Thursday, October 05, 2006
Once More Into the Breach:
When Disney got Oswald the Lucky Rabbit back in the sports trade of the century I was overjoyed. That is until Mark Kausler talked some sense into me.
What about the Mintz and Lantz Oswalds, now that they are orphans? Some films are being saved but just as many, if not more, are being put into limbo.
Mark always looks at the big picture, what is good for the most animations. I get all caught up in the history and the politics and do not always see what the outcome is to the actual films.
One of those orphan Oswald films moved a step closer to survival last night when the ASIFA-Hollywood Board of Directors voted to fund the preservation of the only serving print of Mars, the Walter Lantz / Bill Nolan Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from 1930.
The film currently survives only as a 16 mm cellulose based Safety Stock (sic) print. It was copied long ago from a 35 mm nitrate print that has since disintegrated.
The problem with the cellulose based (so-called) Safety Stock is Vinegar syndrome, a very unpleasant and virulent film decease that can turn health film into a plant fiber tossed salad literally overnight.
Why is this animation important? That is the wrong question. All animation is important. It is part of our history. Okay, maybe I wouldn`t fight quite as hard to preserve a Wacky and Packy print? But Mars is cool. It is a project that Bill Nolan was involved with and that means that at the very least it is very good. It is also the only time that Oswald sings his theme song. How cool is that? Cool, take my word for it. It is cool!
The print needs to be sent out for final cost quote and then it will be transferred to acetate based 35 mm film. That will give it a better chance at survival. Film preservation is a constant battle against time that we can never really win. All we can do is hold the enemy at bay for another day. But it still makes me feel a little better that I have helped hold the flank in this small way.
