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David A. Bossert
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Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons (Disney Editions Deluxe) Hardcover – August 29, 2017

by David Bossert (Author), J.B. Kaufman (Introduction), David Gerstein (Contributor)
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 161 ratings
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Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was created in 1927 by Walt Disney and his team through twenty-six cartoon shorts. Not without fits and starts, the series and its impish title character were an instant hit with audiences. At the end of that initial run, Walt lost the contract to Oswald, which prompted the creation of Mickey Mouse. Over the years, Oswald became a footnote in the Disney story . . . until 2006, when The Walt Disney Company recovered rights to Walt's twenty-six shorts. Behind-the-scenes, a complex and labor-intensive search developed for the physical film footage of some Oswald cartoons deemed "lost to time." For anyone interested in Disney origins, fascinated by early cinema, or entertained by a feisty little rabbit, this engaging and accessible volume delivers an in-depth look at Walt's first major animated success and the journey to reclaim the lost Disney films.
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  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Disney Editions
  4. Publication date
    August 29, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    9.38 x 0.88 x 12.38 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    148478037X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1484780374
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
David A. Bossert
Disney Editions
978-1-4847-8037-4
books.disney.com

Review by D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons presents a history of the origins of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio and the hit they had in 1927 with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, whose history has, surprisingly, been 'lost' until now.

Basically, if it weren't for Oswald, Disney may not have evolved to become the powerhouse it is today - but that journey was anything but linear. It involved Oswald's initial rejection, his eventual acceptance, and how Disney lost the contract to their first major character; only regaining the twenty-six Walt Disney created Oswald cartoons (and returning Oswald to his proper place in Disney history) six decades later.


Oswald's happy-go-lucky demeanor and his clever ability to come out on top of any situation predated Mickey's evolution and reflected creator Walt Disney's approach to life itself.


So how did Walt's first major animated success result not only in losing the contract, but in Oswald's journey into animation obscurity for so many years? Disney fans will quickly come to realize this story isn't just about Oswald's evolutionary process, but about Walt Disney's own evolution as he furthered his animation efforts and created the foundations of what was to become his more famous Mickey Mouse character.

From legends and realities to common animation practices of the day and how cartoons are 'lost' over time, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit packs in visual embellishments, from animation frames to vintage photos, in its efforts to trace Oswald's history through copyright synopsis, surviving film documents, and episode reviews.

Packed with illustration as it is, readers almost don't need the rare vintage Oswald film in order to enjoy this recreation of historical record that offers such in-depth discussion about Oswald's adventures and evolution.

Recommended for Disney fans, prior Oswald enthusiasts, and animation history readers alike, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons fills in many blanks and offers specifics about animation processes, legalese, and the process of researching and recapturing lost cartoons, and is a 'must' for any collection strong in Disney characters and history.

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David A. Bossert is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, and author. He is a thirty-two-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company and is an independent producer and creative director. Dave is considered an authority and expert on Disney animation and history. He coauthored Disney Animated, which was named iPad App of 2013 by Apple and won a prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award. He is also the author of Remembering Roy E. Disney: Memories and Photos of a Storied Life; An Animator’s Gallery: Eric Goldberg Draws the Disney Characters; and Dalí and Disney: Destino―The Story, Artwork, and Friendship Behind the Legendary Film; and The Art of Tennessee Loveless: The Mickey Mouse TEN x TEN x TEN Contemporary Pop Art Series. You can connect with Dave on social media and/or at: www.davidbossert.com.



ABOUT THE ARCHIVAL EDITOR: David Gerstein is a comic book writer/editor and animation historian specializing in the Disney Standard Characters. His published work includes The Floyd Gottfredson Library of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse series, Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library series, IDW Publishing’s Disney Timeless Tales series, and Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse. Gerstein has also been a contributing research historian on the deluxe Walt Disney Treasures home video series, working on such titles as More Silly Symphonies, The Chronological Donald Vol. 4, and The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Disney Editions (August 29, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 148478037X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1484780374
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.38 x 0.88 x 12.38 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 161 ratings

About the author

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David A. Bossert

David A. Bossert

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David A. Bossert is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, and author. He is a 32-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company, where he contributed his talents to Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), The Lion King (1994), Fantasia/2000 (1999) among many others. As a Disney historian, Bossert is considered an authority on Disney art and animation history. As an inventor, he was awarded a U.S. Patent in 2018 for his invention, Parallax Based Monoscopic Rendering. In 2020, he received an additional U.S. Patent for Varying Display Content Based on Viewpoint. He continues to explore transformative, immersive experiences in book publishing. Bossert is the author of numerous books, liner/program notes, and dozens of articles on animation. Learn more at www.davidbossert.com

Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
161 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book's information fascinating, interesting, and detailed. They also appreciate the beautiful illustrations and descriptions.

