Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:01, 14 December 2024

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit, Oswald Rabbit, and Ozzie^[1]^[2]^[3]) is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio.^[4] After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse, who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world.

In 2003, Buena Vista Games pitched a concept for an Oswald-themed video game to then-Disney President and future-CEO Bob Iger, who became committed to acquiring the rights to Oswald. In 2006, The Walt Disney Company acquired the trademark of Oswald (with NBCUniversal effectively trading Oswald for the services of Al Michaels as play-by-play announcer on NBC Sunday Night Football).^[5]

Oswald returned in Disney's 2010 video game, Epic Mickey. The game's metafiction plot parallels Oswald's real-world history, dealing with the character's feelings of abandonment by Disney and envy toward Mickey Mouse. He has since appeared in Disney theme parks and comic books, as well as two follow-up games, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. Oswald made his first appearance in an animated production in 85 years through his cameo appearance in the 2013 animated short Get a Horse! He was the subject of the 2015 feature film Walt Before Mickey. Oswald also appears as a townsperson in Disney Infinity 2.0. In 2022, Oswald appeared in a new short produced by Disney.^[6] He also has a cameo appearance in Once Upon a Studio.

In January 2023, the copyrights on several of the original Oswald shorts, as well as the character, expired. Those films and the character are now in the public domain.^[7] The character will appear in Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole, an upcoming horror film directed by Lilton Stewart III,^[8] and starring Ernie Hudson as the titular character.^[9]

Characteristics

While under Disney's creative control, Oswald was one of the first cartoon characters that had personality. As outlined by Walt himself: "Hereafter we will aim to [make] Oswald a younger character, peppy, alert, saucy, and venturesome, keeping him also neat and trim".^[10] With Oswald, Disney began to explore the concept of "personality animation", in which cartoon characters were defined as individuals through their movements, mannerisms, and acting, instead of simply through their design. Around this period, Disney had expressed: "I want the characters to be somebody. I don't want them just to be a drawing".^[11] Not only were gags used, but his humor differed in terms of what he used to make people laugh. He presented physical humor, used situations to his advantage and presented situational humor in general and frustration comedy best shown in the cartoon The Mechanical Cow. He would use animal limbs to solve problems and even use his own limbs as props and gags. He could be squished as if he was made of rubber and could turn anything into a tool. His distinct personality was inspired by Douglas Fairbanks for his courageous and adventurous attitude as seen in the cartoon short Oh, What a Knight.^[12]

In regard to Oswald's personality, Disney historian David Gerstein describes the difference between Mickey and Oswald: "Imagine Mickey if he were a little more egotistical or fallible, or imagine Bugs Bunny if he talked the talk but wasn't as good at walking the walk".^[13]

In order to make his Oswald cartoons look "real", Disney turned away from the styles of Felix the Cat, Koko the Clown, Krazy Kat, and Julius the Cat and began emulating the camera angles, effects, and editing of live-action films. To learn how to base gags on personality and how to build comic routines, rather than heaping one gag after another, he studied Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton. In order to stir emotion in an audience, Disney studied and scrutinized the shadow effects, cross-cutting, and staging of action in films featuring Douglas Fairbanks and Lon Chaney.^[11]

Over several cartoons, Disney and his animators would develop Oswald's persona: an "emotive, fast-moving wise guy, alternately ebullient and grouchy".^[14]

Walt Disney did not want for Oswald to simply be "a rabbit character animated and shown in the same light as the commonly known cat characters", as well as merely just a peg for gags. Instead, his stated intention was "to make Oswald peculiarly and typically OSWALD".^[15]

History

Creation

In 1927, because of cost and technical restrictions, Disney and his chief animator Ub Iwerks ended their work on the Alice Comedies and Julius the Cat. Around the same time, Charles Mintz got word that Universal Pictures wanted to get into the cartoon business, so he told Disney to create a new rabbit character that he could sell to Universal, because there were too many cat characters (Krazy Kat, Felix the Cat, etc.). After Oswald was created, Winkler signed a contract with Universal on March 4 the same year, which would guarantee 26 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons.^[16]^[10]^[12]^[17] Work on both the character and series began soon after Disney moved his studio to Hyperion Avenue.^[18]

File:Trolley Troubles (Walt Disney, 1927).webm The Universal studio heads rejected the first Oswald cartoon, Poor Papa, for its poor production quality and the sloppiness and age of Oswald.^[19] Disney, together with Iwerks, created a second cartoon titled Trolley Troubles featuring a much younger, neater Oswald. The short, released on September 5, 1927,^[18] officially launched the series and proved to be Universal's greatest success to date. Poor Papa was later released in 1928 and the storyline was reused in a Mickey Mouse short five years later, in Mickey's Nightmare.^[19] Oswald the Lucky Rabbit became Universal's first major hit in 1927, rivaling other popular cartoon characters, such as Felix the Cat and Koko the Clown.^[12]^[20]

The success of the Oswald series allowed the Walt Disney Studio to grow to a staff of nearly twenty. Walt's weekly salary from the series was $100 while Roy Disney's was $65. The Disney brothers earned $500 per Oswald short and split the year-end profits, with Walt receiving 60% ($5,361), and Roy receiving 40% ($3,574).^[18] With income gained from the Oswald series, Walt and Roy purchased ten acres of land in the desert. They also invested in an oil-drilling venture. Iwerks also invested his income in several stone mills to crush paint pigment he used to make paint formulas that were utilized by animators for decades.^[18]

Oswald's success also resulted in Universal and Winkler signing another contract in February 1928, guaranteeing three more years of Oswald cartoons.^[21]

As time passed, Disney feared that Mintz would forgo renewal of the contract, partly due to Iwerks informing Disney that George Winkler, at the behest of Mintz, had been going behind Disney's back during pick-up runs for Oswald reels and hiring away his animators. Eventually, Disney traveled with his wife Lilly to New York to find other potential distributors for his studio's cartoons, including Fox and MGM, prior to meetings with Mintz. As Walt later recalled, he placed two Oswald prints under one arm and—feeling "like a hick"—marched "one half-block north" on Broadway to MGM to visit Fred Quimby. During this period, Walt and Lillian attended the premier of the Oswald short Rival Romeos, which debuted at the Colony on 53rd and Broadway.^[18]

In February 1928, Disney traveled to New York City in hopes of negotiating a more profitable contract with his producer Charles Mintz. As economic problems were apparent at the time, Mintz figured Disney should settle for a 20% cut, although large turnarounds were promised if the studio's finances showed considerable growth. While most of his fellow animators left for Mintz's studio, Disney quit working on the Oswald cartoons. On his long train ride home, he came up with an idea to create another character, and retain the rights to it. He and Iwerks would go on to develop a new cartoon in secret, starring a new character which would soon become the most successful cartoon character in film history and later became the foundation of a global entertainment empire. The first Mickey Mouse cartoon to be filmed was Plane Crazy in the summer of 1928, but it was produced as a silent and held back from release. The first Mickey Mouse film with a synchronized soundtrack, Steamboat Willie, reached the screen that fall and became a major hit, eclipsing Oswald. Plane Crazy was later given its own synchronized soundtrack and released on March 17, 1929.^[22]^[23]

Universal takes direct control

File:Lantz Oswald.jpg

An ad for The Merry Old Soul featuring a version of Oswald redesigned by Manuel Moreno.

