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The gold tin says it all.
Another thing that strikes you as you watch these 1927 cartoons is the amount of violence (lots of kicking to the stomach, etc.) and "lip-lock." Old Oswald is forever planting a big one on his sweetie, and the two of them put together some pretty torrid smooches for a couple of hand-drawn bunnies. One of the cartoons, "Oh, What a Knight," has some clever gags and allusions to Douglas Fairbanks' swashbucklers, as when Oswald leaves his swashbuckler's shadow to do the fighting for him while he goes to his rabbit-in-distress girlfriend for another kiss. Umm, he is, after all, a rabbit.
Featured are six cartoons from 1927 ("Trolley Troubles," "Oh, Teacher," "The Mechanical Cow," "Great Guns!" "All Wet," "The Ocean Hop") and seven from early 1928 ("Rival Romeos," "Bright Lights," "Ozzie of the Mounted," "Oh What a Knight," "Sky Scrappers," "The Fox Chase," "Tall Timber"). New silent-movie-era music from composer Robert Israel accompanies the cartoons, played by the Robert Israel Orchestra.
Video:
These are rough artifacts, and there are moments when you see smudges that appear and then disappear. The cartoons have been cleaned up, but they still show their age and their much-traveled provenance. That said, even the animators who offer up the commentary talk about what a gorgeous print we're seeing. "Bright Lights" looks especially sharp. The quality of the bonus features is pretty decent, considering the images we're working with (I especially loved seeing an early photo of a 25-year-old Disney with his crew of cartoonists). The aspect ratio is, not surprisingly, 1.33:1 on this two-disc set.
Audio:
The audio is a function Dolby Digital 2.0, which doesn't dazzle but also doesn't disappoint. It's just there, rather than being something you notice either for good or for bad. I don't know what more to say, except that the musical backgrounds to the cartoons are nicely mixed and modulated so that there's a pleasing balance of treble and bass which still evokes a silent-era soundtrack (without the scratches, hiss, and pop).
Extras:
Disc one features the Oswald cartoon shorts and "Oswald Comes Home," a short feature about how this treasure was lost and regained. It's a splendid feature that I'd recommend watching first, before you ever take a look at the cartoons. There are six cartoon-specific commentaries as well, but once you've seen "Oswald Comes Home" and the full-length feature on disc two, these commentaries really aren't as engaging and informative as you'd hope. Mostly it's "here's what we're watching," with the animators talking about composition and Maltin trying to fit in a comment or two. Animator Mark Kausler provides commentaries for "The Ocean Hop," "Oh, Teacher," and (with Leonard Maltin) "Oh What a Knight." Jerry Beck does commentaries for "The Fox Chase," "Ozzie of the Mounted," and (with Maltin) "Bright Lights"). A rough "Sagebrush Sadie" Oswald fragment is included, along with still galleries.
Disc two has a full-length feature on "The Hand Behind the Mouse: the Ub Iwerks Story," a 1999 documentary filmed by Iwerks' granddaughter, Leslie, who produced and directed "The Pixar Story" this past year. It's a top-drawer feature that tells the whole story. And when we see how Iwerks left Disney to start his own operation in 1930 but returned to the fold eight years later after it went under, you begin to realize how these men were destined to be a team--how each needed the other. To Leslie Iwerks' credit, the documentary seems as much about the history of early animation as it does an attempt to give grandpa his due.
Also on disc two are those before and after Oswald cartoons: three from the Alice series ("Alice Gets Stung," "Alice in the Wooly West," "Alice's Balloon Race") and three early Mickey cartoons ("Plane Crazy," "Steamboat Willie," "Skeleton Dance").
As with most of the releases in this tin-boxed series, there's a handsome booklet that gives you a full menu, along with various advertisements and a suitable-for-framing postcard that shows some early images of the pencil-drawn Oswald (and reminds us that this was the "first Disney character licensed to merchandisers. The floppy-eared rabbit appeared on candy bars, a stencil set and a pin-back button." A replica of that button is included.
