Despite Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his cartoons being popular and well received at the time, they have been vastly overshadowed over time by succeeding animation characters. It is a shame as, while not cartoon masterpieces, they are fascinating for anybody wanting to see what very old animation looked like.
Not all the Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons are good representations of Oswald or Lantz, a few for historical interest only. Some are good however. 'Spooks' is really not either at their best, though they've certainly done far worse. It's an okay and slightly above average (but only just) cartoon but wildly uneven. Nowhere near close to the best of the Disney and Winkler era cartoons, the best of which are very good.
Sound quality for a cartoon so old and techniques still in its early days is not as primitive as it could have been. Oswald is very endearing and there are nice kooky characters.
It's music is as energetic as ever too, and Oswald is endearing. The animation is quite good, pretty detailed, not as crude as in some of the Lantz Oswald cartoons and Oswald's movements, expressions and gestures are well done. There are two good gags, one with a skeleton and one with a songstress.
Too many of the rest of the gags are not particularly funny and pretty weak, due to mechanical execution, going on for too long, hence what is meant by less than crisp pacing, and being short on wit and action. It does make what little of the story drag.
At times there is a spooky atmosphere but it doesn't come consistently, the cartoon needed sharper timing.
Overall, okay but uneven. 6/10 Bethany Cox