Oh Teacher

For anyone interested in the history of animated cartoons, this is a fascinating glimpse of early Disney work. It is not a classic, but nevertheless full of clever and amusing moments. Given the fact that there was no sound track (though the version I saw had music and minimal sounds) and very few words written on screen, the story-telling is amazingly clear. The sight gags are delightful, some of them clearly inspired by (or stolen from) Chaplin and other silent-movie comic geniuses. But what Disney understood right from the beginning is how to use the medium of drawn animation to go far beyond what real-life comedians could do on screen. One example: when one character yells "HELP", the letters of the word kick Oswald to get his attention and point toward the damsel in distress to direct him. Even Chaplin couldn't have come up with a sight gag of that kind.

When you think of Disney, you most likely think of Mickey Mouse. You might not know that the most famous cartoon character of all was not that studio's first creation. Prior to him, Disney created a character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who looked a bit like Mickey. He starred in a number of shorts but eventually disappeared as Mickey became Disney's number one star.

One of Oswald's shorts was 1927's "Oh Teacher", wherein he has a series of zany adventures on the way to school. By which I mean that this cartoon's idea of physics would give Neil deGrasse Tyson a heart attack. The wackiness in this cartoon makes it all the more surprising that over the next decade, ol' Walt would try to make the cartoons more lifelike. Either way, it's a fairly entertaining short, if nothing special (my favorite cartoon characters are the Looney Tunes).

Available on Wikipedia.

Before I comment on this film, I should probably tell some of you who are unaware of Oswald the Rabbit. He was created by Walt Disney in 1927 before Mickey Mouse. In fact, he may have been the inspiration for Mickey because he has similar physical characteristics. If you take Mickey Mouse, stretch out his ears, and give him a fluffy tail then you'll have Oswald the Rabbit. A year later, however, another animator took him away from Disney and that's when Disney came up with the idea for Mickey.

Anyway, in this short, Oswald is taking his girlfriend to school in his scooter. He runs into Pete who has just missed the schoolbus. They crash into a lake and Pete attempts to save Oswald's girlfriend. At recess, Pete and Oswald get into a fight and Oswald's package that Pete threw up on the roof falls on Pete and knocks him out.

Although Disney had Oswald taken away from him, he still had Pete. Pete is the oldest of the modern Disney characters who started off in the "Alice Comedies."

For its time this was an excellent cartoon. It was the second of the Oswald series, and features Black Pete, who later became Peg Leg Pete in Mickey Mouse cartoons.

The version I have seen had music and limited vocal sound added in 1932. I found it more enjoyable to view with the sound turned off.

Entirely black and white with gray in shadowing and, originally, no sound, this cartoon shows the early genius of Walt Disney Studios.

Although the plot is limited, the cartoon is able to rely on the sight gags that made the early Mickey Mouse cartoons famous.

For those not familiar with early Disney Cartoons, a viewing of Oswald will give a good idea of the early history of Mickey.

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 still pretty good 'Trolley Troubles', the third Oswald cartoon (his debuting cartoon 'Poor Papa' being very much rare) is an improvement, it's crazier, wittier, more inspired and takes more risks. Sure the story is still very limited structurally and Oswald's girlfriend is pretty annoying.

Animation is not bad at all 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 add a lot rather than distract, actually improving the cartoon's impact and making things easier to understand.

Most of the gags work very well in 'Oh Teacher', the timing is more consistent and the humour is wonderfully crazy and witty. Oswald is an endearing protagonist and the Pete-like nemesis is every bit as fun, their conflict is the driving force of the cartoon and one of its high points.

Overall, good fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox