For horror fans, this cartoon is monumental. Influenced of course from the 1931 films Dracula, and, Frankenstein, and the 1933, Mystery of the Wax Museum. House of Frankenstein(1944) and House of Dracula(1945) were a ways off yet! The reason this toon stands out- in Oswald's wax works we meet Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Hunchback of Norte Dame, the Invisible Man and Mr. Hyde to name a few. How could a self respecting horror fan not watch this? It's interesting to see the evolving look of Oswald the rabbit as well. Here he is at his midpoint look. He would change much more drastically later, most notably in the comic books, then with Disney change back to his original form. Some of the early Oswald films were re-released with his modern look in the opening sequence. This one, thank goodness, has the original opening, plus a song to boot! The voice characterizations are all very good, as well as the plot construction, animation, and fast pace. Too bad Oswald's part wasn't bigger, though. Walter Lantz had horror themes in other toons, such as Witch Crafty(1955) and Frankenstymied(1961).
4 Reviews
Oswald at the wax museum
TheLittleSongbird9 July 2017
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, 'Wax Works' is not a bad cartoon.It is light on plot, with the thinness of it actually that's putting it mildly, and the first part of the cartoon doesn't have the same momentum of the rest of it and is a tad too cutesy.
However, the animation is very good. There is the looser and more elaborate look of many of the previous Lantz era Oswald cartoons, revelling in the rubbery style seen in the Oswald cartoons made around this time.
Love the music too, which is very characterful and beautifully orchestrated and performed.
Gags are well timed and amusing, if not hilarious, and there is a real sense of terror in the more horror-themed scenes, not something you usually see in an Oswald cartoon. Oswald is a likable protagonist as usual if restrained compared to when he first came about as a character.
Overall, another pretty decent cartoon if not a great one. 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, 'Wax Works' is not a bad cartoon.It is light on plot, with the thinness of it actually that's putting it mildly, and the first part of the cartoon doesn't have the same momentum of the rest of it and is a tad too cutesy.
However, the animation is very good. There is the looser and more elaborate look of many of the previous Lantz era Oswald cartoons, revelling in the rubbery style seen in the Oswald cartoons made around this time.
Love the music too, which is very characterful and beautifully orchestrated and performed.
Gags are well timed and amusing, if not hilarious, and there is a real sense of terror in the more horror-themed scenes, not something you usually see in an Oswald cartoon. Oswald is a likable protagonist as usual if restrained compared to when he first came about as a character.
Overall, another pretty decent cartoon if not a great one. 7/10 Bethany Cox
A Bunch of dummies
boblipton22 April 2008
This late Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon -- the series would continue for another couple of years with a one-shot revival in the 1940s -- garners its jokes from plays on horror movies, as Oswald -- who seems to run a wax museum -- takes in an orphan, who, in the middle of the night, encounters various evil wax figures who come to life and attempt to tun him into a wax figure, There are some amusing moments and some instants of real terror for he intended market -- apparently very young children -- but it doesn't particularly please me.
My issue with the series is, despite some fairly good individual entries in this series, there is no sense of Oswald other than -- at this stage -- a Mickey Mouse imitator. This is despite the fact that Mickey was invented as an Oswald imitation after Disney lost control of him to Charles Mintz eight years earlier. He is, alas, simply another featureless clown who does various funny things, without being anyone in particular. This is a common feature o a lot of the cartoons of the period, but that doesn't make this one any better.
My issue with the series is, despite some fairly good individual entries in this series, there is no sense of Oswald other than -- at this stage -- a Mickey Mouse imitator. This is despite the fact that Mickey was invented as an Oswald imitation after Disney lost control of him to Charles Mintz eight years earlier. He is, alas, simply another featureless clown who does various funny things, without being anyone in particular. This is a common feature o a lot of the cartoons of the period, but that doesn't make this one any better.
Decades prior to the release of HOUSE OF WAX and . . .
pixrox116 June 2023
. . . A BUCKET OF BLOOD, Universal targeted tiny tykes with a similarly themed atrocity designed to insure that they'd never ever enjoy another night of peaceful sleep. Unsuspecting parents were lured to their local cinema by posters displaying benign-looking images of "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit." In a chilling early implementation of the nefarious bait-and-switch business practice, the resulting captive audience of impressionable youngsters found themselves subjected to the vicious violence and torturous torment leaping from the screen in WAX WORKS. With its depiction of The Invisible Man embalming a doomed little boy in wax, Universal hit a new low in bringing horror up close and personal within our American Homeland.
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