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.
Like what has been said in some of my previous reviews for previous Oswald cartoons, the 1932 batch of Oswald cartoons, despite being of an uneven overall standard, has generally been far better than the 1931 group, of which only six were above average or more and the rest were average at best and a few less than that. Of the 1932 batch, 'Wins Out' and 'Let's Eat' were mediocre and 'The Winged Horse' was on the forgettable side, but 'Grandma's Pet', 'Beau and Arrows', 'Mechanical Man', 'Carnival Capers' and 'Day Nurse' were good, and 'Cat Nipped', 'The Busy Barber' and 'A Wet Knight' very good. The last two in the batch 'Wild and Woolly' and 'Teacher's Pests' were only decent.
Generally the gags are well timed and executed and a few of them do amuse. Oswald is an as pretty much always likable leading character, as are his classmates.
As to be expected, the animation is good, with a looser and more elaborate style than seen in some of the pre-Lantz (and the Lantz cartoons that were disappointingly animated). It's crisp and fluid enough with some nice detail especially with animation techniques still in early days.
Music is another strength. It has an energetic nature, fits well and is dynamic with the action, then again the music is nearly always good in the Oswald cartoons. Synchronisation is good.
On the other hand, the story is non-existent and merely an excuse to string along the gags, not doing enough with its potentially interesting theme. Perhaps there could have been more gags, there are a few good ones here while others are a bit too predictable and safe, more imagination wouldn't have gone amiss.
Really didn't care for the character of the schoolmarm either, rather sadistic for a typically strict teacher from that period that did resort to extreme punishment.
Summing up, decent but not great. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Like what has been said in some of my previous reviews for previous Oswald cartoons, the 1932 batch of Oswald cartoons, despite being of an uneven overall standard, has generally been far better than the 1931 group, of which only six were above average or more and the rest were average at best and a few less than that. Of the 1932 batch, 'Wins Out' and 'Let's Eat' were mediocre and 'The Winged Horse' was on the forgettable side, but 'Grandma's Pet', 'Beau and Arrows', 'Mechanical Man', 'Carnival Capers' and 'Day Nurse' were good, and 'Cat Nipped', 'The Busy Barber' and 'A Wet Knight' very good. The last two in the batch 'Wild and Woolly' and 'Teacher's Pests' were only decent.
Generally the gags are well timed and executed and a few of them do amuse. Oswald is an as pretty much always likable leading character, as are his classmates.
As to be expected, the animation is good, with a looser and more elaborate style than seen in some of the pre-Lantz (and the Lantz cartoons that were disappointingly animated). It's crisp and fluid enough with some nice detail especially with animation techniques still in early days.
Music is another strength. It has an energetic nature, fits well and is dynamic with the action, then again the music is nearly always good in the Oswald cartoons. Synchronisation is good.
On the other hand, the story is non-existent and merely an excuse to string along the gags, not doing enough with its potentially interesting theme. Perhaps there could have been more gags, there are a few good ones here while others are a bit too predictable and safe, more imagination wouldn't have gone amiss.
Really didn't care for the character of the schoolmarm either, rather sadistic for a typically strict teacher from that period that did resort to extreme punishment.
Summing up, decent but not great. 6/10 Bethany Cox
