The Oswald the Lucky Rabbit story has not ended and the search for the lost cartoons is not over. We are still diligently hunting for several missing titles. I wanted to post this again since we have new Patreon patrons, some of whom are in Europe.
(Image Caption: A still from the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short THE OLE SWIMMIN’ ‘OLE, which was released on February 6, 1928.)
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was Walt Disney's First Big Success Until He lost the Contract and that Prompted Him to Create Mickey Mouse; the Rest is History!
Mickey Mouse is a ubiquitous s...
2022-01-27 15:22:24 +0000 UTC View Post
I thought you would enjoy this article I wrote on the Mickey Mouse Pocket Knife especially those who like to collect Disney memorabilia. Best, -Dave
2022-01-17 00:41:59 +0000 UTC View PostI am very disappointed that someone ripped the video I put up on my Patreon page. It was published for my subscribers only and I have removed it for now until I can add more security to showing this video. One bad apple ruins it for all!!
2022-01-02 01:08:20 +0000 UTC View Post
This cartoon is a nearly a two-minute clip of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short NECK 'N' NECK, which was located in Japan in 2018. The short is directed by Walt Disney with animation by Hugh Harman and Rollin Hamilton. It is the only known animation available for this Oswald short that was released on January 23, 1928, as...
2021-11-17 18:48:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Africa Before Dark is an animated short released on February 20, 1928, which was produced and directed by Walt Disney. This cartoon was one of many long-lost Oswald shorts. A nearly complete negative was found in 2015 at an Austrian film archive. As you can see from this movie file, the 35mm nitrate negative was in excellent condition and yielde...
2021-09-22 20:16:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I thought you might enjoy seeing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short HIGH UP which was released on August 6, 1928. It was considered lost before its rediscovery in 2017. Running time: 6 mins (approx.) Studio(s): Walt Disney Studio; Winkler Pictures Produced by: Charles Mintz; George Winkler.
Enjoy,
-Dave
2021-09-15 20:21:23 +0000 UTC View PostI thought that you would be interested in reading my latest article, "5 Things You Don’t Know About Imagineer Claude Coats." Coats was the artist behind some of the most stunning backgrounds produced at the Disney studio during the Golden Age of Animation before being handed-picked by Walt Disney, to start the fabled WED Enterprises...
2021-08-09 22:01:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi All,
I thought you would like to see this documentary I made in 2017. It's called Disney Cartoon Camera, and hosted by acclaimed historian Leonard Maltin. The film tracks the history of animation cinematography—from the origins of crude “down shooters” to the first multi-plane camera fashioned out of old ca...
2021-08-03 17:26:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi All,
I know it has been a while since my last post due to the pandemic. I hope that you are doing well and have made it through the craziness of the last year and half in reasonably good shape.
It was a busy year for me and I continued to do research into lost Disney related films. The exciting news is that I have found some...
2021-07-16 22:31:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is wonderful little animated film titled Finding His Voice that was created for the Western Electric Company in 1929. The animation is directed by F. Lyle Goldman and Max Fleischer. The film explains the process of synchronized sound for film. Max Fleischer and his brother Dave are best known for their Koko the Clown, Betty Boop an...
2020-03-16 16:31:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Disney Animator Fred Moore animating a scene for a WWII training film in 1943. He is at his desk in the Animation Building on the Studio lot in Burbank. Note the drawings of Donald Duck and José Carioca pinned up on the desk.
2020-02-08 15:29:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Patreon Supporters,
It has been a terrific year and next year is already shaping up to be wonderful as well. I wanted to take a moment to extend warm wishes to you and yours for the Holiday Season. This past year we were fortunate to find a portion of the Oswald cartoon NECK 'N' NECK and we continued the search for ...
2019-12-14 14:58:26 +0000 UTC View Post
I wanted to share with you all the latest Oswald news. On Monday morning, I got an advance copy of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons Limited-Edition. This edition includes a foreword by Bob Iger, six lithographs (as you can see in the photo) and updated text including images from th...
