"Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole" News and Discussion

[wonderfly]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

"Ernie Hudson Stars In Oswald The Lucky Rabbit Horror Picture"​

"As you know, earlier this year Mickey Mouse, or the earliest version of him, became public domain, which led to a rash of “look what we can get away with now” horror features using his image. It is also well documented that Mickey was Walt Disney’s SECOND successful creation, something he was forced to come up with after losing the rights to his breakthrough character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald is older than Mickey, which means he’s been public domain already for some time.

So why weren’t there a bunch of movies about Oswald doing horrible things years ago? Probably because the whole notion of perverting newly-freed cartoons wasn’t popularized until the Mouse was available. Now that it is, seems it’s finally Oswald’s turn.

It’s just been announced that actor Ernie Hudson is headlining the cast of Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole, a horror pic about what happens when drawings get too real. Hudson plays Oswald Jebidiah Coleman, the creator of the rabbit, who has mysteriously disappeared. His grandson, Art Coleman (played by Topher Hall) visits his abandoned house to investigate…and is sucked into a magical television where he enters the world of old-timey Hollywood animation, a place far less friendly than it looked from the other side."

Read the full article here.

 

[MatthewP]

additionally i doubt no one knew the earliest iterations oswald were public domain 'till now

iirc they became PD in the 50's due to negligence

 

[Silverstar]

Can these filmmakers really not think of anything else to do with these public domain cartoons besides putting them in cheap horror movies? Has the idea well really run this dry?

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Can these filmmakers really not think of anything else to do with these public domain cartoons besides putting them in cheap horror movies? Has the idea well really run this dry?

I literally overheard someone at the grocery store ask this exact question when Steamboat Willie became public property. At least Life is Good clothing brand has a Winnie the Pooh and Steamboat Willie lineup that’s actually pretty good.

 

[Pooky]

I agree that it's quickly become an overdone, eye roll-worthy cliché , and I generally dislike the practice of doing "twisted" R-Rated takes on family-friendly characters for a range of personal and aesthetic reasons.

That said...I'm a little intrigued here. While by his own admission he's not the hardest get and he'll probably be in the movie for 5 minutes, Ernie Hudson is a much more notable name than anyone previously associated with these movies. And the premise sounds a little reminiscent of the alleged (may or may not have actually existed as we've discussed here) original plan for Cool World, or the old CD-ROM game Toonstruck. I'll be interested to see what the animation is like, if nothing else.

 

[Fone Bone]

Ernie Hudson makes everything better. That's a fact. If he's in the film it won't totally suck.

Ghostbusters was an extremely lucky film to have both Bill Murray AND Ernie Hudson in it. Both of those actors tend to be the best thing in the given project they are in and that franchise snagged 'em BOTH. Lucky.

I remember when Hudson guest starred on the excretable show Dads. His entire demeanor was showing these no-talent punks how to do comedy right. I loved that.

Winston Zeddmore is also the best Ghostbuster. There. I said it.

 

[Goldstar!]

Personally, I'm done with the whole "Let's take a family friendly icon and make it R-rated, dark and twisted for shock value" thing. It's cheap, lazy and reeks of coming from hacks who lack the creativity to do anything else.