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 were some decent Walter Lantz/Universal-era cartoons, there were a fair share of disappointments too before 'The Hash Shop' and since. Luckily, although hardly Oswald or Lantz at their best (doesn't represent them too badly either), 'The Hash Shop' is one of the decent ones.
Not great by all means. The story does lose momentum on occasion, due to flimsy narrative and a couple of the gags lacking the necessary sharpness and wit, instead feeling a little perfunctory.
There are certainly far worse looking Oswald cartoons, in fact most of the animation is pretty good. There are a few rough transitions however that give a somewhat primitive look.
Synchronisation is good however as is the sound, while Oswald's movements are natural with a great job done with facial expressions and distortions (the standout on the animation front, especially on the hippo-like character where one can tell that the animators were enjoying working on the sequence, which is mostly a very enjoyable one elevated by the visuals if going on a little too long).
Many of the gags hit the mark, especially the baby/milk and ending (priceless) gags. The music has the energy one would expect, and Oswald is endearing in a setting that plays to his strengths, even though he can play rather too secondary to the rest of the characters which are luckily a lively lot.
In summary, enjoyable and not a hash job at all. 7/10 Bethany Cox
While there were some decent Walter Lantz/Universal-era cartoons, there were a fair share of disappointments too before 'The Hash Shop' and since. Luckily, although hardly Oswald or Lantz at their best (doesn't represent them too badly either), 'The Hash Shop' is one of the decent ones.
Not great by all means. The story does lose momentum on occasion, due to flimsy narrative and a couple of the gags lacking the necessary sharpness and wit, instead feeling a little perfunctory.
There are certainly far worse looking Oswald cartoons, in fact most of the animation is pretty good. There are a few rough transitions however that give a somewhat primitive look.
Synchronisation is good however as is the sound, while Oswald's movements are natural with a great job done with facial expressions and distortions (the standout on the animation front, especially on the hippo-like character where one can tell that the animators were enjoying working on the sequence, which is mostly a very enjoyable one elevated by the visuals if going on a little too long).
Many of the gags hit the mark, especially the baby/milk and ending (priceless) gags. The music has the energy one would expect, and Oswald is endearing in a setting that plays to his strengths, even though he can play rather too secondary to the rest of the characters which are luckily a lively lot.
In summary, enjoyable and not a hash job at all. 7/10 Bethany Cox
