I just watched the first two Oswald cartoons (directed by Walt Disney for Universal Studios) and noticed that this second one (OH, TEACHER) is a bit better than TROLLEY TROUBLE--mostly because it has a crazier and more rule-breaking attitude than the first. For example, when one character (the bully) has a giant question mark appear above his head as he thinks, he pulls it down and uses it to attack Oswald. And, when Oswald yells 'help', he uses this giant word to ride like a pony! Pretty weird stuff.The film begins with kids all going to school and catching the bus. Oswald and his girlfriend are also on the way to school when the bully steps in and steals the girl. The girl rabbit is pretty annoying, as she likes the bully because of this. By the end of the film, it appears as if Oswald has beaten up the bully and his lady friend once again adores him. What a screwed up and unwholesome girl!! Overall, this silent film has very good production values for 1927. The version I saw had added sound effects and music--something not originally available when the cartoon debuted. Oddly, however, the cartoon speed is a bit too slow and varies considerably--showing that perhaps they sped and slowed the cartoon to better synchronize with the sounds.

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.

In this Disney Oswald short, the rabbit is, it seems, an elementary school student about to take his fellow rabbit girlfriend on a bike ride to the learning place. A fellow cat student is his rival for the girl. There are plenty of gags inspired by the Felix the Cat cartoon series like a question mark over the cat's head used to become a rope or string in order to trip Oswald or the word 'help' (from the girlfriend's scream after falling in the water) used by the rabbit to ride like a bike, after losing his, in order to rescue her. Another funny outing from the master of animation before Mickey Mouse put him on the map for good. Well worth seeing for Disney and animation fans in general.

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."