Race Riot
About Race Riot
Oswald's horse Mopey is asleep in a bed. Oswald wakes him and says the race is today. Mopey does not want to run and fakes an illness, to Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning. Oswald tries to dose him with castor oil. They get to the track. Mopey flattens the horse ahead, and Oswald wins.
Cast & crew
More about Race Riot
Walter Lantz directed and produced it. He, Bill Nolan, and Tom Palmer animated it. Lantz and Nolan wrote the story. Bert Fiske wrote the music. Carl Laemmle presented it. The sound is Western Electric sound-on-film. Universal Pictures released it on 2 September 1929. It runs 6 minutes 29 seconds. It is the first Oswald cartoon Lantz produced and directed. The copyright synopsis names the horse Mopey. It entered the public domain on 1 January 2025.
Themes
Making
Lantz's first Oswald is one race day: a horse that will not get out of bed, a dose of castor oil, and a finish.
Music
Bert Fiske wrote the music. Mopey's sick act uses Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning. The track is Western Electric sound-on-film.
Preservation
A print survives. The short entered the public domain on 1 January 2025.
Notes
- Bill Nolan speaks in the short.
- Putrid Pete is among the racers.
- A timed copy runs 6 minutes 30 seconds.
- It is the earliest Lantz cartoon in the public domain.
Scenes
- Mopey sleeps in a human bed until Oswald screams him awake.
- He fakes a sickness to get out of the race.
- He flattens the horse in front and Oswald takes the finish.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Race Riot (1929 Cartoon).webm)
