Synopsis:
Oswald gets a visit from the stork... again and again and again. He has to resort to a variety of strategies to stop the continual flow of babies.
* I find nothing about killing babies - though the use of a shot gun is probrably to stop the storks. Not PC...but it WAS 1927 cartoon, and Walt was hired by Universial, which later kept the rights to Oswald.
History
In 1927 the end came for the Alice series. It had reached its limitations and with Alice in the Big League released on August 27, 1927 it was over. Besides Black Pete, none of the series characters would appear again. But Walt had other plans. Charles Mintz's own employer Carl Laemmle, the head of Universal Studios was interested in a new animated series starring a rabbit. Mintz assigned this to Walt and his company. They developed the new character and named him: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Poor Papa was produced by Spring of this year but Laemmle was less than pleased with the character. They wanted a likeable character like Charlie Chaplin's Tramp, Felix the Cat or even Julius from the Alice Comedies. What they got was a rabbit looking old, fat, sloppy and scruffy with a hooligan's personality. Poor Papa would be released on August 6, 1928 when the character's popularity was at its height but this wasn't the introduction of the character to the public that Universal wanted. The Disney studio had to redesign the character. But the next short they produced was what Universal wanted. Trolley Troubles featured a younger, slimmer,better Oswald with the personality of a naughty young boy. The film's release on September 5, 1927 made the character instantly successful. Nine shorts featuring Oswald were released during the year and the character became popular. Oswald merchandise appeared though Walt had nothing to do with it. Black Pete was now used as a recurring antagonist to Oswald. Walt had success at his hands... or so he thought.
One of the more famous Disney quotes has been, Remember, it all started with a mouse. But it more likely started with the Rabbit. Walt was successful enough to be able to hire his old colleagues Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, who hadn't been so successful on their own but had improved in skills. Seventeen of Disney's Oswald cartoons were released during 1928, the final being Hot Dog, released on August 20, 1928.
Walt was quite confident when he went to negotiate with Charles Mintz in New York. He wanted his fee to increase from 2250 dollars per short to 2500 dollars per short. Instead Mintz wanted Walt's fee to decrease to 2000 dollars per short. When Walt refused, Mintz had some announcements to make. He didn't need Walt anymore. He had secretly met with a number of Walt's employees including Harman and Ising and had signed them on contracts of their own. As the distributor Universal held the rights to Oswald and they could make their own cartoons with him if they wanted to, Walt returned to his Studio in defeat and along with Ub Iwerks and the remaining employees he started working on a new project to replace Oswald as Disney's star.
This meeting was very important for the history of animation because of its consequences in the long run. It is well known that Walt's next project was Mickey Mouse but there were other developments spawned from the meeting. Charles Mintz wasn't idle either. He continued to provide Universal with Oswald cartoons, produced now in a new Studio under his brother-in-law George Winkler. Thanks to Harman and Ising, now chief animators, the 25 shorts produced till mid-1929 were of the same quality as those produced by Walt's Studio. But then Carl Laemmle decided to create an animation department for Universal and hand the rights to Oswald to it. The new Studio would be run by Walter Lantz and would later spawn even more famous characters like Woody Woodpecker. Ozzie of the Circus, released on January 5,1929 was the first in a long series of shorts produced by Lant'z Studio. As for Mintz and Winkler their Studio and their careers were over. But Harman and Ising weren't even started yet. They found employment again creating a partnership with producer Leon Schlesinger. Together they created an animation Studio on behalf of Warner Bros.. The short Sinkin' in the Bathtub , released on April 19, 1930 was the first of a long series of cartoons called Looney Tunes that would spawn more famous characters like Bugs Bunny.
Ironically enough Oswald, the reason for these developments, has long been obscured by characters later created by the Studios formed as a result of his creation.
