Al agua, pato

In the early 1920s, Walt Disney tried opening his own cartoon studio and it failed. So, by the late 20s (just before he hit it big with Mickey and his new studio) Walt was working for Universal Studio making Oswald cartoons. Although he created the character, the studio decided that the way to make the cartoon series viable was to cut costs. And, when Walt refused to take a 20% pay cut, the studio hired other folks to make the cartoons--and Disney (in a GREAT move) opened his own studio bearing his name--and became world famous! In this installment of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, our hero is on the beach selling very strange hot dogs! Later, he sees a cute lady rabbit but she isn't interested--that is, not until he pretends to be a life guard. Then, to get his attention, she rows out into dangerous water and it's up to plucky Oswald to save her...and give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Overall, a decent little cartoon but far from Disney's best.

The first part is pretty good as Oswald tries to sell sentient hot dogs. The sausages have minds of their own and try to escape. One dog buys one and releases the little guy when he tells his sob story. The rest is the usual involvement with a female where Oswald gives up everything to chase a petulant lady. He dons lifeguard's gear, even thought he is totally incompetent as a swimmer. Pretty typical animation for the time.

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 Disney characters (like Mickey, Donald and Goofy) and those from Looney Tunes. It is a shame as, while not cartoon masterpieces, they are fascinating for anybody wanting to see what very old animation looked like and what Disney animation was like before Mickey arrived on the scene.

After the previous four cartoons ranging from decent ('Trolley Troubles') to very good (the other three but 'The Mechanical Cow' and 'Great Guns!' in particular), even if none of them are cartoon masterpieces, while still watchable 'All Wet' was a disappointment and easily the weakest at that point.

The animation is good on the other hand, for a cartoon so old and techniques still in early days, it's crisp and fluid enough with some nice detail (sure there are some rough spots understandably especially with Disney animation becoming much more refined later). The added soundtrack and sound effects (the 1927-1928 Oswald cartoons being silent) add a lot rather than distract, actually improving the cartoon's impact and making things easier to understand.

Oswald is very endearing still, and the "HELP!" gag is a funny moment in a cartoon with the laughs too far and between. The sound isn't static and the cartoon is cute enough without being saccharine.

However, the story is slight, unimaginative and very predictable, with the pacing also being rather too hectic.

'All Wet' is also rather low on laughs and what there is is not particularly funny other than the one aforementioned, and the lady rabbit a bit bland.

In summary, watchable if disappointing. Worth checking out but Oswald has done better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Disney's 100-year celebrations have led to several more of classic animated shorts arriving on Disney Plus. This one, from 1927, is so old it predates Mickey Mouse and was made, by Disney Brothers animation studio, for distribution by Universal.

Oswald is selling (apparently sentient) hotdogs on the beach until a girl he likes joins him there. He then poses as a lifeguard to try and impress her. The girl decides to test him, rowing a boat out to see and calling for help, but they she's attacked by a large fish. Oswald then has to genuinely save her but is thwarted by the strong current and choppy waves.

So, it does start off a bit weird - both with the sentient hotdogs and the fact that Oswald rips his ears off to try and subdue them. It's perhaps a bit funnier though, than things would get under the full House of Mouse eras, and a tiny bit more 'pre-code' than it otherwise might have been. (Only a tiny bit mind).

It's a restored version on Disney Plus - and I think it holds up pretty well, with the music being a particularly good aspect of it.

Not all the shorts I watched here, even the classic era ones, have been great, but this one was honestly pretty good.