Empty Socks

Last updated

Empty Socks
Empty Socks Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Walt Disney
Ub Iwerks
Written byWalt Disney
Produced by Charles Mintz
George Winkler
Animation by Hugh Harman
Rollin Hamilton
Production
companies
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • December 12, 1927 (1927-12-12)
Running time
5:30
CountryUnited States
Language Silent with English intertitles

Empty Socks is a 1927 short animated film made by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks that was considered a lost film until its rediscovery in Norway in 2014. [1] The film stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. [2]

Contents

Plot

Oswald on a sleigh Oswald empty socks 03.jpg
Oswald on a sleigh

Oswald pretends to be Santa Claus with his horse and visits his girlfriend/wife, Ortensia, who is in an orphanage. Oswald asks his horse to stretch its neck and sees that Ortensia was telling a Christmas story to 20 kittens. Oswald gets off his horse like a playground slide and puts on what was missing from his body, a Santa Claus beard, and Oswald looks at his horse and also fantasizes him as a Santa's reindeer, placing on his head two branches that were on the ground. Oswald whistles at Ortensia and she takes advantage of the fact that the kittens are asleep and sneaks away. The kittens hear Ortensia leaving and follow her. Oswald puts up a ladder in the orphanage and tries to ride his horse up, but his horse is in a pose that caused him to fall. Oswald doesn't like this at all, but then he puts the horse in another pose and they manage to get on. Oswald tries to get in through the chimney, but it looked like two more cups and he couldn't get in, but Oswald makes him thinner and he manages to get in.

Ortensia tells Oswald to be quiet and the horse enters as well. The two tell the horse to be quiet and he walks slowly but in a strange movement, until the horse stumbles and falls to the ground, which knocks over a clock and a bottle in the distance. Oswald and Ortensia get irritated and the horse slips and falls to the ground again and the two get even more irritated and send him be quiet looking at the wall. All the happy kittens look at the door and Oswald pulls a Christmas tree out of his bag.

One of the kittens, who is in pajamas, tries to go down a ladder, but a part of his pajamas falls off, which shows his bottom, and he falls down all the steps, which causes him to be in pain.

Three kittens are playing firefighter, with two firefighters and one victim, who has a real fire. when the firemen arrive, the other one runs to a sink and attaches the hose to the spout of the faucet. One of them asks for water to come out of the hose and the other firefighter turns on the faucet and no water comes out of the hose, he looks at the hose and he takes a shower of water and cannot get the hose back. When he manages to get the hose back, no water comes out again. He calls the other firefighter, pulls the hose forward and water comes out. The fire grows, becoming a blaze and a fire appears in the shape of a hand and grabs one of the firefighters.

All the kittens run from the orphanage and Oswald grabs another hose to throw at the fire. A kitten comes up with the idea to trick Oswald by putting the hose in gasoline and when Oswald shoots it, there is a huge explosion. The house is totally destroyed and Oswald falls from the sky and his butt starts to catch fire and (it had a cut scene) and the film ends.

Production background

The film was directed by Walt Disney while his studio was under contract by Winkler Productions. This short is considered Disney's first Christmas-themed cartoon. Mickey's Orphans (1931) is considered a remake of Empty Socks with a similar story line. [3]

Rediscovery

In December 2014, an almost complete copy of the film, missing about 30 seconds, was discovered in Mo i Rana, Norway. Previously, the only known fragment was a 25-second segment housed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. [1] The original short ran about 5:30. The print of Empty Socks was found with a copy of the Oswald cartoon Tall Timber (1928).

The print of Empty Socks belonged to a private individual, before being donated to the collection of the Norwegian Film Institute, which handed over its archive to the National Library of Norway. The library stores most of its documents in a high-security bunker in Mo i Rana. [3]

On December 17, a digitized version of the recovered nitrate film was shown at the National Library of Norway, along with Tall Timber . [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswald the Lucky Rabbit</span> Early animated Disney character

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio. After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse, who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnie Mouse</span> Disney cartoon character

Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue polka-dotted dress, white bloomers and low-heeled shoes occasionally with ribbons on them. The Mickey Mouse comic strip story "The Gleam" by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson first gave her full name as Minerva Mouse, although this is seldom used.

<i>Christmas Comes But Once a Year</i> 1936 cartoon

Christmas Comes But Once a Year is a 1936 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and released on December 4, 1936 by Paramount Pictures. It is part of the Color Classics series. The cartoon features Professor Grampy, a character from the Betty Boop series; this is the character's only appearance without Betty. An edited version was featured during the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special in 1988, as the featured short shown by the King of Cartoons.

