I’ve been reading a little about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit lately, and I keep coming across these vague references that Oswald never caught on because of his Nazi connotations. I cannot find anything more concrete about these “Nazi connotations,” however, other than the fact that he shares a first name with British fascist crap-can Oswald Mosley, and Walt Disney was a Nazi sympathizer. Or something.
I think this is a pretty weak link, myself. In fact, I think Oswald’s inter-species relationship with Sadie the cat would be frowned upon by blood purity zealots. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say that Oswald’s blatant promotion of the eating of fiber in the first scene here (obviously inspiring the famous Kellogg’s All-Bran commercial) is a much clearer tie to the eugenics movement. Also, Oswald’s hot dog is obeying his orders in this 1928 cartoon, as opposed to the disobedient hot dogs in an earlier Oswald cartoon. He’s obviously relishing his newfound sense of power and is planning to take over all luncheon meat next. See? See?! WAKE UP SHEEPLE – OSWALD = FASCIST PROPAGANDA.
Or, probably not.
