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.
Oswald in the Disney years saw mostly good to very good cartoons, and while the Winkler years had some duds there were also cartoons as good as the best of the Disney years. The 1929-1930 batches of Walter Lantz-directed Oswald cartoons were a mixed bag, with some good, some forgettable and not much special and a few mediocre. The 1931 batch was mostly underwhelming, with only 6 out of 18 cartoons being above average or more. The 1932 batch had a few not so good, though the cartoons in question were nothing compared to the worst of the previous 3 years, cartoons, but most were decent to good and some even very good. The 1933 batch is one of the most consistent, with the weakest 'Beau Best' still being decent.
Where there are certainly much better Oswald cartoons, to me 'Wolf! Wolf!' isn't that bad, even if it doesn't bring much new to a fable that everybody knows and often seen and heard whether in real life, culture or in any kind of visual media. 'Wolf! Wolf!' is thin on plot and could have had more laughs and been less cutesy, those lambs were not as endearing as they should have been with the cartoon trying too hard in places to make them cure.
However, the animation is very good. There is the looser and more elaborate look of many of the previous Lantz era Oswald cartoons, but it was surprising and lovely to see parts of the animation reminding one of the animation style of the Disney years in places.
Love the music too, which is very characterful and beautifully orchestrated and performed.
What there is of the humour is decently timed and fairly amusing and some parts are genuinely sweet. though compared to previous Oswald cartoons this was very restrained stuff and you miss the chaos. Although Oswald is likable it is the wolf who's the best character and the character you actually root for.
In conclusion, could have been better but not bad. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Oswald in the Disney years saw mostly good to very good cartoons, and while the Winkler years had some duds there were also cartoons as good as the best of the Disney years. The 1929-1930 batches of Walter Lantz-directed Oswald cartoons were a mixed bag, with some good, some forgettable and not much special and a few mediocre. The 1931 batch was mostly underwhelming, with only 6 out of 18 cartoons being above average or more. The 1932 batch had a few not so good, though the cartoons in question were nothing compared to the worst of the previous 3 years, cartoons, but most were decent to good and some even very good. The 1933 batch is one of the most consistent, with the weakest 'Beau Best' still being decent.
Where there are certainly much better Oswald cartoons, to me 'Wolf! Wolf!' isn't that bad, even if it doesn't bring much new to a fable that everybody knows and often seen and heard whether in real life, culture or in any kind of visual media. 'Wolf! Wolf!' is thin on plot and could have had more laughs and been less cutesy, those lambs were not as endearing as they should have been with the cartoon trying too hard in places to make them cure.
However, the animation is very good. There is the looser and more elaborate look of many of the previous Lantz era Oswald cartoons, but it was surprising and lovely to see parts of the animation reminding one of the animation style of the Disney years in places.
Love the music too, which is very characterful and beautifully orchestrated and performed.
What there is of the humour is decently timed and fairly amusing and some parts are genuinely sweet. though compared to previous Oswald cartoons this was very restrained stuff and you miss the chaos. Although Oswald is likable it is the wolf who's the best character and the character you actually root for.
In conclusion, could have been better but not bad. 7/10 Bethany Cox