Mintz, meanwhile, opened his own studio (later known as Screen Gems) consisting primarily of former Disney employees, where he continued to produce Oswald cartoons, among them the first Oswald with sound, Hen Fruit (1929). Coincidentally, Disney and Mintz each produced nine cartoons the first year and 17 the next, before others took over Oswald. Animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, unhappy with Mintz, asked Universal head Carl Laemmle to remove Mintz, suggesting they would be the ones to continue the Oswald series. Laemmle terminated Mintz's contract but, instead of hiring Harman and Ising,^[24] he opted to have the Oswald cartoons produced right on the Universal lot.^[25] Laemmle selected Walter Lantz to produce the new series of Oswald shorts (the first of which was 1929's Race Riot). Featuring Bill Nolan as an animator (and later director), the Lantz-produced Oswalds had a decidedly different tone and aesthetic than the Disney shorts, with more slapstick and surreal visual gags, some contributed by a young Tex Avery. Over the next decade, Lantz produced 142 Oswald cartoons, for a total of 194 films featuring the character, spanning the work of all three producers. After Lantz took over production in 1929, Oswald's look changed to some degree over the following years: Oswald got white gloves on his hands, shoes on his feet, a shirt, a "cuter" face with larger eyes, a bigger head, and shorter ears. With 1935's Case of the Lost Sheep, an even more major makeover took place: the character was drawn more realistically now, with white fur rather than black, shoes are removed, plus wearing suspenders instead of a shirt and shorts. Both redesigns were done by Manuel Moreno, who recalled that in the 1935 redesign that Lantz said to make Oswald cute and to get rid of the black on him, because Disney was also changing his characters.^[26]^[27]

The cartoons containing the new, white-furred Oswald seemed different from their predecessors in more than one way, as the stories themselves became softer. Minor changes in the drawing style would continue, too. With Happy Scouts (1938), the second-to-last Oswald film produced, the rabbit's fur went from being all-white to a combination of white and gray.

Unlike the Disney shorts, in which Oswald did not speak, Lantz's cartoons began to feature actual dialogue for Oswald, although most of the cartoons were still silent to begin with. Animator Bill Nolan performed the voice of Oswald in Cold Turkey, the first Lantz cartoon with dialogue, and the following year Pinto Colvig, who was working as an animator and gag man at the studio, started voicing Oswald. When Colvig left the studio in 1931, Mickey Rooney took over the voicing of Oswald until early in the following year. Starting in 1932, Lantz ceased to use a regular voice actor for Oswald, and many studio staff members (including Lantz himself) would take turns in voicing the character over the years. June Foray provided Oswald's voice in The Egg Cracker Suite, which was the final theatrical short to feature him. She later voiced him again for an unaired radio pilot, Sally in Hollywoodland (1947).^[28]

Oswald made a cameo appearance in the first animated sequence with both sound and color (two-strip Technicolor), a 2½-minute animated sequence of the live action movie The King of Jazz (1930), produced by Laemmle for Universal. It was not until 1934 that Oswald got his own color sound cartoons in two-strip Technicolor, Toyland Premiere and Springtime Serenade. The Oswald cartoons then returned to black-and-white, except for the last one, The Egg Cracker Suite (1943), released as a part of the Swing Symphonies series. Egg Cracker was also the only Oswald cartoon to use three-strip Technicolor. Oswald's last cartoon appearance was a cameo in The Woody Woodpecker Polka (1951), also in Technicolor, which by then had become the norm in the cartoon industry. He also appeared in a 1952 theatrical commercial for the Electric Autolite Company, with his voice being provided by Dick Beals.^[29]

Comic books

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File:Comic Oswald.jpg

Oswald and his surrogate sons. After a few years on screen, Oswald settled to be featured in comic books.

Oswald's first appearance in comics was in a series of comic strips titled Oswald the Rabbit, which ran from February 1935 to January 1936. They were drawn by Al Stahl and published by National Allied Publications. The comics were serialized on one page of every issue of New Fun and the first issue of More Fun.

Oswald's second run in comics began in Dell Comics' New Funnies, which ran from 1942 to 1962. Following the typical development seen in most new comics, the New Funnies stories slowly morphed the character in their own direction.

At the start of the New Funnies feature, Oswald existed in a milieu reminiscent of Winnie-the-Pooh: he was portrayed as a live stuffed animal, living in a forest together with other anthropomorphized toys. These included Toby Bear, Maggie Lou the wooden doll, Hi-Yah Wahoo the turtle-faced Indian, and Woody Woodpecker—depicted as a mechanical doll filled with nuts and bolts (hence his "nutty" behavior). In 1944, with the addition of writer John Stanley, the stuffed animal motif was dropped, as were Maggie Lou, Woody, and Wahoo. Oswald and Toby became flesh and blood characters living as roommates in "Lantzville". Initially drawn by Dan Gormley, the series was later drawn by the likes of Dan Noonan and Lloyd White.

In 1948, Toby adopted two orphan rabbits for Oswald to raise. Floyd and Lloyd, "Poppa Oswald's" new sons, stuck around; Toby was relegated to the sidelines, disappearing for good in 1953. Later stories focused on Oswald adventuring with his sons, seeking odd jobs, or simply protecting the boys from the likes of rabbit-eating Reddy Fox and (from 1961) con man Gabby Gator—a character adapted from contemporary Woody Woodpecker cartoon shorts. This era of Oswald comics typically featured the art of Jack Bradbury, known also for his Mickey Mouse work.

After the assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald, the name "Oswald" came to have negative connotations.^[30]

He made brief appearances in the Woody Woodpecker comics series until it ended in the 1970s.^[30] Through the end of the 20th century, the comics produced outside the U.S. carried on the look and story style of the Dell Oswald stories.

In 2010, Oswald starred in the digi-comic series Epic Mickey: Tales of the Wasteland, a prequel to the Epic Mickey video game, sharing what the Wasteland was like before Mickey arrived there.

In 2011, Oswald starred in the Norwegian Disney comic story "En magisk jul!", written by David Gerstein and drawn by Mark Kausler. It is based on and takes place in the times of the classic Oswald shorts from 1927 to 1928.^[31] The story was later reprinted, as "Just Like Magic!", in the American Disney comic Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #726 (2015).

Disney acquires Oswald trademark

In February 2006, Disney CEO Bob Iger initiated a trade with NBCUniversal in which a number of minor assets, including the rights to Oswald and the 27 shorts that Walt Disney had worked on, were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in exchange for sending sportscaster Al Michaels from Disney's ABC and ESPN to NBC Sports.^[10] At the time, ABC had lost its contract for NFL broadcast rights, and despite recently signing a long-term contract with ESPN, Michaels was interested in rejoining broadcast partner John Madden at NBC for the Sunday night package. Universal transferred the trademark of the character to Disney, and in exchange, Disney released Michaels from his employment contract, allowing him to sign with NBC.

The deal included the trademark rights to the character and the 27 Disney-produced Oswald shorts along with the handover of any physical Disney-produced Oswald material Universal still had in their possession. Iger had been interested in the property because of an internal design document for a video game, which became Epic Mickey.^[33] Walt Disney's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, issued the following statement after the deal was announced: Template:Blockquote

Around the same time, the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets made a similar deal, the Chiefs giving the Jets a draft pick as compensation for releasing coach Herm Edwards from his contract. Referring to this trade, Michaels said: Template:Blockquote

In January 2007, a T-shirt line from Comme des Garçons seems to have constituted the first new Disney Oswald merchandise. Following in December was a two-disc DVD set, The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, included in Wave Seven of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series. Several Oswald collectors' figurines and a limited edition grayscale plush toy appeared shortly after the DVD set's release. The Disney Store also began to introduce Oswald into its merchandise lines, starting with a canvas print and Christmas ornament that became available in Fall 2007. A standard-issue color plush toy matching Oswald's appearance in Epic Mickey appeared in late 2010. This was followed by an ongoing roll-out of clothing and other products at the Disney Store, various chain stores, and the Disney California Adventure theme park.

