Oswald The Lucky Rabbit - Trolley Troubles

 

This is the first in the series of Oswald animations, Trolley Troubles.  From the name I thought it would involve a shopping trolley but that it just from my preconception of words these days as I didn't think that back in the day train carts were called trolleys.  I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this short compared to my reaction when I had watched other early animations.  I really liked that it opened with an establishing shot of the railway line but I was also surprised that the in opening credits you can clearly see Walt Disney's name but not the name of Ub or the other animators or the people in the drawing crew.   

I really liked the way that even though the characters actions are clearly looped they are all doing a different movement which for this early on is quite a big step.  I loved that even though it is a silent film; I watched it withouth the sound that was added later and then with the sound.  Overall I enjoyed both versions and I think that as sound wasn't available at the time the short was made it allowed the movements to be so well made that it is just as strong without the soundtrack as well as with it in my opinion. The over characterisation of all things included was what Disney wanted Ub to include was so well done at times it did make me laugh at times.  Most of the movements are quite simplistic and so you can begin to guess what will happen but I still loved it and i'm sure audiences of the time were quite surprised at the level of detail for back then and the actions that are obviously not realistic such as the train widening or shrinking and consciously controlling the movements of the wheels so that they know to avoid the bumps in the tracks.  It's very easy to see why audiences of the time were hooked but the short series.  Given that hindsight is 20/20 its very easy to say now that I can see elements of Micky Mouse in Oswald the Rabbit in the way that he moves and interacts with objects and beings such as the cow and the style of both characters are so identifiable as Ub Iwerks drawings and that elements of his character went into his drawn characters.  

References:

laughland (2006) Oswald The Luck Rabbit Trolley Troubles. [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9LmDpMO2k0 [Accessed: Sunday 8th January 2012].

Google Search (n.d.) Oswald The Lucky Rabbit Image. [image online] Available at: http://media.monstersandcritics.com/articles/1382256/article_images/oswald2.jpg [Accessed: Sunday 8th January 2012].