The Mechanical Cow
About The Mechanical Cow
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and a mechanical cow sleep in neighboring beds. The alarm clock wakes Oswald. He fights the clock, then tries to get the cow up. He finally puts the cow on a slide that drops it onto four roller skates. They tour the barnyard selling milk. A mother hippo buys some, and Oswald squirts it from the udder into the baby hippo's mouth. Kidnappers take Oswald's girlfriend Fanny. He and the cow go after her. The short ends with Oswald and Fanny riding the cow.
Cast & crew
More about The Mechanical Cow
Walt Disney directed the Oswald cartoon. Charles Mintz and George Winkler produced it for Winkler Productions. Ub Iwerks animated it. Universal Pictures released it on 3 October 1927. A timed copy runs 6 minutes 3 seconds. Walter Lantz Productions reissued it in 1932 with music and sound effects. After Disney bought the film back from Universal, it appeared on 11 December 2007 in Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Silent Era records a 35mm safety positive at the Walt Disney Company, duped from a 16mm reduction.
Themes
Making
Disney and Iwerks build the gag around a cow that will not get out of bed, then send that same cow after the kidnappers.
Music
Silent on first release. The 1932 Lantz reissue added music and effects.
Preservation
The Walt Disney Company holds a 35mm safety positive duped from a 16mm reduction. Silent Era lists the film as public domain in the United States.
Notes
- The cow sleeps in a bed, then delivers milk on roller skates.
- The baby customer is a hippopotamus.
- The 1932 Lantz reissue added sound to a silent original.
- Silent Era lists the short as public domain in the United States.
- An Internet Archive copy is filed under the misspelled id OstwaldRabbitAndTheMechanicalCow.
Scenes
- Oswald fights the alarm clock, then shoves the cow down a slide onto skates.
- He fills a baby hippo's mouth straight from the mechanical udder.
Also available
- Internet Archive (OstwaldRabbitAndTheMechanicalCow)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Mechanical Cow (1927).webm)
- Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (DVD, 2007)