In 2012, the newly redesigned Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure included Oswald's Filling Station, an Oswald merchandise stand themed as a 1920s gas station.^[34] The shop exclusively only sells just "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" merchandise such as "Oswald Ears" hats (a similar style to the popular Mickey Mouse Club black mouse-eared caps), as well as shirts, t-shirts, plush toys, pins, mugs, and other special Oswald items.^[35] In 2014, Oswald began making appearances in the area near the shop.^[36]

Video games

In 1995, Oswald briefly appeared in Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau, a Woody Woodpecker video game released for the Master System and the Mega Drive in Brazil only.^[37]

Oswald is one of the main characters in the 2010 video game Epic Mickey and its 2024 remake, Epic Mickey: Rebrushed. The world of Epic Mickey takes place in "Wasteland", a setting that mirrors elements of Disneyland but as a home for "forgotten" Disney characters, including Oswald,^[38] who rules over the environment.^[39] Oswald fashioned Wasteland after Disneyland, although it is darker and distorted. He implements his likeness into areas Mickey Mouse normally appears, such as the iconic Partners statue with Walt Disney and other imagery throughout the town.^[40] Oswald was the first cartoon character to be "forgotten" and eventually lose his relevance, now inhabiting Wasteland.^[40] Oswald also dislikes Mickey for stealing his popularity that he felt he deserved.^[41] Despite his resentment, Oswald tries to maintain peace and make Wasteland a better place for forgotten characters, especially his "bunny children" and his wife Ortensia.^[41]

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is a video game that was released on November 18, 2012.^[42] Unlike the previous game, Epic Mickey 2 features full voiced cut-scenes with Frank Welker (Welker had also provided Oswald's vocal effects and the Shadow Blot in the previous game) as Oswald's first voice actor in an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit production from Disney. Bill Nolan was Oswald's first voice actor in 1929, when Walter Lantz produced the Oswald cartoons.^[43]^[44]

Tetsuya Nomura, creator and lead producer of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, had requested for Oswald's use in Kingdom Hearts III, but the response from Disney was that the character would be "too difficult" to use, with no further clarification or details from Disney.^[45] Nomura cites Oswald as one of his favorite Disney characters.^[46]

On November 30, 2023, Oswald was added as a playable racer in Disney Speedstorm during its fifth season alongside Ortensia, while he appears in Disney Dreamlight Valley as part of its "Eternity Isle" expansion. He is voiced by David Errigo Jr. in both appearances.

Disney projects

In 2012, sketch animation from a lost 1928 cartoon, Harem Scarem, was compiled by archivists at Disney and released to help celebrate Oswald's 85th Anniversary.^[47] He made an appearance in a 2013 throwback-style Mickey Mouse cartoon, Get a Horse!^[48]

While only 19 of 26 cartoons were previously known to have survived, a couple of Oswald's lost cartoons were found in the 2010s.^[49] In 2015, the British Film Institute's National Archives were found to hold his Sleigh Bells (1928) footage. The BFI and Walt Disney Animation Studios worked to restore the short.^[50] Long-term Disney animator David Bossert wrote a book, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons which was released in 2017. A Japanese man, Yasushi Watanabe, read the book and discovered that he had a missing 1928 Oswald cartoon, Neck & Neck, since he was a teenager.^[49]

A series centered on Oswald was in development with the project announced in 2019 for a potential release on Disney+.^[51]^[52] Disney Television Animation veteran Matt Danner revealed that a series was in development as a follow-up for the team behind Legend of the Three Caballeros, but that they "got broken up and scattered to the wind".^[53] He expressed hope that the series could still be revived in the future and further hinted that another team would develop it, because Disney was still heavily invested in wanting to revive the character.^[54]^[55]

On December 1, 2022, an online hand-drawn animated Oswald short by Walt Disney Animation Studios was released.^[6] The short was directed by Eric Goldberg, scored by Dean McClure, and produced by Dorothy McKim, with Mark Henn and Randy Haycock working on the animation alongside Goldberg.^[56] It marked Oswald's first short produced by Disney, as well as his first short ever since Feed the Kitty (1938).^[56] A few weeks later, a hand-drawn animation piece by Disney Animation featuring Oswald was released, meant to promote a line of products developed by Disney and Givenchy.^[57] Restored public domain versions of the shorts Trolley Troubles and All Wet (both 1927) were released on Disney+ in September 2023.^[58]

Merchandise

Shortly after the rabbit starred in his black-and-white animated silent shorts between 1927 and 1928, he sold merchandise for Universal: a chocolate-covered marshmallow candy bar, a stencil set, and a pin-backed button.^[59] In 2004 and 2005, Oswald products became popular in Japan and were primarily made available as prizes in UFO catchers^[60] and as official merchandise in Universal Studios Japan, manufactured by Taito and/or Medicom, these products included puppets, inflatable dolls, keyrings, and watches.^[61] Oswald made his first Disneyland appearance at Tokyo Disneyland on March 31, 2010, as an Easter float.^[62] As of October 2017, Oswald has a Service Station at Disney's California Adventure (near the entrance) that only sells exclusive "Oswald The Lucky Rabbit" merchandise including Oswald ears, hats (baseball caps), shirts, t-shirts, plates, coats, cups, mugs, plush toys, key-chains, and much more.^[63]^[64]^[65]^[66]

Theme park appearances

The Oswald character showed up at the parks in Florida and California on the day Disney reacquired Oswald, but made no further appearances at the time.

In 2010, Tokyo Disneyland produced a float featuring Oswald for their first Easter holiday event.^[62]

In 2011, Oswald appeared with other old Disney characters on the construction walls for Disney California Adventure Park's new entrance.^[67] Oswald also appeared on a poster as a magician's rabbit in Town Square Theater in Magic Kingdom park.^[68] Oswald appeared on various items of clothing available for purchase at Disneyland Paris in the shops on Main Street USA.

In 2012, Disney California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort reopened with a new entry area called Buena Vista Street, themed to 1920s Los Angeles. Oswald's Service Station is a 1920s gas station (housing a gift shop) located at the north end of the street and features Oswald prominently in its logo. Disney California Adventure also sells Oswald merchandise and next-door Disneyland offers Mickey Mouse merchandise exclusively. In the same year, Oswald ear hats appeared at the Emporium at Walt Disney World in Florida.

As of May 2014, Oswald can be spotted on the exit of The Seven Dwarves ride at Magic Kingdom, Orlando. He is carved into a tree near the exit door. During the same year a new Oswald costumed character began meet-and-greets at Tokyo DisneySea on April 1, and on September 14 Oswald began making appearances on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure.

As of October 2017, Oswald has a Service Station at Disney California Adventure and has been spotted making appearances.^[69]

On June 2, 2018, at the FanDaze event Oswald's spouse, Ortensia accompanied him as a VIP guest in Disneyland Paris. They also performed in the show, "Oh My, Ortensia".^[70]

Oswald was featured on the medal of the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 10K. The event took place on January 7, 2022, as part of runDisney's WDW Marathon Weekend.^[71]

Oswald made a debut in Hong Kong Disneyland in January 2023 as part of the celebration for the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company.

From January 20 to February 15, 2023, at Disney California Adventure, Oswald and his wife Ortensia appeared to celebrate Chinese New Year, which marks Ortensia's debut in an American theme park.^[72]^[73]

Filmography

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Home media

In the 1940s and 1950s, Oswald titles could still be found in 16mm and 8mm film catalogs.
Some earlier Oswald shorts are in the public domain, and have thus been available for some years in various lower-quality video and DVD compilations. Some are lost.
An attempted restoration of the then-surviving Disney Oswald shorts, under the title The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, appeared as a two-disc volume in Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Seven, released on December 11, 2007. The cartoons included Ozzie of the Mounted, Tall Timber, and a much-extended version of Bright Lights, all newly rediscovered at the time.
Six Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons, including Hells Heels and Toyland Premiere, have been included in The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection DVD.
Five additional Lantz Oswald shorts, including Wax Works and Springtime Serenade, are included in The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2 DVD.
The full version of Oh, What a Knight is included as an unlockable cartoon in Epic Mickey by collecting various film reels in the game.
The restored version of Hungry Hobos is included as part of the bonus features in the release of the Walt Disney Signature Collection edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Blu-ray. Although the short is not included on the disc itself, a digital code is included with the Blu-ray that "unlocks" the short for viewing.^[74]
The shorts My Pal Paul and Africa are fully restored and included as extras in the Criterion release of King of Jazz.
The short Poor Papa was restored and included as an extra in the Walt Disney Signature Collection edition of Pinocchio.

Reception

During the 1920s, the Oswald shorts, as well as Oswald himself, were extremely popular and had received substantial critical acclaim. The Film Daily noted that the series was "one of the best sellers of the 'U[niversal]' short subject program". According to The Moving Picture World, Oswald had "accomplished the astounding feat of jumping into the first-run favor overnight".^[18]

With the release of Trolley Troubles, The Film Daily wrote: "As conductor on a 'Toonerville' trolley, Oswald is a riot. This ... you can book on pure faith, and our solemn word that they have the goods".^[18]

The Moving Picture World noted that Oswald was "good for a lot of smiles and real laughs. Trolley Troubles presents Oswald as the skipper of a dinky little trolley on a wild ride over mountains".

