The Candy House (1934)

movie

(24)

Country: USA
Genres: Animation, Short
Release: 1934-01-15
Director: Walter Lantz , William Nolan
Writers: Walter Lantz , Victor McLeod
Language: English
Stars: Tex Avery , The Rhythmettes , Martha Wentworth
Runtime: 10 min
Awards: N/A
AKA: The Candy House , The Candy House (United States of America)
Plot: 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.'The Candy House' is another example of a decent Oswald cartoon, but it didn't blow me away. It is essentially a re-working of the classic Grimm Brothers story 'Hansel and Gretel' with Oswald written in as Hansel, and, while it's not a bad representation it doesn't bring much new to the table.Here the music doesn't add much to, let alone enhance, the action. Instead the simplistic instrumentation and the sometimes clunky way it's placed makes it feel at odds, even discordant. While there are some amusing gags and a suitably creepy atmosphere once the hag is introduced, but there's not much that's hilarious (the closest it gets is the priceless last line) and the timing tends to be scattered.While there is more of a story, as one can see, in 'The Candy House' than most Oswald cartoons, even more could have been done to bring something new to a great but so-oft-adapted story other than writing Oswald in as Hansel.On the other hand, the best thing about it is the animation, which is very good. There is the looser and more elaborate look of many of the previous Lantz era Oswald cartoons, in fact 'The Candy House' is one of the most elaborate-looking Lantz 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.Some of the gags are amusing, the last line even more than that, while things go at a lively pace, there is a suitably creepy atmosphere once at the candy house and the hag is suitably antagonistic. Both Oswald and Gretel are easy to like without being cloying or overly precocious and it's easy to root for them too.In summary, decent if unexceptional. 6/10 Bethany Cox
IMDB:tt0142147