Poor Papa
Poor Papa is a 1928 animated short subject film, produced and directed by Walt Disney.[1] The cartoon is the first produced Oswald cartoon, featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character that Disney and Ub Iwerks created for Universal Pictures and Charles B. Mintz. Oswald would later serve as the basis for the Mickey Mouse film series.
| Poor Papa | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Walt Disney |
| Produced by | Charles Mintz George Winkler |
| Story by | Walt Disney |
| Animation by | Ub Iwerks Hugh Harman Les Clark Friz Freleng Ben Clopton Norm Blackburn Rollin "Ham" Hamilton |
| Color process | Black and White |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date | June 11, 1928 |
Running time | 5:11 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
Oswald has to stop storks from delivering bunny children.
History
In the early summer of 1927, Disney finished the cartoon Poor Papa. However, Universal was not very satisfied. They had expected a more Charlie Chaplin-like character and thought Oswald was too elderly and too fat. Disney agreed to make some changes and the cartoon was not released in theatres at the time. So Disney made a second Oswald cartoon known as Trolley Troubles, which was well received and released instead.
As for Poor Papa, it was released eventually in theatres, although Universal held it back until 1928. In total, nine Oswald cartoons were released in 1927.
Preservation status
After its release, Poor Papa was believed to be lost for many years, until around in the 2000s, where 3 surviving copies were found in the United Kingdom. All three copies were sold to private collectors.
In 2007, Disney attempted to purchase one of the three copies during production of The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit DVD, but failed.[2] Later, in 2015, Disney successfully purchased one of the three copies, and Poor Papa was released in the "Signature Edition" Blu-Ray of Pinocchio.
References
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 40. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
- http://ramapithblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/lucky-new-oswald-finds.html