According to The Moving Picture World: Template:Blockquote

With the release of Oh, Teacher, Moving Picture World wrote that it "lives up to the promise of the first ... as a clever, peppy, and amusing series of cartoons that should prove popular in any type of house. This one deals with Oswald as a school kid and introduces a cat as his rival. It contains some of the best gags we have seen in cartoons".

With the release of The Mechanical Cow, Moving Picture World wrote that Oswald "has a wild and amusing time with his ingenuous milk producer".

With the release of Great Guns, Moving Picture World wrote that Oswald is a "hero in action in the trenches and [in] a situation where two planes fight each other like pugilists". They found that Great Guns was "chock full of humor" and wrote that "this series is bound to be popular in all types of houses if the present standard is maintained".

Moving Picture World also wrote of the series: Template:Blockquote

In addition: Template:Blockquote

In the modern era, animation historian David Gerstein notes: Template:Blockquote

Oswald won Best New Character in both Readers' Choice and Editors' Choice in Nintendo PowerTemplate:'s Best of 2010 awards.^[75]

Tetsuya Nomura, creator and lead producer of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, lists Oswald as one of his favorite Disney characters.^[46]

References

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External links

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Template:Inducks character
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Theatrical Series -M. J. Winkler Prods Template:Dead link Template:Cbignore at the Big Cartoon DataBase
Of Rocks and Socks: The Winkler Oswalds (1928–29)
The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: Cartune Profiles: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit on IMDb
Lost Disney film found in the BFI National Archive

Template:Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons Template:Navbox Template:Epic Mickey series

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[28] "This is What A Woody Woodpecker Show Would Have Sounded Like". Retrieved 2018-04-19.

