User Reviews

Oswald is a toymaker with his own shop - or, as the title would have you believe, shoppe. He makes all his own toys and the little children like to gather and sing songs about him. It's a fine existence, except for a mouse that does mischief. It's probably a spy for that Other Walt. When the day is done, and he shuts the shop, and goes upstairs to sleep, the toys come alive and cavort.

It's a fine idea for a show, as anyone who has ever seen THE NUTCRACKER SUITE performed can tell you. This sort of cartoon, in which the goods in a store come alive at night was becoming popular. Over at Schlesinger, variations would be made until after the War, although there they concentrated on brand recognition, or book titles. This one is more about cuteness, and it does it pretty well.

I know my summary sounds really mean, but I truly hated "The Toy Shoppe". Aside from some nice quality animation, it's the horrid saccharine mess of a cartoon that they made too many of in the 1930s. To make it worse, the original Oswald was funny, clever and among the best cartoons of the late 1920s. However, Universal Studios fired the guy in charge of production (Walt Disney) and they gave the series to Walter Lantz....and some of the Lantz Oswald cartoons were very good and a few were just terrible...like this one.

There isn't a lot of story here. Oswald has a toy shop and seems to spend more time singing than making toys. Later, after he leaves the toys all come to life and guess what they do? Yup...they, too, sing!! And, the singing isn't funny or clever...it's just awful. Cutesy and cloying from start to finish....it's a short that looks and acts absolutely nothing like it used to. Apart from some nice animation, there's nothing about this one I liked....nothing.

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.

So far the 1934 batch of Oswald cartoons ('The Candy House' and this have been watched to date, 'Chicken Reel' is also listed but as of now seems impossible to find) have been decent but without much special, more middling Oswald cartoons than among the best or worst. With that being said, 'The Toy Shoppe' improves on the previous two 1934 cartoons without completely blowing me away.

'The Toy Shoppe' is very light on story, with a very familiar premise that has been done better, to the extent that it is merely an excuse to string along musical interludes and gags. There are amusing moments here, though nothing's hilarious here and there could have been more.

Oswald is endearing and fun but a little underused in his own cartoon, and there are times where 'The Toy Shoppe' is too saccharine sweet.

However, the best thing is the animation, which is very good. Saw it in colour, and have to say Oswald looks good in colour, with a lot of vibrant rich shades and hues. There is the looser and more elaborate look of many of the previous Lantz era 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.

Love the music too, which is very characterful and beautifully orchestrated and performed, also adding a good deal to the action. The toy characters are very charming and a lot of fun to watch, and things go at a lively pace.

In conclusion, nice enough. 7/10 Bethany Cox