Amature Nite: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Lantz, 1929) – Silent

This rare black-and-white archival footage presents "Amature Nite" (also spelled "Amateur Night"), a classic silent Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon from November 11, 1929, produced and directed by Walter Lantz for Universal Studios—nearly a century ago—marking Lantz’s tenth Oswald short and a memorable early work in his tenure. The silent film follows Oswald, the mischievous black rabbit with expressive ears, as he hosts a chaotic variety show at a theater, where various animal performers take the stage. The show begins with hippopotamus dancers whose performance flops, angering the audience—except for a mouse who awkwardly switches from applause to boos under peer pressure. Next, a dancing mouse stretches comically thin, delighting the crowd until it’s pulled offstage. A duck named "Quacky Quacks," dressed in a hat, shoes, and cane, dances frenetically while smoking, but Oswald yanks him off, leaving only his dancing cane and shoes, which he shoots away. The finale features Oswald conducting a symphony orchestra of animals—goats, mice, cats—using real instruments and other animals (like a dog as an accordion), but the mouse boos again, throwing eggs, prompting Oswald’s fury as an egg hits his face, ending the show. Erroneously listed as silent by Motion Picture News, a sound print reportedly exists in the UCLA Film & Television Archive, though this version is silent, with David Broekman’s first musical score intended for sound. A lively window into late 1920s animation’s golden age, this preserved gem—voiced by Mickey Rooney, animated by Lantz and Bill Nolan—grips cartoon enthusiasts, animation historians, and nostalgic viewers, offering a timeless peek at a stage show spectacle frozen in time.