2019-06-18 14:21:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Over the last several months, I have been researching and writing about some of Disney's WWII films. Some of the films were RESTRICTED or CLASSIFIED when they were made at the studio during the war years. In fact there are a number of WWII films that are not in the Studios film library. These are films that were made under secrecy usually with s...
2019-05-16 22:29:40 +0000 UTC View Post
I wanted to take a moment to write you all a note of thanks for your support over the past year. It has been an exciting twelve months that saw the discovery of NECK 'N' NECK, one of the lost Oswald cartoons. I had the pleasure to authenticate the two minute film that surfaced in Japan and look forward to a restoration and adding a score. At tha...
2018-12-22 18:02:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Over the last week, I authenticated a two minute chunk of the Lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short, NECK 'N' NECK. I was able to do this by matching the screen action with the written scene description of the short listed in my book, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons. The image above is a still from the film. It will be...
2018-09-30 23:05:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Max Fleischer was one of the early pioneers of animated cartoons and headed the Fleischer Studios with his brother. He is known for Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye, and Superman and was responsible for a number of technological innovations. One of these was the Rotoscope, a technique in which animators trace over live-action film ...
2018-05-16 22:34:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Because of all of you, we were able to restore ALICE'S LITTLE PARADE and add a music score to it. This was no small task and took a lot of time and effort to make it happen. The digital scans of 16mm and 35mm prints were sourced from Tommy Jose Stathers and the restoration work was done in Michigan by Steve Stanchfield and his team. While the resto...
2018-04-10 20:58:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Alice’s Little Parade was first released on February 1, 1926, and was part of the Alice Comedies series directed by Walt Disney. The series, which consists of 57 silent shorts made between 1923 and 1927, was created by Walt and animator Ub Iwerks. The film stars Margie Davis, the second of the four girls who played Alice t...
2018-03-05 17:03:59 +0000 UTC View Post
I wanted to let you all know that the re-premiere of ALICE'S LITTLE PARADE with a score by Mark Watters went very well. Those of you at the Executive Producer and Producer levels received screen credit for you level of support, as you can see from the image above, which was added to the end of the film. The credits were created more than a month ag...
2018-02-28 19:14:06 +0000 UTC View Post
On Saturday, February 10, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 11, 2018 @ 2:00 p.m. the Riverside Philharmonic Presents “Animatus Eventus” an all animation program with live musical accompaniment. It will feature the premiere of Mark Watters’ original score for a newly restored Alice’s Little Parade, comp...
2018-01-20 14:01:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi Everyone,
I hope that you're having a great holiday season. The restoration on Alice's Little Parade is progressing along nicely and I want to share a before and after image so that you can see the significant work being done on the film. Note the original scan on the left and the damage, which is repaired on the right. It's very exciting to s...
2017-12-30 18:31:04 +0000 UTC View Post
I wanted to let you all know that we are moving forward with the restoration of Alice’s Little Parade and it is being funded mostly through this Patreon campaign. So, you should be very proud to be a part of saving some film history!! Composer Mark Watters is working on the score and this will be performed with a live orchestra in ...
2017-10-20 14:19:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Adam Jewitt, one of our supporters of this Patreon project to find lost Oswald and Alice Comedies, created this wonderful poster to help promote this effort. I love the fact that participates are taking such an interest and this is what is so great about creating a community of individuals who are interested in finding these lost cartoons and savin...
2017-09-22 14:27:46 +0000 UTC View Post
I am back from a two-week vacation in Maine and wanted to give you all an update. Here is a short clip from Alice's Little Parade. It is part of a recently acquired copy of the film, located by collector Tommy José Stathes. As you can see from this clip, there is some damage that will need to be fixed and that is what we are going t...
2017-09-20 16:34:22 +0000 UTC View PostHi All,
I wanted to keep you up to date. We will begin restoration on Alice's Little Parade in early October thanks to your participation. The goal is to have that finished by years end. We have already had discussions about having a score created and the potential screening of the completed restoration in February '18.
More to ...
2017-08-30 17:47:55 +0000 UTC View Post
