As an animation fan, I could not be more excited about the release of Walt Disney Treasures The Adventures of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. A lost piece of animation history, Oswald was the creation of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks who in the 1927 were making a name for themselves in the world of “cartoons”.  Coming on the heels of his “Alice” shorts (which are included here and mix animation with live action footage) Disney was asked to produce entirely animated cartoons.  Oswald was born and from 1927 to 1928 he became one of the most popular cartoon characters on screen. 

However, a year after his creation, Oswald was taken from Walt Disney in a move that would ultimately shape American entertainment history.  Universal invoked a clause in their contract that allowed them to dictate budgets and staff to Disney.  When asked to take a large cut in pay, Disney soon found that Universal had renegotiated contracts with all of his animators… except one.

Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney built an empire from scratch, based on a new character Disney dreamed up on the train ride home after being told Oswald was no longer his property.   That character was Mickey Mouse, an American icon and Iwerks drew the initial cartoons almost entirely by himself, producing sometimes up to 700 drawings a day. 

Until now, most of the Oswald shorts were lost to the general public, but in 2006 Roy Disney was able to negotiate the return of the Oswald character to the Disney family.  Thus Walt Disney Treasures The Adventures Of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit is a homecoming of sorts and collects the surviving 13 films into one wonderful release.  It’s also an invaluable link for animation fans to the first hints of the genius soon evident in Mickey cartoons as well as Looney Tunes shorts.  That the animators working on these films included Friz Freleng will come as no surprise as you’ll likely recognize gags that later appear in Bugs Bunny cartoons. 

What amazed me the most was how much my five-year-old daughter loved these cartoons.  All are silent with only musical accompaniment provided and many are poor quality having been pulled together from masters in various states of decay.  Even so, the smile on her face and the belly-shaking laughter at some of the over-the-top cartoon violence made me realize that while they look old, they’re still relevant in their own way. 

Humor changes as the decades go on, however there’s something universally funny about a pieced together wreck of an airplane farting on a pilot.  I’m just saying.

Oswald isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea and it’s by no means as sophisticated as later releases by both Disney and Looney Tunes.  However it is well worth checking out for yourself.


Presentation
Great care and time has been devoted to restoring these films and while they look as good as can be expected, there are definite flaws from film to film.  Since these were gathered from different masters spanning the globe, it’s easy to see why the quality shifts.  Either way though, I’m just happy to have them at all.  Also, from an audio standpoint, the newly recorded musical accompaniment works perfectly with the Oswald shorts.

Extras
First up, Oswald Comes Home tells the story of how these fantastic shorts came back into the Disney company’s hands.  It’s well worth watching.  There are also Audio Commentaries on some of the cartoons that address some of the same insights as the Oswald Comes Home featurette.  I lost interest after a couple.

Since only about half of the original Oswald films survive today, we get treated to the only other surviving piece aside from the thirteen included here, the fragment of a western called Sagebrush Sadie.  The Hand Behind the Mouse:  The Ub Iwerks Story is an excellent documentary on the other man behind the mouse, directed by his granddaughter.  Ub Iwerks may not have dreamed up the mouse, but without him, Disney studios would likely not exist. 

Finally, my favorite of the extras is The Work of Ub Iwerks which includes three Iwerks films prior to the creation of Oswald (Alice Gets Stung, Alice in the Wooly West, Alice’s Balloon Race) and the first Mickey cartoons after Disney lost the rights to Oswald (Plane Crazy, Steamboat Willie, Skeleton Dance).  Watching Plane Crazy and Steamboat Willie, you can see gags that were lifted directly from Oswald shorts like Rival Romeos and The Ocean Hop.  The improved quality of the animation is evident also.  It’s a real treat for animation fans to have and example of the evolution of early animation all on one disc.

Finally, this release comes in a gold tin (a distinction from the silver tins of the past Treasures releases) and includes a certificate of authenticity, a reproduction of early drawings of Oswald and an Oswald button.

The Bottom Line

Of all the Disney Treasures discs released yet, this may be the most important historically and honestly, it’s my favorite of the bunch so far.