Bottom Line:
I don't know how much value this set holds for the casual lover of cartoons, but it's essential for those who have an interest in the history of animation. Given the importance of Oswald to the Disney empire, the gold tin couldn't be more appropriate.
Featured are six cartoons from 1927 ("Trolley Troubles," "Oh, Teacher," "The Mechanical Cow," "Great Guns!" "All Wet," "The Ocean Hop") and seven from early 1928 ("Rival Romeos," "Bright Lights," "Ozzie of the Mounted," "Oh What a Knight," "Sky Scrappers," "The Fox Chase," "Tall Timber"). New silent-movie-era music from composer Robert Israel accompanies the cartoons, played by the Robert Israel Orchestra.
Video:
These are rough artifacts, and there are moments when you see smudges that appear and then disappear. The cartoons have been cleaned up, but they still show their age and their much-traveled provenance. That said, even the animators who offer up the commentary talk about what a gorgeous print we're seeing. "Bright Lights" looks especially sharp. The quality of the bonus features is pretty decent, considering the images we're working with (I especially loved seeing an early photo of a 25-year-old Disney with his crew of cartoonists). The aspect ratio is, not surprisingly, 1.33:1 on this two-disc set.
Audio:
The audio is a function Dolby Digital 2.0, which doesn't dazzle but also doesn't disappoint. It's just there, rather than being something you notice either for good or for bad. I don't know what more to say, except that the musical backgrounds to the cartoons are nicely mixed and modulated so that there's a pleasing balance of treble and bass which still evokes a silent-era soundtrack (without the scratches, hiss, and pop).
Extras:
Disc one features the Oswald cartoon shorts and "Oswald Comes Home," a short feature about how this treasure was lost and regained. It's a splendid feature that I'd recommend watching first, before you ever take a look at the cartoons. There are six cartoon-specific commentaries as well, but once you've seen "Oswald Comes Home" and the full-length feature on disc two, these commentaries really aren't as engaging and informative as you'd hope. Mostly it's "here's what we're watching," with the animators talking about composition and Maltin trying to fit in a comment or two. Animator Mark Kausler provides commentaries for "The Ocean Hop," "Oh, Teacher," and (with Leonard Maltin) "Oh What a Knight." Jerry Beck does commentaries for "The Fox Chase," "Ozzie of the Mounted," and (with Maltin) "Bright Lights"). A rough "Sagebrush Sadie" Oswald fragment is included, along with still galleries.
Disc two has a full-length feature on "The Hand Behind the Mouse: the Ub Iwerks Story," a 1999 documentary filmed by Iwerks' granddaughter, Leslie, who produced and directed "The Pixar Story" this past year. It's a top-drawer feature that tells the whole story. And when we see how Iwerks left Disney to start his own operation in 1930 but returned to the fold eight years later after it went under, you begin to realize how these men were destined to be a team--how each needed the other. To Leslie Iwerks' credit, the documentary seems as much about the history of early animation as it does an attempt to give grandpa his due.
Also on disc two are those before and after Oswald cartoons: three from the Alice series ("Alice Gets Stung," "Alice in the Wooly West," "Alice's Balloon Race") and three early Mickey cartoons ("Plane Crazy," "Steamboat Willie," "Skeleton Dance").
As with most of the releases in this tin-boxed series, there's a handsome booklet that gives you a full menu, along with various advertisements and a suitable-for-framing postcard that shows some early images of the pencil-drawn Oswald (and reminds us that this was the "first Disney character licensed to merchandisers. The floppy-eared rabbit appeared on candy bars, a stencil set and a pin-back button." A replica of that button is included.
Bottom Line:
I don't know how much value this set holds for the casual lover of cartoons, but it's essential for those who have an interest in the history of animation. Given the importance of Oswald to the Disney empire, the gold tin couldn't be more appropriate.
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[release]22760[/release]