Bill Nolan’s Oswald Cartoons!

I really love the old silent Disney "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" cartoons! The story about how Disney lost his first creation is heartbreaking, and the story about how Disney got Oswald back after 80 years is miraculous and hilarious. 

But this isn't about the Disney Oswalds. Let's take a look at the Oswald cartoons made by Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan.

I had no interest at all in seeing the Walter Lantz Oswalds... until I found out that they featured the amazing work of one of the greatest animation pioneers ever: Bill Nolan.



Bill Nolan is one of the hugest unsung heroes and animation -- is often credited with creating the rubber hose style of cartoons.

It was Bill Nolan that helped Otto Mesmer refined Felix the Cat into the bouncy, round, cartoony character that he became in the mid-20s.
Bill Nolan basically helped Otto Mesmer create the classic old-school animation style.

Here are some of the cartoons that I fell in love with at the ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive. If you're not already aware, the famous animation archive is located in Burbank, and you can walk right in and watch enough classic cartoons to keep you busy between now and the next ice age.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
2114 W Burbank Bl
Burbank, CA 91506-1232
Tel. 818 842-4691
Stephen Worth, Director
sworth@animationarchive.org
Open to the Public:
Tuesday through Friday, 1pm to 9pm