Cold Turkey: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Lantz, 1929) – Workprint

This rare black-and-white archival footage presents a workprint of "Cold Turkey," a lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon from October 14, 1929 (though some sources mistakenly list September 2, 1929), produced and directed by Walter Lantz for Universal Studios—nearly a century ago—offering a tantalizing glimpse into early animation history. The silent film follows Oswald, the mischievous black rabbit with expressive ears, as he attempts to hunt a turkey for a Thanksgiving meal, leading to slapstick chaos when the turkey outsmarts him repeatedly: it reconstitutes itself after being hit, dodges arrows, and escapes traps, culminating in a frantic chase through snowy woods. Originally considered lost, a three-minute silent fragment was rediscovered in 2018 in Albany, Oregon, and donated to the UCLA Film & Television Archive, while a workprint—likely a rough, unfinished version with missing scenes or alternate takes—surfaces as a valuable artifact. Though intended as Lantz’s first Oswald cartoon with dialogue (with Bill Nolan voicing Oswald, as noted in some sources), the surviving footage remains silent, reflecting the transition from silent to sound cartoons in 1929. A haunting window into late 1920s animation’s golden age, this preserved fragment—marking Lantz’s early experimentation with Oswald—grips cartoon enthusiasts, animation historians, and nostalgic viewers, offering a rare, fleeting peek at a feathered comedy frozen in time.