Cuphead is a game similar to old cartoon characters like this, the Cuphead games are a blast! Oswald the Lucky Rabbit deserves more attention and support like Mickey Mouse. I really, really hope the Disney company will give Oswald the Lucky Rabbit more cameos. I hope Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will get a movie and series in the future. I'm honestly tired of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit being an unlucky rabbit in Mickey's shadow.

No pun intended - I mean they call him Oswald, so it is ok to call him ... he, right? Actually I thought this was an old short movie from the Walt Disney Studios ... and yet it was a comeback! They made a new short last year - not sure how that came about. Was there a surge, was there a demand? None that I was or am aware of.

And Oswald of course looks more like Mickey Mouse than a rabbit. But let's not get hung up on that. The short movie (just a minute) reels you in ... like it does with Oswald ... the moving pictures get him in. And it is love that conquers all .. that breaks down ... "barriers"? Not sure what you would call it ... definitely a weird short ... but still might bring some sentiment to old ... and maybe new fans!

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is a short created by Disney after the copyright for the character had expired, making the first time the company used Walt's first creation since Walt Disney lost him to Universal Studios. It seems true to the animation of the time Oswald had premiered in. Black and white and no sounds made by characters as that didn't happen until the premier of Oswald's successor Mickey in Steamboat Willie. At least now Disney is able to use Walt's first creation in something. Oftentimes Oswald is overshadowed by Mickey as Walt Disney was unable to use Oswald much and Mickey impacted animation more as like previously stated, first to fully utilize sound and voice. Though if we didn't have Oswald and he wasn't token away from Walt Disney, we wouldn't even have Mickey.

Here we have a pre-Mickey Mouse character from Walt Disney-shown by Disney the company for the first time in almost a century. Or should I say pre-Mickey and pre-Minnie, since Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's girlfriend, Ortensia the Cat, bears a striking resemblance to Minnie Mouse. It's kind of funny how a rabbit, a mouse, and a cat can look so alike-but that's just part of the charm.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is a delightful throwback to the rubber hose animation style of the late 1920s and early 1930s, with bendy, flexible limbs and exaggerated cartoon physics-Oswald even removes his own leg to use it for whatever purpose he needs! It's a fun little story that pays homage to a great piece of animation history from a hundred years ago.