Puppet Show (film)

Last updated
Puppet Show
Directed by Walter Lantz
Story byWalter Lantz
Victor McLeod
Produced byWalter Lantz
Starring Billy Bletcher [1]
Music byJames Dietrich
Animation byManuel Moreno
Color processB&W
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • November 2, 1936 (1936-11-02)
Running time
8 min.
Language English

Puppet Show is a 1936 short film from Walter Lantz Productions and stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. [2] Unlike most shorts made by the studio, the film employs both animation and live-action.

Contents

Storyline

Oswald, still depicted in the white fur he got fourteen cartoons ago, is putting up a marionette puppet show. The first act consists of an Arab man attempting to charm a snake out of the basket. The second act shows a pair of Spanish dancers. The third act features an African American quartet: one playing the piano, one singing while sitting on it, and two doing tap dancing. Things were going well for Oswald until a bee disturbingly hovers around him. The bunny tries to shoo away the insect, only to end up getting stung in the rear. Oswald then jumps off his stool in pain and quickly moves backward. After colliding the wall behind the stage, a vase drops on his head, putting the daylights out of him. For several minutes, the rabbit remains out cold, leaving his puppets lying on the stage.

Oswald dreams about two of his puppets, the African American tap dancers, being alive. After being kept in an auditorium for a long time with no one to play with them, one of the puppets expresses desire to freely wander the world. The other, however, warns that the outside may not be safe and that they can't do much unless someone moves their strings. The freedom-hungry puppet does not buy the advice and therefore makes the move.

The puppet sets foot just outside the auditorium. He tries to dance but his moves are limited. Realizing the truth of one of the things said by his friend, the puppet attached a pack of balloons onto the holder of his strings. Thus he was able to dance better and goes on into the outside world.

The outside world visited by the puppet is populated with living toys who were intrigued to see someone suspending on strings. While he wanders, a hostile doll from afar shoots arrows at his balloons. With each one bursting, he loses control of his limbs. Finally crippled, the other toys recognize he's a puppet. The prejudiced toys express their hatred to puppets and declare "we'll saw you into blocks of wood". They tie the puppet to a table where he is about to be cut in half by a circular saw.

At last, Oswald wakes up from his slumber. He quickly returns above the stage, picks up his puppets, and continues the show.

Reception

Motion Picture Herald (Oct 17, 1936): "The outstanding feature in this edition of Oswald's adventures is the exhibition of some skillful puppet work. Used as a background for the antics of the comic rabbit, such delightful puppetry lends a novel note of entertainment". [3]

National Exhibitor (Nov 5, 1936): "The endeavor to do something different results this time in Oswald the cartoon character pulling cartoon strings of real photographed puppets, in the manner of Max Fleischer's old Out of the Inkwell series. The novelty is refreshing but the entertainment is so-so". [3]

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmer the Great Dane</span> Fictional character

Elmer the Great Dane is a Walter Lantz character in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon series, who premiered in the 1935 short Elmer the Great Dane. The character's name is most likely a reference to Elmer, the Great, a 1933 film.

<i>Five and Dime</i> 1933 film

Five and Dime is a 1933 cartoon short by Walter Lantz Productions and stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 74th Oswald short produced by Lantz and the 125th overall.

<i>Africa</i> (1930 film) African American 1930 filmings

Africa is a 1930 Walter Lantz cartoon short featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

<i>Mechanical Man</i> (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit) 1932 film

Mechanical Man is a 1932 cartoon short by Walter Lantz that features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 54th Oswald short by Lantz and the 107th in the entire series.

<i>Henpecked</i> 1930 film

Henpecked is a 1930 animated short produced by Walter Lantz that features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Lovesick is a 1937 cartoon produced by Walter Lantz Productions featuring the later, post-1935 white-furred version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, together with his dog Doxie the dachshund.

<i>The Navy</i> (film) 1930 film

The Navy is a 1930 short animated film produced by Walter Lantz and as part of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons.

<i>Sky Larks</i> 1934 film

Sky Larks is a 1934 animated short produced by Walter Lantz Productions and is part of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series.

Oil's Well is a 1929 short animated film starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and produced by Walter Lantz Productions. It is the 2nd Lantz Oswald film and the 54th in the entire series.

Spooks is a 1930 animated short subject produced by Walter Lantz and stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

<i>The Hunter</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

The Hunter is a 1931 short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions and stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 48th Oswald short of the Lantz era and the 100th in the entire series.

<i>The Merry Old Soul</i> 1933 film

The Merry Old Soul is a 1933 animated short film by Walter Lantz Productions, as part of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. The cartoon was nominated for an Academy Award.

<i>Carnival Capers</i> 1932 film

Carnival Capers is a 1932 animated short film featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 65th Oswald cartoon by Walter Lantz Productions and the 117th in the entire series.

<i>Wax Works</i> 1934 film

Wax Works is a 1934 animated short subject by Walter Lantz and features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

<i>The Bandmaster</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

The Bandmaster is a 1931 short film by Walter Lantz Productions, starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. As with a few films from the series, the cartoon is in the public domain. A similarly titled short, also produced by Lantz in 1947, is still under copyright however.

Radio Rhythm is a 1931 short animated film featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is among the vast majority of Oswald cartoons produced by Walter Lantz Productions. It is the 45th Lantz Oswald cartoon and the 97th cartoon in total.

<i>The Winged Horse</i> 1932 film

The Winged Horse, also known by its reissue title of The Wing Horse, is a theatrical short cartoon by Walter Lantz Productions, featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 59th Oswald short produced by Lantz's studio and the 112th to feature the character.

<i>The Toy Shoppe</i> 1934 film

The Toy Shoppe is a 1934 short animated film produced by Walter Lantz Productions and is one of the many with the character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. While the film was originally released in black and white, a colorized version was released in 1984.

Ye Happy Pilgrims is a 1934 short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions, starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In a reissue, the film was retitled The Happy Pilgrims.

Wild and Woolly is a 1932 American Western short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions. It stars Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

References

  1. ↑ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices from the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 208. ISBN   979-8-88771-010-5.
  2. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 115–116. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7.
  3. 1 2 Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 200. ISBN   978-0810832503.
  4. ↑ "The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1936". The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
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.