Before Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks made history with Mickey Mouse, Disney made some very similar cartoons featuring a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald and Mickey were both drawn in the same stark black-on-white style, and had similar adventures. In both cases, the most distinctive feature of the character was his ears: Mickey's were two black discs, whilst Oswald's were like long black exclamation points. The success of Mickey Mouse is largely down to the character's longevity, developing a distinct personality over the course of years and decades. Oswald never developed (artistically, nor as a character) to anything like Mickey's extent, but he was simply never given a chance to do so, as Disney dumped the Oswald character when Mickey made his debut.
SPOILING ONE GAG NOW. 'Sky Scrappers' finds three characters -- Oswald, a Big Pete-style bully and a Minnie-ish female character -- all engaged in knockabout humour on a building site. The most startling gag occurs when Oswald's black skin is torn off, revealing his whitish outline underneath. Disney's crude animation hasn't bothered to include shadows for any of the characters. But in this set-up -- and only this one -- Oswald has suddenly acquired a shadow. So, of course we know what's going to happen: Oswald detaches his own shadow and then steps into it, giving himself a form-fitting black skin once again.
I'll rate 'Sky Scrappers' -- and most of the other Oswald toons -- only 3 points out of 10. The 'Flip the Frog' cartoons that Ub Iwerks did without Disney are much better-drawn and funnier than the cartoons that Disney did without Iwerks.
SPOILING ONE GAG NOW. 'Sky Scrappers' finds three characters -- Oswald, a Big Pete-style bully and a Minnie-ish female character -- all engaged in knockabout humour on a building site. The most startling gag occurs when Oswald's black skin is torn off, revealing his whitish outline underneath. Disney's crude animation hasn't bothered to include shadows for any of the characters. But in this set-up -- and only this one -- Oswald has suddenly acquired a shadow. So, of course we know what's going to happen: Oswald detaches his own shadow and then steps into it, giving himself a form-fitting black skin once again.
I'll rate 'Sky Scrappers' -- and most of the other Oswald toons -- only 3 points out of 10. The 'Flip the Frog' cartoons that Ub Iwerks did without Disney are much better-drawn and funnier than the cartoons that Disney did without Iwerks.