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 animation characters. It is a shame as, while not cartoon masterpieces, they are fascinating for anybody wanting to see what very old animation looked like.

Not all the Walter Lantz cartoons are bad, 'Permanent Wave' for example is perfect proof of that, but some of them are not good representations of Oswald or Lantz and for historical interest only. 'Hurdy Gurdy' is not one of their worst (it's no 'Permanent Wave' but it's a marginal improvement over the first two Lantz Oswald cartoons, which were very poor), but it is not a patch on the best of the Disney and Winkler era Oswald cartoons and both Oswald and Lantz have had much better cartoons.

'Hurdy Gurdy' is mainly to be seen for historical interest, notable for its experimental early foray into sound. This experiment does come off quite well, with the sound for a cartoon so old and techniques still in its early days is not as primitive as it could have been. It is agreed too that most of the gags are fun and inventive.

The music is as energetic as ever too, and Oswald, while having much better material and deserving of it, is still pretty endearing.

On the other hand, even for an Oswald cartoon (which are not exactly to be seen for their stories), to say that the story is flimsy is an understatement, it's barely there that it's easy to say that there isn't one. Some of the synchronisation is sloppy, and a couple of the gags could have been significantly sharper.

Unusually, the animation is not great when most of the time in Oswald cartoons it's good. It's crudely drawn, the transitions has a tendency to look choppy and incomplete and the backgrounds lack detail and yes primitive.

In summary, only okay at best. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Animation is a form of visual storytelling that involves creating visual art and motion through the use of various techniques and technologies. In animation, images are manipulated to create the illusion of movement, bringing characters, objects, and environments to life. Animation can encompass a wide range of styles, themes, and intended audiences, making it a diverse and versatile form of storytelling.

Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

A Universal Oswald animated short. Oswald takes the place of a monkey after his bubble gum engulfs the organ grinder's little dancer.

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Hurdy Gurdy

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