Henpecked

This is a lively little cartoon from Lantz' unit at Universal, a tad before he wound up owning the division, starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It's not much by modern standards, certainly, being basically a series of gags set to a score, but it is noteworthy as being a fine example of the 'rubber tube' style of animation that was used from about 1925-1935, until replaced by the 'animated egg' style that Disney pioneered. In 'rubber tube' a lot of the animation gags involved the characters stretching and distorting -- notice the way Oswald gets contorted during the chase sequence.

The title seems to be randomly chosen and it might have been better called something like 'NOISY NEIGHBORS as various nephews come and visit -- they all seem to be cats. But it's all done in high good humor.

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.

While there are some good Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons, some are also disappointing and really don't see either Oswald or Lantz at their best. 'Henpecked' is a long way from being among the latter and is actually much closer to the former, would go as far to say that 'Henpecked' is one of the better Lantz Oswald cartoons.

Not to say that 'Henpecked' is perfect because it isn't. The story is thin to the point of non-existence, being little more than an excuse to string along the gags together. The title is also somewhat of a strange one and doesn't seem to fit with the cartoon's concept, one would think it would suggest Oswald being on a farm and struggling with hens but that is a long way from the case here.

On the other hand, there's little else that's wrong. The setting is very well utilised, and the sound quality for a cartoon so old and techniques still in its early days is not as primitive as it could have been. Oswald is very endearing and the supporting characters are fun enough, one doesn't feel for the bear being disturbed and can relate to him, most of us having our fair share of noisy neighbours. The kitten characters avoid being too cutesy or irritating.

Music is as energetic as ever too. The animation is on the most part quite good not as crude as in some of the Lantz Oswald cartoons and Oswald's movements, expressions and gestures are well done. There are a lot of amusing and often entertainingly bravura gags all helped by a lively pace.

In summary, while low on story 'Henpecked' is very much high on fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox