Lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film found
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I'm sure that at some point in time, Disney will probably be loaned a safety copy of the film so that they can either scan it and/or add that copy to their film archives.
It's too late for those of us who have the Golden Oswald Disney Treasures tin...
This rediscovered short will probably show up in another collection in the future.
There have been several times in the past where rediscovered footage or superior copies have been lent to studios for archival purposes and/or home video release.
A German Star Trek fan loaned Paramount Studios his copy of the original network submission edit for "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the pilot episode that sold Star Trek. It has a few minutes of additional footage that the final broadcast version doesn't have as well as several different music cues. It was odd that Paramount didn't have a copy in its film archives but it was possibly thrown away by accident and discovered before it could be destroyed (unlikely), or sold before its importance was realized or stolen by someone who worked for Paramount in the past (very likely). Regardless, Paramount borrowed the print and made a digital copy that was put as an extra onto the Blu ray release of Star Trek Season 3.
The better-known example of recently recovered footage was the Argentinian 16mm near-complete print of the original edit of Metropolis, the legendary silent science fiction epic. After 30+ years of edits and several restorations getting closer to the film's original running length, in one stroke the entire film was nearly recovered from the last place on Earth anybody would expect the footage to surface from!
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Well over 80% of all silent film has been lost for good... It's dissolved into gunk, been destroyed in fires caused by chemical reactions (nitrate film has a nasty tendency to explode/catch on fire and gets very unstable as it ages), or been literally bombed out of existence (as during World War II in Europe). When a major recovery of lost footage from a well-known film like Metropolis occurs, everybody wins.
It's too late for those of us who have the Golden Oswald Disney Treasures tin...
This rediscovered short will probably show up in another collection in the future.
There have been several times in the past where rediscovered footage or superior copies have been lent to studios for archival purposes and/or home video release.
A German Star Trek fan loaned Paramount Studios his copy of the original network submission edit for "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the pilot episode that sold Star Trek. It has a few minutes of additional footage that the final broadcast version doesn't have as well as several different music cues. It was odd that Paramount didn't have a copy in its film archives but it was possibly thrown away by accident and discovered before it could be destroyed (unlikely), or sold before its importance was realized or stolen by someone who worked for Paramount in the past (very likely). Regardless, Paramount borrowed the print and made a digital copy that was put as an extra onto the Blu ray release of Star Trek Season 3.
The better-known example of recently recovered footage was the Argentinian 16mm near-complete print of the original edit of Metropolis, the legendary silent science fiction epic. After 30+ years of edits and several restorations getting closer to the film's original running length, in one stroke the entire film was nearly recovered from the last place on Earth anybody would expect the footage to surface from!
*********
Well over 80% of all silent film has been lost for good... It's dissolved into gunk, been destroyed in fires caused by chemical reactions (nitrate film has a nasty tendency to explode/catch on fire and gets very unstable as it ages), or been literally bombed out of existence (as during World War II in Europe). When a major recovery of lost footage from a well-known film like Metropolis occurs, everybody wins.
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Dan, I don't get your "lucky outcome" comment? Doesn't this discovery proove Oswald really is a lucky rabbit!? 
Or are you gawping at the price? Sounds about right to me for what is likely the last surviving print of a lost film, especially one of this historical importance.
Here's hoping Disney bids or gets access, and that we may see it included in a later Blu-ray collection.
Or are you gawping at the price? Sounds about right to me for what is likely the last surviving print of a lost film, especially one of this historical importance.
Here's hoping Disney bids or gets access, and that we may see it included in a later Blu-ray collection.
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Interesting quote from another message board
I will say on behalf of myself and other animation preservationists that yesterday's discovery of the auction made for a very sad and worrisome day in the archival community. As someone who works in the field of locating and preserving silent cartoons day in and day out, it is fair for me to say that Bonhams has blown the film's value extremely out of proportion, whether or not it is a "lost" Disney film. The results of this auction, whether it is successful or not, could spell problems for the future of our preservation efforts when new "lost" films come to light.
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Re: Lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film found
Wow, I hope I can see this one day.
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Re: Lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film found
Nice find. It will be interesting to see what it actually goes for.