Hells Heels

Let's see, Walt Disney invented Oswald, produced him for Charles Mintz and then discovered that he owned no stake.... Mintz basically cheated him out of it and everyone in his studio except Ub Iwerks and Carl Stalling. So he turned around and invented Mickey Mouse, which was basically Oswald with mouse ears instead of rabbit ears and went on to fame and fortune.

In the meantime, Mintz produced some Oswald cartoons and then suddenly discovered he didn't own him either, Oswald belonged to Universal Studios. And, according to legend, Walter Lantz won Universal's animation department in a poker game and worked for his own profit for the next forty years, producing a lot of good cartoons, including Woody Woodpecker.

And in the early 1930s he did a lot of Oswald cartoons, using once and future Disney talent, like Clyde Geronimi here, to excellent effect.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that at this stage, Lantz was clearly producing better cartoons than Disney. Dietrich's music is less sophisticated than Carl Stallings, but more effective, and the gags, I think are better. Get thee to the Universal Studios WOODY WOODPECKER AND FRIENDS DVD and take a look for yourself.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a cartoon character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Originally, the Oswald films were made by the pair along with a staff of other Disney employees...and the cartoons were very successful. To reward them, Universal Studios fired Iwerks and Disney. The new Oswald films were made by Walter Lantz...and weren't nearly as funny.

"Hells Heels" has a plot obviously inspired by the recent "Hell's Heroes"...which was a remake itself of an old Broncho Billy film. When it begins, it's set in the old west and Oswald is forced to help some bank robbers and soon he's a wanted man. When he hides out in the desert, he finds the sheriff's bratty son and decides to bring him back to town.

The biggest problem with this cartoon is that it's not all that funny. I could quibble over a few other things but ultimately cartoons should provide a few laughs....and this one doesn't. The animation quality is average to below average for the era.

Despite Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his cartoons being popular and well received at the time, they have been vastly overshadowed over time by succeeding animation characters. It is a shame as, while not cartoon masterpieces, they are fascinating for anybody wanting to see what very old animation looked like.

Not all the Walter Lantz cartoons are bad, 'Permanent Wave' and 'The Hash Shop' for examples are perfect proof of that, but some of them are not good representations of Oswald or Lantz and for historical interest only. 'Hells Heels' is another one of the better Lantz Oswald cartoons, a very good representation of both Oswald and Lantz, and one of not many Lantz Oswald cartoons to be as good as the best of the Disney and Winkler era.

Sound quality for a cartoon so old and techniques still in its early days is not as primitive as it could have been. Some of the gags do work, enjoyed a cameo appearance from a character that looked like Charlie Chaplin's tramp.

The music is as energetic as ever too, and Oswald, while having much better material and deserving of it, is still pretty endearing. 'Hells Heels' is better than most Lantz Oswald cartoons to capture his chaotic nature.

'Hells Heels' animation is quite good, pretty detailed, not as crude as in some of the Lantz Oswald cartoons and Oswald's movements, expressions and gestures are well done. The gags are very funny and mostly imaginative.

Weak link here, like most Oswald cartoons, is the thinly sketched story, which sometimes lacks sharpness. Most of the pacing is zippy and energetic though.

In summary, very good and one of the better Lantz Oswald cartoons. 8/10 Bethany Cox

THE STORY & GENRE -- Bank robber meets many living skeletons. Oswald Rabbit from creator Walter Lantz.

THE VERDICT -- Some amusing moments.

FREE ONLINE -- Yes, about 6 1/2 minutes.