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-[[File:Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1928).svg|alt=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit|thumb|Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]
+{{Short description|Early animated Disney character}}
-'''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit''' is an iconic animated character created by '''[[Walt Disney]]''' and '''[[Ub Iwerks]]''' in 1927. Oswald was one of the first significant successes in the early days of animation and is often considered a precursor to the creation of '''[[Mickey Mouse]]''', the character who would ultimately define Disney’s legacy. Oswald's creation and subsequent legal battles played an important role in shaping the animation industry, as well as the history of '''Walt Disney Productions'''.
+{{About|the character|the series of shorts|Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (series){{!}}''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'' (series)|the 2022 short|Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (short){{!}}''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'' (short)}}
+{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
+{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}
+{{Infobox character
+| name = Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
+| franchise = ''[[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit filmography|Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]''
+| image = Oswald - The Film Daily.svg
+| caption = Oswald, as he appears in an ad for ''[[The Film Daily]]''
+| first = ''[[Trolley Troubles]]'' (1927)<!--Do not add Poor Papa, as that wasn't distributed until 1928, though it was the first made.-->
+| creator = {{ubli|[[Walt Disney]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The Calgary Daily Herald |publisher=The Calgary Daily Herald |via=Google Books |date=July 20, 1936 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hh9kAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA15}}</ref>|
+[[Ub Iwerks]]<ref>{{cite web |author=AZPM Staff |title=Walt Disney Didn't Actually Draw Mickey Mouse. Meet The Kansas City Artist Who Did |website=news.azpm.org |language=en |url=https://news.azpm.org/p/news-npr/2021/7/7/197019-walt-disney-didnt-actually-draw-mickey-mouse-meet-the-kansas-city-artist-who-did/ |access-date=2022-12-21}}</ref>}}
+| voice = {{ubli|[[Bill Nolan (animator)|Bill Nolan]] (1929)<ref name=CartoonVoices>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Keith |title=Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2 |date=3 October 2022 |publisher=BearManor Media |language=en}}</ref>|
+[[Pinto Colvig]] (1930)<ref name=CartoonVoices/>|
+[[Mickey Rooney]] (1930-1931)<ref name=CartoonVoices/>|
+Shirley Reed (1931, 1934)<ref name=CartoonVoices/>|
+[[Tex Avery]] (1932–1935)<ref name=CartoonVoices/><ref>{{cite web |title=1933 Interview with Tex Avery |date=March 28, 2008 |url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/1933-interview-with-tex-avery-5341.html}}</ref>|
+Margaret McKay (1938)<ref name=CartoonVoices/>|
+[[Bernice Hansen]] (1938)<ref name=CartoonVoices/>|
+[[June Foray]] (1943, 1947)|
+[[Dick Beals]] (1952)<ref name="Lantz Oswald on DVD">[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/lantz-oswald-on-dvd/ "Lantz Oswald on DVD"]. Retrieved 2017-09-30.</ref>|
+[[Mel Blanc]] (1957)<ref name="Woody Woodpecker on Records">[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/woody-woodpecker-on-records/ "Woody Woodpecker on Records"]. Retrieved 2017-09-30.</ref>|
+[[Gloria Wood]] (1957)<ref name="Woody Woodpecker on Records"/>|
+[[Frank Welker]]<!---Welker hasn't voiced the character since 2018--> (2009–2018)<ref>{{cite tweet |title=Yes we did |user=audwas |number=1160428961978970114}}</ref>|
+David Errigo Jr. (2023–present)}}
+| alias =
+| significant_others = {{ubli|[[Ortensia the Cat]]/Kitty/Sadie (girlfriend; wife in some depictions)|
+Bunny Lou/Fanny (first girlfriend; then rejected)}}
+| children = The Bunny Children<br />Floyd and Lloyd (adopted sons, comics only)
+| gender = [[Male]]
+| species = [[Rabbit]]
+| designer = Walt Disney & [[Ub Iwerks]]
+}}
+'''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit''' (also known as '''Oswald the Rabbit''', '''Oswald Rabbit''', and '''Ozzie'''<ref>{{citation|title=Ozzie of the Mounted|last=Disney|first=Walt|year=1928|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ozzie_Of_The_Mounted_(1928)_Intertitle.jpg}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew40moti/page/n661/mode/2up|title=Universal Short Subjects|publisher=Motion Picture News|date=1929|access-date=2024-02-26|quote=Ozzie of the Circus}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/harrisonsreports00harr_5/page/n33/mode/2up|title=Universal Short Subjects|publisher=Harrison's Reports|date=1929|access-date=2024-02-26|quote=Hold ’Em Ozzie}}</ref>) is an [[animated series|animated]] cartoon character created in 1927 by [[Walt Disney]] and [[Ub Iwerks]] for [[Universal Pictures]]. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Studio]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (Rev. ed.)|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1980|isbn=0-07-039835-6|url=https://archive.org/details/ofmicemagic00leon|url-access=registration}}</ref> After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: [[Mickey Mouse]], who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world.
-== Creation and Early Success ==
+In 2003, [[Buena Vista Games]] pitched a concept for an Oswald-themed video game to then-Disney President and future-CEO [[Bob Iger]], who became committed to acquiring the rights to Oswald. In 2006, [[The Walt Disney Company]] acquired the trademark of Oswald (with [[NBCUniversal]] effectively trading Oswald for the services of [[Al Michaels]] as play-by-play announcer on ''[[NBC Sunday Night Football]]'').<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=David |date=2024-02-09 |title=Today in Disney History, 2006: Disney Regains the Rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit |url=https://www.wdw-magazine.com/disney-regains-the-rights-to-oswald-the-lucky-rabbit/ |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=WDW Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
-Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was one of the first cartoon characters to gain popularity and recognition. The character was created by '''Walt Disney''' and his close collaborator '''Ub Iwerks''' while working for the '''Universal Studios''' animation department. Oswald made his debut in '''1927''' in a series of silent cartoons produced by Universal, under the direction of '''[[Charles Mintz]]'''.
-The creation of Oswald was a pivotal moment in the history of animation. Disney and Iwerks had developed a unique style for Oswald, using a mix of slapstick humor and innovative animation techniques that set him apart from other characters of the time. The first appearance of Oswald was in the short film ''Trolley Troubles'' (1927), which featured the character in a comedic story set on a runaway trolley.
+Oswald returned in Disney's 2010 video game, ''[[Epic Mickey]]''. The game's [[metafiction]] plot parallels Oswald's real-world history, dealing with the character's feelings of abandonment by Disney and envy toward Mickey Mouse. He has since appeared in [[Disney Experiences|Disney theme parks]] and [[Disney comics|comic books]], as well as two follow-up games, ''[[Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two]]'' and ''[[Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion]]''. Oswald made his first appearance in an animated production in 85 years through his cameo appearance in the 2013 animated short ''[[Get a Horse!]]'' He was the subject of the 2015 feature film ''[[Walt Before Mickey]]''. Oswald also appears as a townsperson in ''[[Disney Infinity 2.0]]''. In 2022, Oswald appeared in a new short produced by Disney.<ref name=":1">{{citation |title="Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" – Walt Disney Animation Studios |date=December 2022 |language=en |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQqgAUu3Vxo |access-date=2022-12-01}}</ref> He also has a cameo appearance in ''[[Once Upon a Studio]]''.
-Oswald’s charm was quickly recognized by audiences, and the character’s popularity grew. Oswald became a huge success, starring in over '''20 films''' within the first year, and quickly became Universal's most successful animated character, outshining earlier creations.
+In January 2023, the copyrights on several of the original Oswald shorts, as well as the character, expired. Those films and the character are now in the [[public domain]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Shorts, 'Metropolis', 'The Jazz Singer' Headline 2023 Public Domain Arrivals |date=January 3, 2023 |url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/law/2023-public-domain-additions-oswald-metropolis-224596.html}}</ref> The character will appear in ''Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole'', an upcoming horror film directed by Lilton Stewart III,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29226297/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk | title=Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole - IMDb | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> and starring [[Ernie Hudson]] as the titular character.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ernie Hudson To Star In Horror Movie 'Oswald Down The Rabbit Hole' |date=April 10, 2024 |url=https://deadline.com/2024/04/ernie-hudson-oswald-down-the-rabbit-hole-horror-topher-hall-1235880186/ |access-date=2024-07-14}}</ref>
-== Oswald’s Characteristics and Design ==
+==Characteristics==
-Oswald was a playful, mischievous, and somewhat unlucky character who embodied many of the traits that would later be seen in other cartoon characters, including '''Mickey Mouse'''. With his long ears, round body, and expressive face, Oswald had a highly recognizable design. He was often depicted as having a sense of adventure, finding himself in humorous and chaotic situations that involved many antics and physical comedy.
+[[File:Oswald handstand.png|thumb|left|172px|Oswald doing a [[handstand]].]]
+While under Disney's creative control, Oswald was one of the first cartoon characters that had personality.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} As outlined by Walt himself: "Hereafter we will aim to [make] Oswald a younger character, peppy, alert, saucy, and venturesome, keeping him also neat and trim".<ref name=bbc/> With Oswald, Disney began to explore the concept of "personality animation", in which cartoon characters were defined as individuals through their movements, mannerisms, and acting, instead of simply through their design. Around this period, Disney had expressed: "I want the characters to be somebody. I don't want them just to be a drawing".<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |title=Life Before Mickey |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 10, 1994 |last=Canemaker |first=John |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/10/books/life-before-mickey.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=December 20, 2015}}</ref> Not only were gags used, but his humor differed in terms of what he used to make people laugh. He presented [[physical humor]], used situations to his advantage and presented situational humor in general and frustration comedy best shown in the cartoon ''[[The Mechanical Cow]]''. He would use animal limbs to solve problems and even use his own limbs as props and gags. He could be squished as if he was made of rubber and could turn anything into a tool. His distinct personality was inspired by [[Douglas Fairbanks]] for his courageous and adventurous attitude as seen in the cartoon short ''[[Oh, What a Knight]]''.<ref name=PW/>
