Sleigh Bells (film) explained

Sleigh Bells is an American animated short film featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It was directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and released in 1928^[1] by Universal Pictures.^[2] The film was thought to be lost until a print was discovered in the BFI National Archives in 2015.^{[3] [4]}

Synopsis

The film has Oswald the Lucky Rabbit playing in an ice hockey game with surreal plot points. With a "winter wonderland backdrop", Oswald takes off his ear to form a balloon plus a laughing donkey, who gets the puck in the mouth which sticks.^[5]

History

The short was animated by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks^[5] and was released in 1928.^{[6] [7]} The found footage of film was dated 1931 at a Soho film laboratory. That lab went out of business with its film being sent to the BFI archives in 1981. A lost Disney titles researcher searched through the BFI archive catalog and found its listing. The short was returned to Disney and has since been restored by the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Sleigh Bells was featured in It's a Disney Christmas: Seasonal Shorts program at BFI Southbank in December 2015.^[7]

See also

• List of rediscovered films

Notes and References

1. Book: Motion Picture News (Jul - Sep 1928) . April 9, 2024 . New York, Motion Picture News .
2. Book: Lenburg . Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons . 1999 . Checkmark Books . 0-8160-3831-7 . 40.
3. News: 'Lost' Disney cartoon Sleigh Bells to be screened . November 3, 2015 . BBC News.
4. Web site: 'Long-lost' Disney film discovered 88 years after it was made . https://web.archive.org/web/20151103213324/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/media/11973342/Long-lost-Disney-film-discovered-87-years-after-it-was-made.html . dead . November 3, 2015 . November 3, 2015 . The Telegraph.
5. News: Brown. Mark. Lost 1928 Walt Disney film uncovered in British Film Institute archive. December 1, 2015. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. November 3, 2015.
6. Book: Motion Picture News (Jul - Sep 1928) . April 9, 2024 . New York, Motion Picture News .
7. News: Galuppo. Mia. Long Lost 'Oswald the Lucky Rabbit' Disney Animation Discovered in BFI Archives. December 1, 2015. The Hollywood Reporter. November 3, 2015.