4 original gems from Walt Disney

Before Mickey there was Oswald, the floppy-eared star of Walt Disney's first cartoon series, THE ADVENTURES OF OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT. Fun and mischievous, the cheerful rabbit's popularity quickly multiplied, and so did his shorts. Between 1927 and 1928, Disney created a bounty of legendary and rarely seen Oswald cartoons. Now for the first time ever on DVD, the premiere collection of Disney's Oswald shorts -- all featuring new scores composed by Robert Israel especially for this release. The long-lost rabbit's life story, from his birth to his long-awaited return to Disney, and a documentary on the legendary Ub Iwerks set the stage for the comeback of one of the most important stars in Disney's menagerie. Featuring exclusive introductions by film historian Leonard Maltin, this is a timeless collection from generations past for generations to come.

This featurette is available on the 'Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities' DVD.

There's not a person in the world who wouldn't recognize Mickey Mouse. But until now, not many knew the man who originally gave shape, movement and personality to the world's most beloved icon. "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story" takes you behind the scenes to meet Walt Disney's best friend and chief animator.

With his sidekick Rusty, Jeff Harper sails to paradisiacal tropical isle Ahmi-Oni to bargain on behalf of his cattle baron father for land owned by transplanted Irishman Dennis O'Brien. But Jeff falls in love with O'Brien's daughter, Eileen, and even his father can't break them up after he arrives and himself falls under the spell of island splendor.

A pair of nightclub owners run a string of escort bureaus where men pay for the "companionship" of young women. The district attorney sends an undercover agent to infiltrate the bureaus.

Wild Bill Hickock and Cannonball help two young people in love and bring the murderer of Cannonball's father to justice.

College students rally to save a struggling hotel from closing. Comedy.

Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.

The setting is a city block during a sweltering summer, where the residents serve as representatives of the not-very-idealized American melting pot. There is idle chitchat, gossip, jealousy, racism, adultery, and suddenly but not unexpectedly, a murder.

A story of Vienna following World War I, in which the butchers became millionaires and the aristocrats became beggars, told against a background of mother-love and sacrifice.

Alice and Julius the cat are riding an elephant through the jungle. Julius falls and is nearly eaten by crocodiles but manages to escape nevertheless. Meanwhile, two elephant children are having fun at a watering hole and a monkey barber has his barber pole eaten by a hippo, who mistakes it for a candy cane. Julius tries to remedy the latter injustice by starching up a tiger's striped tail and knocking it off, using it as a replacement pole. Alice hunts a lion who proves to be too much for her to handle, but Julius bravely comes to the rescue.

In the days of the California Gold Rush of '49, Sandy is at odds with his partner, Falloner, over the latter's heavy drinking.

Julius goes rabbit hunting while Alice goes bear hunting. Alice and her cat learn at their own expense that one shouldn't bother animals, whether those be rabbits or bears.

Alice is in a bullfight where she thinks she will win since she is matched against a peaceful bull. But the tables are turned when her bull is switched with one with a worse temper.

Alice and her cat are driving along the coast when they accidentally ride off a cliff and into the ocean. They trick a fish into towing them along until a storm hits and they are swept away to the Cannibal Islands, where they are pursued aggressively by the locals.

The rats are out of control in Hamlin; they've taken over the kitchen, but when they take over the King's bedroom, that's the last straw. He posts a $5 reward, which the rats change to $5,000. Alice and Julius accept the challenge; they play a tune and the rats gather around, but they won't fall for the old "follow me into the river" trick. Fortunately, a very powerful vacuum cleaner is nearby, and Alice and Julius suck all the rats into it. The king gives them their reward: $5.

The Three Bears are busy cooking when Baby Bear realises his recipe requires hops. Naturally his first inclination is to go find some frogs to provide for him his hops, so he runs off and pursues a frog at the local pond. In the meantime Alice and her cat stumble upon the Three Bears' house and sneak inside (Ma and Pa Bear are nowhere to be seen).

Alice and Julius go on a safari in Africa to hunt wild game, but they get very different results.

Alice misbehaves in school and is forced to sit in the corner. She falls asleep and dreams, but schoolwork intrudes even into her dreams. Alice dreams of dancing dogs and donkeys until her fun is interrupted by three walking schoolbooks.

Alice tries to make two rival newsboys friends by telling them a story of a cat and a mouse whose constant battlings lead to being hunted by the police, when they learned to cooperate.

Alice presides over a secret club which proposes to rid the town of dog catchers and free the dogs!

Alice wants desperately to get out of practicing her piano so she can go have fun with her friends. She tricks her mother into thinking she's still playing by getting her dog to play for her, and then she and the gang hitch a ride to the local pond where they spend their time fishing. While there, she envisions what it would be like to go fishing at the North Pole.

Alice and her friends put on a show.

When a ball is accidentally knocked through the window of a neighbourhood haunted house, Alice is the only one brave enough to go inside to retrieve it. While she's in there she falls and bumps her head, sending her to a cartoon dream-world in which she rescues a cat and battles some spirits in a ghost town.

Alice's trip to the sea inspires her to dream of a visit to an animated underwater world.

Instead of Wonderland, Alice visits the Walt Disney animation room.