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Information contentVisual content
15 customers mention "Information content"15 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's information fascinating and interesting. They say it provides an exceptionally detailed history on Oswald, as well as information about every cartoon he was in. Readers also mention the book is thorough and captivating.

"...: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons” is a marvel of a book, a thorough and captivating history of a story that was not really explored much..." Read more

"...The author provides an fascinating and interesting history on the 26 original Disney created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts both the surviving..." Read more

"...It is also a great story about events that forever changed the way Walt Disney conducted his business and controlled his intellectual properties." Read more

"...This section is exceptionally detailed...." Read more

9 customers mention "Visual content"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book beautifully illustrated and pretty. They say it's a great companion to the cartoons and is very descriptive.

"...There are also free bookmarks as long as supplies last. They are very pretty.) This is a book for children and adults of all ages...." Read more

"...This book is a great companion to the cartoons and a plea to everyone who reads it to provide information for those Oswald cartoons that are still..." Read more

"...on Oswald and compiling it into one authoritative and beautifully illustrated book...." Read more

"...There is a lot of very loveingly and carefully put together information in David's book...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Bubblegum
5.0 out of 5 stars I was so excited to find this wonderful book and to start learning about the works of ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2017
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Dave Bossert is my hero! No kidding. My grandson is a devoted fan of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and the Walt Disney story through the years. I was so excited to find this wonderful book and to start learning about the works of this talented, creative, knowledgeable author, historian, and producer/director. “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons” is a marvel of a book, a thorough and captivating history of a story that was not really explored much for many decades. I can’t wait to give it to my grandson for his birthday in a couple weeks. (Dave sent a personalized, signed bookplate! That is so neat! Go to his website and you will find how to get a free bookplate when you get this cool book. There are also free bookmarks as long as supplies last. They are very pretty.) This is a book for children and adults of all ages. I have learned so much from this fine fellow, Mr. Dave Bossert. I love that he is devoted to his craft, his research, and his readers. I’m anxious to get his other books. (He has a great website and Facebook page. Go there to find out about him and his work in preserving and documenting very interesting elements of important parts of history.) Thanks for reading my comments, and thanks also to Dave.
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Kristjan Birnir Ivansson
5.0 out of 5 stars Oswald The (un)Lucky Rabbit,
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2017
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Just to be brutally honest, this book is highly recommended for anyone that is fan of classic Disney shorts. The author provides an fascinating and interesting history on the 26 original Disney created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts both the surviving shorts and the 7 still missing ones. The book devotes 4-5 pages on every single short. On the surviving shorts it goes into detail on plot line each short, and then takes some time in discussing original reviews and related productions notes. As well as discussion how that particular cartoon survived and if they have any missing sequences and what i could gather from the book that 8 of the surviving short have some footage missing. Finally it does also discus how these films were assembled on the Walt Disney Treasuries DVDs On the still missing shorts it does give fascinating information on what the plot of each cartoon was, with supplimantary production notes and surviving material related to each cartoon is production.

Only thing I did have wanted to know little bit more about but the book doesn't seems to devot any pages to the resently discovered High Up, with was once thought to be WInkler/Mintz Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short. But resent rediscovery seems to confirm according to mr Borsset himself in interviews regarding the book that seems to be have been made by Disney instead of Mintz, but the book itself goes in no further detail on this particular short, so maybe they didn't have any further informaation on this particular short other than a film print of short itself so maybe they didn't think it was worth the inclusion in the book at this time. Licking some important details regarding its production.
10 people found this helpful
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Jen
5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for Oswald fans
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2018
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As a Disney fan I have always loved the story of Oswald and how he was lost all those years ago only to be found and reclaimed by Disney as he should have been. I also own the Disney Classics Oswald DVD that was released some years back. It is really fun to see the seeds of ideas and gags that show up even in today's Disney movies that were first formed in the Oswald cartoons. This book is a great companion to the cartoons and a plea to everyone who reads it to provide information for those Oswald cartoons that are still missing and waiting to be found with help from the public. It is also a great story about events that forever changed the way Walt Disney conducted his business and controlled his intellectual properties.
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Vimacone
5.0 out of 5 stars The Search for the Lost Oswald Films
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2018
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Ever since Disney purchased the rights to Oswald, there has been great effort in tracking down the films (and other silent films) that are still considered lost.