<i>Lend a Paw</i> 1941 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Lend a Paw is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and released to theaters on October 3, 1941. Lend a Paw was directed by Clyde Geronimi and features original music by Leigh Harline. George Nicholas, Kenneth Muse, Nick Nichols, William Sturm, Eric Gurney, Norman Tate, Chick Otterstrom, Morey Reden, and Emery Hawkins animated the film. The voice cast includes Walt Disney as Mickey and Teddy Barr as Pluto. It was the 115th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the sixth for that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rubber hose animation</span> Style defined by limbs that are simple curves

Rubber hose animation was the first animation style that became standardized in the American animation field. The defining feature is a curving motion that most animated objects possess, resembling the motion and physical properties of a rubber hose. While the style fell out of fashion by the mid-1930s, it has seen a renewed interest in recent years.

<i>Building a Building</i> 1933 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Building a Building is a 1933 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Production and released by United Artists. A remake of the 1928 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film Sky Scrappers, the cartoon depicts Mickey Mouse working at a construction site under the supervision of Peg-Leg Pete while Minnie Mouse is selling box lunches to the workers. It was directed by David Hand, his first directorial assignment at Disney, and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey, Marcellite Garner as Minnie, and Pinto Colvig as Pete. It was the 51st Mickey Mouse short film, and the first of that year.

<i>The Mechanical Cow</i> 1927 film by Walt Disney

The Mechanical Cow is an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon from 1927. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. The cartoon was re-released by Walter Lantz Productions in 1932 with music and sound effects added.

<i>Drip Dippy Donald</i> 1948 Donald Duck cartoon

Drip Dippy Donald is a seven-minute Donald Duck cartoon made by the Walt Disney Company in 1948. The Technicolor cartoon was released by Walt Disney Productions, and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon was directed by the Disney animator Jack King.

<i>Sick Cylinders</i> 1929 film

Sick Cylinders is a 1929 animated short film by Winkler Productions which stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is among the few surviving Oswald films from the Winkler era.

<i>Mickeys Orphans</i> 1931 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Mickey's Orphans is a 1931 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Columbia Pictures. The cartoon takes place during Christmas time and stars Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Pluto, who take in a group of disruptive and mischievous kittens. It is directed by Burt Gillett and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey and Marcellite Garner as Minnie. It was the 36th Mickey Mouse film, the twelfth of that year.

<i>Mickeys Good Deed</i> 1932 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Mickey's Good Deed is a 1932 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. Set during the Christmas season and the contemporary Great Depression, the cartoon centers on Mickey's act of charity to bring Christmas to a poor family. The film was directed by Burt Gillett and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey and Pinto Colvig as Pluto. It was the 50th Mickey Mouse short, and the 14th of that year.

Grandma's Pet is an animated short film by Walter Lantz Productions and is part of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. It is the 53rd Lantz Oswald cartoon and the 106th cartoon overall.

Kounty Fair is a 1930 animated cartoon released by Universal Pictures starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Chaser on the Rocks is a 1965 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies theatrical animated short directed by Rudy Larriva. The short was released on December 25, 1965, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a pun on the phrase: "Water on the Rocks".

<i>Get a Horse!</i> 2013 Mickey Mouse cartoon

Get a Horse! is a 2013 American animated comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Lauren MacMullan. Combining black-and-white hand-drawn animation and color computer animation, the short features the characters of the late 1920s Mickey Mouse cartoons.

<i>Oh What a Knight</i> 1928 film

Oh What a Knight is an American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and released in 1928 by Universal Pictures. The film features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit trying to save his girlfriend Ortensia from her strict father, Pete, using unusual fighting skills, including him using his own shadow.

Going to Blazes is a 1933 short animated film and one of many starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The film is the 70th Oswald short by Walter Lantz Productions and the 122nd in the entire series.

<i>Fire Chief</i> (film) 1940 Donald Duck cartoon

Fire Chief is a 1940 Disney cartoon starring Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

<i>The Fire Fighters</i> (1930 film) 1930 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Fire Fighters is a Mickey Mouse short animated film first released on June 20, 1930, as part of the Mickey Mouse film series. It was the nineteenth Mickey Mouse short to be produced, the fourth of that year.

References

  1. 1 2 "Lost 1927 Disney Christmas film found in Norway". The Guardian . December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  2. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 40. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7.
  3. 1 2 Koch, Dave (December 12, 2014). "Lost Disney Cartoon Found... In Norway". Big Cartoon News. Archived from the original on December 14, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Visning av animasjonsfilmene Empty Socks (1927) og Tall Timber (1928)" . Retrieved December 18, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.