Most people probably think that Mickey Mouse was Walt Disney's first, popular character but they're wrong. I was watching a Jon Solo video on Youtube one night last month and I learned about a cute cartoon character. 😊 Jon likes to talk about the origins of classic fairy-tales, fables, and old cartoons, and in that video, he was talking about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. 🐰 I was intrigued.
Back when Walt was still in Kansas City, Missouri, he and longtime creative collaborator, Ub Iwerks created "Alice’s Wonderland", a short that combined footage of a live-action actress with an animated background and animated characters. This initial cartoon was never screened theatrically, but instead presented to prospective investors and potentially interested exhibitors. Starting the following year, in 1924, Walt and Iwerks would produce the first of 56 installments of "the Alice Comedies.”
By 1927, Walt was looking to do something else. He felt constrained by the mounting costs and technical limitations of the live-action-girl-in-a-cartoon-world had. Charles Mintz, an American producer and distributor who had handled the Alice shorts, had entered into negotiations to provide a new character to Universal Pictures. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) was the cartoon character that Walt and Ub created for Universal Studios, serving as the Disney studio's first animated character to feature in their own series. The first Oswald short, "Poor Papa" came out in April 1927 but wasn't well-received.
After some redesigning, the second Oswald short, “Trolley Troubles" came out and Oswald quickly gained popularity.
In this short and in the third short, “Oh, What a Knight,” it was obvious that Oswald had some things that most other cartoons at that time didn't; an actual personality and unique characteristics.
He was very energetic, inventive, adventurous, and almost always caused mischief but found his way out through cunning and wit. Oswald loved to play and make others laugh, but despite his flaws, he had morals and always tried to do the right thing. He was also more stretchable, squeezable, and twist-able, making more imaginative situations. 😁
Oswald’s popularity continued. Merchandise, including chocolate bars and pins, were being sold across the country. It wasn't all smiles behind closed doors though. On February 2nd, 1928, Mintz signed a new three-year agreement with Universal to provide Oswald shorts without Disney's involvement, taking away the rights to Oswald. 😡💰Disney tried to fight it but it was no use. As a replacement to compete with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney and Iwerks then created Mickey Mouse for the Walt Disney Studio.
Meanwhile, Charles Mintz and later, Woody Woodpecker creator, Walter Lantz, would create brand-new Oswald cartoons through 1943 but none of these new cartoons had the charm of the earlier shorts. The shorts became more topical, more gag-heavy, and strayed away from the original. Most of these shorts were lost to history. Even though he was once a national star, Oswald faded away from people's memories.
80 years after Oswald was lost, he finally came home. He became a true Disney character in 2006, when he was among the assets the company acquired from NBC Universal in a deal that let sportscaster, Al Michaels leave ABC and ESPN and sign with NBC. The Disney company also secured the rights to the 26 vintage Oswald cartoons made by Walt. Those Oswald shorts were released on a special two-disc DVD, and Oswald merchandise began hitting stores and the internet in late 2007.
In Disney's 2010 video game, Epic Mickey, Oswald is front and center in a story, where he is presented as the head of Wasteland, a bizarre version of Disneyland of forgotten characters. The game's meta-plot parallels Oswald's real-world history, dealing with the character's feelings of abandonment by Disney and envy towards Mickey Mouse (that story-line tugs at my Disney girl heart 🥺💘).
By the way, I know that I had some concerns about Epic Mickey when it was first announced a few years ago because of the terrifying looking sketches/concept art that were released online, which were first drafts I'm assuming now. I just didn't want something like a zombified Peter Pan on a video game for kids, that's all. (People can get that in a Creepypasta), but I watched a play through of the game on Youtube last week and I loved it. It was dark but not so dark that it would be traumatizing for children. I guess that the people at Disney decided to tone it down slightly. To be honest though, I love it when Disney goes dark. My love for Disney and my love for horror get fused together at times. I just don't want kids to be too horrified in the process.
Anyway, despite Oswald being a Disney character now, I don't think that they put him in enough stuff. Yes, he was in the Epic Mickey games, a couple of comics, and shorts but he isn't in anything recent.
He's adorable! I love him 🤩💖 (and that's saying something, considering I'm a big Goofy fan 🤓) but it seems like Oswald is treated like the misfit of Disney because he's old and less known.
Come on Disney, give him more limelight! Make new Oswald shorts or at least make him one of Mickey's main friends. I think that kids would love him. Besides, he was created first.
Smooches and think Tink!
Sources:
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Oswald_the_Lucky_Rabbit
https://thisdayindisneyhistory.homestead.com/OswaldRabbit.html
https://ohmy.disney.com/insider/2016/09/05/oswald-the-lucky-rabbit/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_the_Lucky_Rabbit
