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.
Not all the Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons are good representations of Oswald or Lantz, a few for historical interest only. Some are good however. Although one wouldn't think so looking at the low rating, 'The Detective' is one of those good ones and one of the better Lantz Oswald cartoons. It is also on the same level even as the best of the Disney and Winkler eras.
There is the occasional visual crudeness and the pacing occasionally is slightly frenetic.
However, there is very little wrong. The story mostly is less than great in an Oswald cartoon, often the weak spot. 'The Detective' actually manages to be an exception, being more eventful than most. The court setting is intriguing and lots of fun too. The sound quality for a cartoon so old and techniques still in its early days is not as primitive as it could have been. Oswald is very endearing and you do believe in his innocence.
Music is as energetic as ever too. The animation is mostly quite good, a huge improvement over that in the previous cartoon 'The Singing Sap' (which also as a cartoon was very weak). Oswald's movements, expressions and gestures are well done and the detail and smoothness is there. The gags are funny and imaginative and the pacing is mostly lively.
In conclusion, surprisingly good and compares favourably as far as Lantz Oswald cartoons go. 8/10 Bethany Cox