-Oswald’s design was slightly more humanlike compared to other animal characters at the time. For instance, he was given human-like postures and the ability to speak in some of the early shorts. His personality, however, was largely defined by his misadventures and the comedic situations he found himself in.
+In regard to Oswald's personality, Disney historian [[David Gerstein]] describes the difference between Mickey and Oswald: "Imagine Mickey if he were a little more egotistical or fallible, or imagine Bugs Bunny if he talked the talk but wasn't as good at walking the walk".<ref name="rotoscopers">{{cite news |title=[INTERVIEW] Historian David Gerstein Talks Oswald's Rediscovered Short, Relation to Mickey Mouse |publisher=Rotoscopers |date=January 25, 2016 |last=Taylor |first=Blake |url=https://www.rotoscopers.com/2016/01/25/interview-historian-david-gerstein-talks-oswalds-rediscovered-short-relation-to-mickey-mouse/ |access-date=May 26, 2016}}</ref>
-== The Rise of Oswald and Disney’s Struggles with Universal ==
+In order to make his Oswald cartoons look "real", Disney turned away from the styles of [[Felix the Cat]], [[Koko the Clown]], [[Krazy Kat]], and [[Julius the Cat]] and began emulating the camera angles, effects, and editing of live-action films. To learn how to base gags on personality and how to build comic routines, rather than heaping one gag after another, he studied [[Laurel and Hardy]], [[Harold Lloyd]], [[Charlie Chaplin]], and [[Buster Keaton]]. In order to stir emotion in an audience, Disney studied and scrutinized the shadow effects, cross-cutting, and staging of action in films featuring Douglas Fairbanks and [[Lon Chaney]].<ref name=nytimes/>
-Oswald’s success was key to the financial success of Universal in the late 1920s, but it was also the point at which Walt Disney would experience one of his earliest major setbacks. In 1928, '''Walt Disney''' and '''Ub Iwerks''' were informed that Universal was not satisfied with the terms of the Oswald contract. In an unfortunate turn of events, Disney learned that Universal, led by studio head '''Carl Laemmle''', had taken control of Oswald. To make matters worse, Universal hired away most of the animation staff working on Oswald, including '''Iwerks'''.
-Disney had been forced into a difficult position: despite having created Oswald and overseeing his production, Disney had no legal ownership of the character. '''Carl Laemmle''' and Universal held the rights to Oswald, and as a result, they were free to continue the series without Disney’s involvement. The loss of Oswald marked a significant turning point in Disney’s career.
+Over several cartoons, Disney and his animators would develop Oswald's persona: an "emotive, fast-moving wise guy, alternately ebullient and grouchy".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bossert |first=David |title=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons, Revised Special Edition |date=2019 |publisher=Disney Editions |isbn=9781368042079}}</ref>
-== The Birth of Mickey Mouse ==
+Walt Disney did not want for Oswald to simply be "a rabbit character animated and shown in the same light as the commonly known cat characters", as well as merely just a peg for gags. Instead, his stated intention was "to make Oswald peculiarly and typically OSWALD".<ref>{{cite book |last=Gabler |first=Neal |title=Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination |date=October 9, 2007 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0-679-75747-4}}</ref>
-The loss of Oswald was a crucial event that would lead directly to the creation of '''Mickey Mouse'''. Disheartened but determined to move forward, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks began working on a new character that would embody the lessons they had learned from their experience with Oswald. In '''1928''', Mickey Mouse made his debut in the short film ''Steamboat Willie''. Unlike Oswald, Mickey Mouse was created with full ownership by Disney, ensuring that he would not face the same struggles over rights and ownership.
-Mickey Mouse would go on to become one of the most famous and successful characters in animation history, but Oswald’s legacy lives on as a key milestone in Disney’s evolution. Mickey’s success, in many ways, can be traced back to the lessons learned from the creation and eventual loss of Oswald.
+==History==
+===Creation===
+In 1927, because of cost and technical restrictions, Disney and his chief animator [[Ub Iwerks]] ended their work on the [[Alice Comedies]] and [[Julius the Cat]]. Around the same time, [[Charles Mintz]] got word that [[Universal Pictures]] wanted to get into the cartoon business, so he told Disney to create a new rabbit character that he could sell to Universal, because there were too many cat characters ([[Krazy Kat]], Felix the Cat, etc.). After Oswald was created, Winkler signed a contract with Universal on March 4 the same year, which would guarantee 26 ''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'' cartoons.<ref>{{cite web |title=Universal Announces Release Of "Oscar, the Rabbit" Cartoons |publisher=[[Moving Picture World]]|date=1927-03-12 |url=https://archive.org/details/movingpicturewor85marm/page/n123 |access-date=2020-04-27}}</ref><ref name=bbc>{{cite news |title=Could Oswald the Lucky Rabbit have been bigger than Mickey?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19910825 |newspaper=BBC |date=December 3, 2012 |access-date=April 4, 2013}}</ref><ref name=PW>"Oswald Comes Home" (DVD). (2007). ''[[Walt Disney Treasures]]: The Adventures of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit'' (Disc 1). Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney |last=Barrier |first=Michael |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0520256194 |pages=51 |url=https://archive.org/details/animatedmanlifeo00barr/}}</ref> Work on both the character and series began soon after Disney moved his studio to Hyperion Avenue.<ref name="SusaninMiller2011"/>
-== Legacy and Importance of Oswald ==
+[[File:Trolley Troubles (Walt Disney, 1927).webm|thumb|left|thumbtime=310|Oswald's first appearance in ''[[Trolley Troubles]]'' (1927)]]
-Although Oswald was ultimately replaced by Mickey Mouse as Disney's signature character, his impact on the animation industry is still recognized. Oswald is considered one of the '''first fully developed animated characters''' to capture the public's imagination in the same way that later characters like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and others would.
+The Universal studio heads rejected the first Oswald cartoon, ''[[Poor Papa]]'', for its poor production quality and the sloppiness and age of Oswald.<ref name=bcdb>"[https://archive.today/20130117234643/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/5401-Poor_Papa.html Poor Papa]". [[Big Cartoon DataBase]], April 13, 2012</ref> Disney, together with Iwerks, created a second cartoon titled ''[[Trolley Troubles]]'' featuring a much younger, neater Oswald. The short, released on September 5, 1927,<ref name="SusaninMiller2011">{{cite book |last1=Susanin |first1=Timothy S.|last2=Miller |first2=Diane Disney |title=Walt Before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, 1919–1928 |date=April 7, 2011 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-960-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgwbBwAAQBAJ |access-date=September 4, 2012}}</ref> officially launched the series and proved to be Universal's greatest success to date. Poor Papa was later released in 1928 and the storyline was reused in a Mickey Mouse short five years later, in ''[[Mickey's Nightmare]]''.<ref name=bcdb/> Oswald the Lucky Rabbit became Universal's first major hit in 1927, rivaling other popular cartoon characters, such as Felix the Cat and [[Koko the Clown]].<ref name=PW/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Rukstad |first=Michael |author2=David Collis |title=The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King |journal=Harvard Business School |date=January 5, 2009}}</ref>
-In 2006, '''[[The Walt Disney Company]]''' was able to reacquire the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from '''Universal''' through a trade with the '''NBC Universal''' conglomerate. This acquisition marked the first time in decades that Disney had control of Oswald, solidifying the character's legacy within the company’s rich history of animation.
+The success of the Oswald series allowed the Walt Disney Studio to grow to a staff of nearly twenty. Walt's weekly salary from the series was $100 while [[Roy O. Disney|Roy Disney]]'s was $65. The Disney brothers earned $500 per Oswald short and split the year-end profits, with Walt receiving 60% ($5,361), and Roy receiving 40% ($3,574).<ref name="SusaninMiller2011"/> With income gained from the Oswald series, Walt and Roy purchased ten acres of land in the desert. They also invested in an oil-drilling venture. Iwerks also invested his income in several stone mills to crush paint pigment he used to make paint formulas that were utilized by animators for decades.<ref name="SusaninMiller2011"/>
-Oswald is now part of the broader Disney franchise and has made various appearances in modern media. His character is featured in video games, merchandise, and even in Disney theme parks, where he is sometimes used in promotional materials and special events.
+[[File:Rival Romeos (1928) Poster.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A 1928 poster of short film ''Rival Romeos'']]
+Oswald's success also resulted in Universal and Winkler signing another contract in February 1928, guaranteeing three more years of Oswald cartoons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/motionnew37moti#page/n579/|title=Universal Signs for 3 More Years of Oswald |publisher=[[Motion Picture News]]|date=1928-02-18 |access-date=2020-04-27}}</ref>
-== The Influence of Oswald on Animation ==
+As time passed, Disney feared that Mintz would forgo renewal of the contract, partly due to Iwerks informing Disney that George Winkler, at the behest of Mintz, had been going behind Disney's back during pick-up runs for Oswald reels and hiring away his animators. Eventually, Disney traveled with his wife [[Lillian Disney|Lilly]] to New York to find other potential distributors for his studio's cartoons, including Fox and MGM, prior to meetings with Mintz. As Walt later recalled, he placed two Oswald prints under one arm and—feeling "like a hick"—marched "one half-block north" on Broadway to MGM to visit [[Fred Quimby]]. During this period, Walt and Lillian attended the premier of the Oswald short ''Rival Romeos'', which debuted at the Colony on 53rd and Broadway.<ref name="SusaninMiller2011"/>
