TheLittleSongbird
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.Oswald in the Disney years saw mostly good to very good cartoons, and while the Winkler years had some duds there were also cartoons as good as the best of the Disney years. The 1929-1930 batches of Walter Lantz-directed Oswald cartoons were a mixed bag, with some good, some forgettable and not much special and a few mediocre. The 1931 batch was mostly underwhelming, with only 6 out of 18 cartoons being above average or more. The 1932 batch had a few not so good, though the cartoons in question were nothing compared to the worst of the previous 3 years, cartoons, but most were decent to good and some even very good. The 1933 batch is one of the most consistent, with the weakest 'Beau Best' still being decent. The 1934 batch were mostly nice and decent if unexceptional, with a few average ones and 'Sky Larks' and 'Toyland Premiere' being very good.'Puppet Show' is another one of the mostly pretty good 1936 cartoons (the ones available to watch), of which the only real misfire has been 'Kiddie Revue'. 'Puppet Show' is notable for the use of live action and animation.Both work incredibly well on their own, both look terrific, elaborate in their visual imagination and meticulous in detail, particularly the animation. Both blend well together too, and the transition from live action to animation for the dream sequence is well done.The music is characterful, bouncy and beautifully orchestrated, while there are some nicely executed gags and sequences, that are amusing, charming and with a little creepiness at the end. There is also much more story than usual and not in a way that was too cutesy.Not much wrong here actually. Oswald is too much of a supporting character, the puppet personalities in live action and animation form have more colourful personalities here and Oswald's contribution here is not exactly memorable. The African-American tap dancers are rather unappealingly animated, and while hardly the first or worst case the stereotypical way they're portrayed will leave a bad taste in the mouth for some.Really identified with their story in the dream sequence, being a universal theme that many people witness in their life in their want for success and freedom, but the characterisations themselves seemed a little exaggerated for my tastes.Overall, pretty good and very interesting. 7/10 Bethany Cox
