Disney fanatics know all about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney's first popular cartoon animal hero. For the uninitiated, this character was created by Disney and Ub Iwerks, and they made 20+ successful Oswald cartoons in 1927 and 1928. This is not one of the more original or inventive Oswald cartoons, but it's very well animated and, even at this early date, features unmistakable Disney-quality characters and stock gags. In this one, Oswald hops the bandwagon and joins the army. They're sent to what seems like a WWI trench-based battle against Germany where the bombs fly and Oswald pines away for his bunny girlfriend back home. It's a little frantic, but still entertaining. I especially enjoyed seeing Oswald attempt to strangle what looks a lot like a very early Mickey Mouse prototype, since this kind of explicit cartoon violence would soon disappear from Disney's later, more family-oriented fare.
Review of Great Guns