-Oswald’s legacy is evident not only in Disney's early success but also in the development of animation as a whole. The character was part of the '''1920s and 1930s animation boom''', a period when the '''silent film''' era was transitioning into the sound era, and animation was beginning to gain widespread popularity. Oswald’s style—particularly his physical comedy and slapstick humor—was a precursor to the later animation trends that would define the '''[[Looney Tunes]]''', '''[[Tom and Jerry]]''', and many other animation series.
-The legal battle for Oswald also highlighted the importance of '''intellectual property rights''' in the entertainment industry, influencing future creators to be more cautious about ownership and contract terms.
+In February 1928, Disney traveled to New York City in hopes of negotiating a more profitable contract with his producer Charles Mintz. As economic problems were apparent at the time, Mintz figured Disney should settle for a 20% cut, although large turnarounds were promised if the studio's finances showed considerable growth. While most of his fellow animators left for Mintz's studio, Disney quit working on the Oswald cartoons. On his long train ride home, he came up with an idea to create another character, and retain the rights to it. He and Iwerks would go on to develop a new cartoon in secret, starring a new character which would soon become the most successful cartoon character in film history and later became the foundation of a global entertainment empire. The first [[Mickey Mouse]] cartoon to be filmed was ''[[Plane Crazy]]'' in the summer of 1928, but it was produced as a silent and held back from release. The first Mickey Mouse film with a synchronized soundtrack, ''[[Steamboat Willie]]'', reached the screen that fall and became a major hit, eclipsing Oswald. ''Plane Crazy'' was later given its own synchronized soundtrack and released on March 17, 1929.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plane Crazy |website=The Big Cartoon Database |url=https://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/cartoon.cgi?film=3821 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130905165545/http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/cartoon.cgi?film=3821 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 5, 2013 |access-date=September 25, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://d23.com/a-to-z/plane-crazy-film/|title=Plane Crazy (film) |website=D23}}</ref>
-== Oswald in Popular Culture ==
+===Universal takes direct control===
-While Oswald was a key character in the early days of animation, his role has not been forgotten in contemporary culture. Today, Oswald often appears in retrospectives and exhibits about the early history of animation. He has appeared in a variety of modern media, including:
+[[File:Lantz Oswald.jpg|thumb|upright|right|An ad for ''[[The Merry Old Soul]]'' featuring a version of Oswald redesigned by Manuel Moreno.]]
+Mintz, meanwhile, opened his own studio (later known as [[Screen Gems]]) consisting primarily of former Disney employees, where he continued to produce Oswald cartoons, among them the first Oswald with sound, ''Hen Fruit'' (1929). Coincidentally, Disney and Mintz each produced nine cartoons the first year and 17 the next, before others took over Oswald. Animators [[Harman and Ising|Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising]], unhappy with Mintz, asked Universal head [[Carl Laemmle]] to remove Mintz, suggesting they would be the ones to continue the Oswald series. Laemmle terminated Mintz's contract but, instead of hiring Harman and Ising,<ref>{{cite web |last=Korkis |first=Jim |date=2014-10-15 |title=The History of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Part Two |website=Mouse Planet |url=https://www.mouseplanet.com/10821/The_History_of_Oswald_the_Lucky_Rabbit__Part_Two |access-date=2023-08-01}}</ref> he opted to have the Oswald cartoons produced right on the Universal lot.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news |title=Oswald the Rabbit returns: Walt Disney's lost bunny hops into 21st century |newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/12/05/oswald-the-rabbit-returns-walt-disneys-lost-bunny-hops-into-21st-century/ |access-date=December 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208041636/http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/12/05/oswald-the-rabbit-returns-walt-disneys-lost-bunny-hops-into-21st-century/ |archive-date=December 8, 2010}}</ref> Laemmle selected [[Walter Lantz]] to produce the new series of Oswald shorts (the first of which was 1929's ''[[Race Riot (film)|Race Riot]]''). Featuring [[Bill Nolan (animator)|Bill Nolan]] as an animator (and later director), the Lantz-produced Oswalds had a decidedly different tone and aesthetic than the Disney shorts, with more slapstick and surreal visual gags, some contributed by a young [[Tex Avery]]. Over the next decade, Lantz produced 142 Oswald cartoons, for a total of 194 films featuring the character, spanning the work of all three producers. After Lantz took over production in 1929, Oswald's look changed to some degree over the following years: Oswald got white gloves on his hands, shoes on his feet, a shirt, a "cuter" face with larger eyes, a bigger head, and shorter ears. With 1935's ''Case of the Lost Sheep'', an even more major makeover took place: the character was drawn more realistically now, with white fur rather than black, shoes are removed, plus wearing suspenders instead of a shirt and shorts. Both redesigns were done by Manuel Moreno, who recalled that in the 1935 redesign that Lantz said to make Oswald cute and to get rid of the black on him, because Disney was also changing his characters.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hollywood cartoons: American animation in its golden age |last=Barrier |first=Michael |year=1999 |isbn=0-19-503759-6 |pages=176 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodcartoon00barr/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/manuel-moreno-lens-to-destiny-1935/|title=Manuel Moreno, Lens to Destiny, 1935 &#124;|website=cartoonresearch.com}}</ref>
-* '''Disney's Epic Mickey (2010)''': Oswald plays a prominent role in this video game as a secondary character alongside Mickey Mouse. The game represents Oswald’s comeback, and he plays an important role as a rival-turned-ally to Mickey.
+The cartoons containing the new, white-furred Oswald seemed different from their predecessors in more than one way, as the stories themselves became softer. Minor changes in the drawing style would continue, too. With ''Happy Scouts'' (1938), the second-to-last Oswald film produced, the rabbit's fur went from being all-white to a combination of white and gray.
-* '''Mickey's PhilharMagic''': At Disney theme parks, Oswald has made cameos in shows like ''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' as a part of the broader Disney franchise.
-* '''Merchandise and Collectibles''': Oswald has been featured in various collectible items, including toys, statues, and limited-edition memorabilia, appealing to both collectors and animation enthusiasts.
-Oswald the Lucky Rabbit remains a crucial part of the early history of animation and a significant figure in the '''Walt Disney Company’s''' legacy. His creation, success, and eventual loss provided valuable lessons in intellectual property and the power of animation. While Oswald may not have achieved the lasting fame of Mickey Mouse, his contribution to the development of the medium and his influence on later characters is undeniable. Today, Oswald continues to be remembered and celebrated as an early animation pioneer.
+Unlike the Disney shorts, in which Oswald did not speak, Lantz's cartoons began to feature actual dialogue for Oswald, although most of the cartoons were still silent to begin with. Animator [[Bill Nolan (animator)|Bill Nolan]] performed the voice of Oswald in ''Cold Turkey'', the first Lantz cartoon with dialogue, and the following year [[Pinto Colvig]], who was working as an animator and gag man at the studio, started voicing Oswald. When Colvig left the studio in 1931, [[Mickey Rooney]] took over the voicing of Oswald until early in the following year. Starting in 1932, Lantz ceased to use a regular voice actor for Oswald, and many studio staff members (including Lantz himself) would take turns in voicing the character over the years. [[June Foray]] provided Oswald's voice in ''The Egg Cracker Suite'', which was the final theatrical short to feature him. She later voiced him again for an unaired radio pilot, ''Sally in Hollywoodland'' (1947).<ref>[https://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-culture/this-is-what-a-woody-woodpecker-radio-show-would-have-sounded-like-79839.html "This is What A Woody Woodpecker Show Would Have Sounded Like"]. Retrieved 2018-04-19.</ref>
-[[Category:Animated Character]]
-[[Category:Cartoon Character]]
+Oswald made a cameo appearance in the first animated sequence with both sound and color (two-strip Technicolor), a 2½-minute animated sequence of the live action movie ''[[The King of Jazz]]'' (1930), produced by Laemmle for Universal. It was not until 1934 that Oswald got his own color sound cartoons in two-strip Technicolor, ''Toyland Premiere'' and ''Springtime Serenade''. The Oswald cartoons then returned to black-and-white, except for the last one, ''The Egg Cracker Suite'' (1943), released as a part of the Swing Symphonies series. ''Egg Cracker'' was also the only Oswald cartoon to use [[three-strip Technicolor]]. Oswald's last cartoon appearance was a [[cameo role|cameo]] in ''[[The Woody Woodpecker Polka]]'' (1951), also in Technicolor, which by then had become the norm in the cartoon industry. He also appeared in a 1952 theatrical commercial for the Electric Autolite Company, with his voice being provided by [[Dick Beals]].<ref name="Lantz Oswald on DVD"/>
+===Comic books===
+{{More citations needed section|date=September 2017}}
+[[File:Comic Oswald.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Oswald and his surrogate sons. After a few years on screen, Oswald settled to be featured in comic books.]]
+Oswald's first appearance in comics was in a series of comic strips titled ''Oswald the Rabbit'', which ran from February 1935 to January 1936. They were drawn by Al Stahl and published by [[National Allied Publications]]. The comics were serialized on one page of every issue of ''New Fun'' and the first issue of ''[[More Fun Comics|More Fun]]''.
+Oswald's second run in comics began in [[Dell Comics]]' ''[[The Funnies|New Funnies]]'', which ran from 1942 to 1962. Following the typical development seen in most new comics, the New Funnies stories slowly morphed the character in their own direction.
+At the start of the ''New Funnies'' feature, Oswald existed in a milieu reminiscent of [[Winnie-the-Pooh]]: he was portrayed as a live [[stuffed animal]], living in a forest together with other anthropomorphized toys. These included Toby Bear, Maggie Lou the wooden doll, Hi-Yah Wahoo the turtle-faced Indian, and [[Woody Woodpecker]]—depicted as a mechanical doll filled with nuts and bolts (hence his "nutty" behavior). In 1944, with the addition of writer [[John Stanley (comics)|John Stanley]], the stuffed animal motif was dropped, as were Maggie Lou, Woody, and Wahoo. Oswald and Toby became flesh and blood characters living as roommates in "Lantzville". Initially drawn by Dan Gormley, the series was later drawn by the likes of Dan Noonan and Lloyd White.