This book by Dave Bossert tells the story of Oswald, how Disney re-aquired him, and the current effort to located and preserve the films. It's also a guide to each film. For films that are missing, studio synopsises and other material are reproduced to give a solid idea of what the film was about and the action that took place. This section is exceptionally detailed. Bossert also explains how and where the films are found and acquired by the studio and preserved using modern technology. There's also a list, not only of films that are still missing, but also extant films that are incomplete; Material that researchers are still in search of.

More lost films continue to be located every so often. Bossert even states that this writing may date quickly as more films are discovered. All the primary sources contained herein will still be valuable reference material though.

This is an excellent documentation on Disney's silent period and film preservation.
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Anthony Kremer
5.0 out of 5 stars The Authoritative Guide to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2017
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There's frustratingly little information available on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's Disney years. Some of this is because such information has been lost to history, and some of it is because Oswald only occupied a very short period of Disney's illustrious career. Dave Bossert's book does an excellent job of gathering all the information available on Oswald and compiling it into one authoritative and beautifully illustrated book. I particularly enjoyed previously unseen scripts and story boards for lost shorts such as "The Banker's Daughter" and "Sagebrush Sadie."

Bossert's book is clearly a labor of love, and he should be thoroughly commended for his hard work in finding Oswald's lost shorts after Disney reacquired the rights to this irascible, loveable character.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sarai Villavicencio
5.0 out of 5 stars Un libro que cualquier persona interesada en Oswald y su historia debe tener
Reviewed in Mexico on December 27, 2018
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Es un excelente libro para gente interesada en la animación. Fue un regalo, pero a la persona que se lo di le encantó.
Vienen muchos detalles y material muy bueno en relación a Oswald, para los coleccionistas y apasionados de los cartoon es un tesoro.

En otros aspectos del libro, es más grande de lo que creía, pero es entendible ppr todo su contenido. El libro me llegó en excelentes condiciones, muy bien empaquetado y cuidado por el equipo de Amazon, muchas gracias.
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Sarai Villavicencio
5.0 out of 5 stars Un libro que cualquier persona interesada en Oswald y su historia debe tener
Reviewed in Mexico on December 27, 2018
Es un excelente libro para gente interesada en la animación. Fue un regalo, pero a la persona que se lo di le encantó.
Vienen muchos detalles y material muy bueno en relación a Oswald, para los coleccionistas y apasionados de los cartoon es un tesoro.

En otros aspectos del libro, es más grande de lo que creía, pero es entendible ppr todo su contenido. El libro me llegó en excelentes condiciones, muy bien empaquetado y cuidado por el equipo de Amazon, muchas gracias.
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Patricia
5.0 out of 5 stars Not only is this a great book, but the story behind it and the ...
Reviewed in Canada on October 27, 2017
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Not only is this a great book, but the story behind it and the passion-project that is reflected in trying to track down the lost episodes of Disney's first creation makes it a spectacular read for Disney fans and animation historians alike. Well written, well laid out, and easy to consume. And the artwork included is a true treasure.
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Adam
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2017
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Highly recommended to both casual and hard-core Disney and animation fans as well as anyone who enjoys 1920s cartoon art; this excellent book explains the history of Oswald the Lucky Rabbbit and the author's and archival editor's fascinating world-wide journey to relocate and restore the character's lost films, many of which have been lost for decades.

Other books about Disney in the era of silent film, while excellent, don't discuss many of the individual films in detail. Luckily, this book details everything that is know about each Disney Oswald cartoon in a fun, easily accessible format which is generously illustrated with a ton of the original, snappy cartoon art. This highlights how fresh and funny there cartoons were their 1920's heyday and are again, right now, as they are re-discovered by a new generation of fans.

Even cartoons which are still lost come alive again in the expressive animation drawings and lively illustrated story scripts which are reproduced in the book.

And the search goes on. Not only does the book end with an epilogue detailing how even more films may be identified, but author David Bossert has launched a Patreon campaign to continue to find them which is well worth looking up.
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Guillermo
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro Mágico
Reviewed in Spain on February 18, 2018
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David Bossert ha conseguido cautivar a cualquier fanático del mundo y de la historia de Disney con uno de los mayores personajes, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit.

Recomiendo este libro a cualquier amante de la lectura y de la animación.
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Nico
5.0 out of 5 stars Before Mickey there was Oswald...
Reviewed in Germany on June 25, 2018
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Oswald, no Disney Fan who does not know who this rabbit is.

The lost cartoons, the history and the road that Walt Disney had to go to eventually lose the rights of his rabbit. A summary of the lost cartoons and more is beautifully described in this book.

If this had not happened then there would never have been Mickey Mouse and the Disney history would probably have been very different.
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