+In 1948, Toby adopted two orphan rabbits for Oswald to raise. Floyd and Lloyd, "Poppa Oswald's" new sons, stuck around; Toby was relegated to the sidelines, disappearing for good in 1953. Later stories focused on Oswald adventuring with his sons, seeking odd jobs, or simply protecting the boys from the likes of rabbit-eating Reddy Fox and (from 1961) con man Gabby Gator—a character adapted from contemporary Woody Woodpecker cartoon shorts. This era of Oswald comics typically featured the art of [[Jack Bradbury]], known also for his Mickey Mouse work.
+After the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]] by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], the name "Oswald" came to have negative connotations.<ref name=mark>{{cite web |title=Hare Transplant |last=Evanier |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Evanier |url=https://www.newsfromme.com/2015/06/02/hare-transplant-2/ |access-date=2022-06-04}}</ref>
+He made brief appearances in the ''Woody Woodpecker'' comics series until it ended in the 1970s.<ref name=mark/> Through the end of the 20th century, the comics produced outside the U.S. carried on the look and story style of the Dell Oswald stories.
+In 2010, Oswald starred in the digi-comic series ''Epic Mickey: Tales of the Wasteland'', a prequel to the ''Epic Mickey'' video game, sharing what the Wasteland was like before Mickey arrived there.
+In 2011, Oswald starred in the Norwegian Disney comic story "En magisk jul!", written by [[David Gerstein]] and drawn by Mark Kausler. It is based on and takes place in the times of the classic Oswald shorts from 1927 to 1928.<ref>[https://inducks.org/story.php?c=XN+HOJ+2010-001 En magisk jul!] at InDucks</ref> The story was later reprinted, as "Just Like Magic!", in the American Disney comic ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' #726 (2015).
+===Disney acquires Oswald trademark===
+[[File:Al Michaels (37443740985).jpg|right|upright|thumb|[[Al Michaels]] acknowledged that his contract negotiations had effectively [[trade (sports)|traded]] him for Oswald, and spoke favorably of the deal.<ref name="Trivia"/>]]
+In February 2006, Disney CEO [[Bob Iger]] initiated a trade with [[NBCUniversal]] in which a number of minor assets, including the rights to Oswald and the 27 shorts that [[Walt Disney]] had worked on, were acquired by [[The Walt Disney Company]] in exchange for sending sportscaster [[Al Michaels]] from Disney's [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[ESPN]] to [[NBC Sports]].<ref name=bbc/> At the time, ABC had lost its contract for [[National Football League|NFL]] broadcast rights, and despite recently signing a long-term contract with ESPN, Michaels was interested in rejoining broadcast partner [[John Madden]] at NBC for the Sunday night package. Universal transferred the trademark of the character to Disney, and in exchange, Disney released Michaels from his employment contract, allowing him to sign with [[NBC]].
+The deal included the trademark rights to the character and the 27 Disney-produced Oswald shorts along with the handover of any physical Disney-produced Oswald material Universal still had in their possession. Iger had been interested in the property because of an internal design document for a video game, which became ''[[Epic Mickey]]''.<ref>{{cite podcast |title=The Idle Thumbs Conf Grenade 2011: GDC 2011: Games Kasavin |website=[[Idle Thumbs]] |host=Chris Remo, [[Jake Rodkin]], Sean Vanaman |date=March 10, 2011 |time=46:40–53:10 |url=http://podcast.idlethumbs.net/conf11/theidleconf_110310.mp3 |access-date=January 9, 2012}}</ref> Walt Disney's daughter, [[Diane Disney Miller]], issued the following statement after the deal was announced:
+{{Blockquote|When Bob [Iger] was named CEO, he told me he wanted to bring Oswald back to Disney, and I appreciate that he is a man of his word. Having Oswald around again is going to be a lot of fun.<ref name=WD>[http://corporate.disney.go.com/news/corporate/2006/2006_0209_oswald.html Walt Disney's 1927 Animated Star Returns to Disney] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215174859/http://corporate.disney.go.com/news/corporate/2006/2006_0209_oswald.html |date=February 15, 2006 }}, a February 2006 press release</ref>}}
+Around the same time, the [[Kansas City Chiefs]] and [[New York Jets]] made a similar deal, the Chiefs giving the Jets a draft pick as compensation for releasing coach [[Herm Edwards]] from his contract. Referring to this trade, Michaels said:
+{{Blockquote|Oswald is definitely worth more than a fourth-round draft choice. I'm going to be a [[trivia]] answer someday.<ref name="Trivia">{{cite web |title=Stay 'tooned: Disney gets 'Oswald' for Al Michaels |work=ESPN.com |date=February 9, 2006 |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2324417}}</ref>}}
+[[File:Oswalds - Disney California Adventure.jpg|thumb|Oswald's Service Station on the Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure.]]
+In January 2007, a [[T-shirt]] line from Comme des Garçons seems to have constituted the first new Disney Oswald merchandise. Following in December was a two-disc DVD set, ''The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'', included in [[Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Seven|Wave Seven]] of the ''[[Walt Disney Treasures]]'' DVD series. Several Oswald collectors' figurines and a limited edition grayscale plush toy appeared shortly after the DVD set's release. [[The Disney Store]] also began to introduce Oswald into its merchandise lines, starting with a canvas print and Christmas ornament that became available in Fall 2007. A standard-issue color plush toy matching Oswald's appearance in ''[[Epic Mickey]]'' appeared in late 2010. This was followed by an ongoing roll-out of clothing and other products at the Disney Store, various chain stores, and the [[Disney California Adventure]] theme park.
+In 2012, the newly redesigned [[Buena Vista Street]] at Disney California Adventure included Oswald's Filling Station, an Oswald merchandise stand themed as a 1920s gas station.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Buhlman |first1=Jocelyn |title=Celebrate Oswald at Disney Parks |website=D23: The Official Disney Fan Club |date=September 7, 2017 |url=https://d23.com/celebrate-oswald-disney-parks/ |access-date=8 September 2018}}</ref> The shop exclusively only sells just "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" merchandise such as "Oswald Ears" hats (a similar style to the popular [[Mickey Mouse Club]] black mouse-eared caps), as well as shirts, t-shirts, plush toys, pins, mugs, and other special Oswald items.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Billinger |first1=Tara |title=Oswald's Service Station |website=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Memorabilia Collection |url=http://oswaldtheluckyrabbitcollection.weebly.com/oswalds-service-station.html |access-date=8 September 2018}}</ref> In 2014, Oswald began making appearances in the area near the shop.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Castro |first1=Andy |title=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit arrives as Halloween Time returns to Disneyland |website=Micechat |date=September 15, 2014 |url=https://micechat.com/80152-disneyland-halloween-time-2/ |access-date=8 September 2018}}</ref>
+===Video games===
+In 1995, Oswald briefly appeared in ''[[Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau]]'', a Woody Woodpecker video game released for the [[Master System]] and the [[Mega Drive]] in Brazil only.<ref>{{cite news |title=Disney Epic Mickey Primer |work=PCWorld |date=December 1, 2010 |language=en |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/212109/Disney_Epic_Mickey_Primer.html |access-date=October 30, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815015851/https://www.pcworld.com/article/212109/Disney_Epic_Mickey_Primer.html |archive-date=August 15, 2020}}</ref>
+Oswald is one of the main characters in the 2010 video game ''Epic Mickey'' and its 2024 remake, ''Epic Mickey: Rebrushed''. The world of ''Epic Mickey'' takes place in "Wasteland", a setting that mirrors elements of [[Disneyland]] but as a home for "forgotten" Disney characters, including Oswald,<ref name="Go">{{cite news |title=Game Informer reveals the first information on Epic Mickey |work=GoNintendo |date=May 30, 2011 |url=https://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=100611 |access-date=2011-05-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711110926/http://www.gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=100611 |archive-date=July 11, 2011}}</ref> who rules over the environment.<ref name="Informer">{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Matt |website=Gameinformer |title=Epic Mickey keeps looking better |date=2010 |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/06/18/epic-mickey-keeps-looking-better-and-better.asx |access-date=May 30, 2011}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Oswald fashioned Wasteland after Disneyland, although it is darker and distorted. He implements his likeness into areas Mickey Mouse normally appears, such as the iconic [[Partners (statue)|Partners]] statue with Walt Disney and other imagery throughout the town.<ref name="cut1">{{cite web |website=YouTube |title=Epic Mickey: All Cutscenes Part 1 |date=November 29, 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xzOlseu_yE |access-date=May 30, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/4xzOlseu_yE |archive-date=2021-11-17}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Oswald was the first cartoon character to be "forgotten" and eventually lose his relevance, now inhabiting Wasteland.<ref name="cut1"/> Oswald also dislikes Mickey for stealing his popularity that he felt he deserved.<ref name="cut2">{{cite web |website=YouTube |title=Epic Mickey: All Cutscenes Part 2 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TeZkFu7vd0 |access-date=May 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140609112347/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TeZkFu7vd0 |archive-date=2014-06-09}}</ref> Despite his resentment, Oswald tries to maintain peace and make Wasteland a better place for forgotten characters, especially his "bunny children" and his wife Ortensia.<ref name="cut2"/>
+''[[Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two]]'' is a video game that was released on November 18, 2012.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stewart |first=John |title=Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two settles a release date |publisher=Gaming Examiner |url=https://www.gamingexaminer.com/disney-epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two-settles-a-release-date/16162/ |access-date=June 11, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615175340/http://www.gamingexaminer.com/disney-epic-mickey-2-the-power-of-two-settles-a-release-date/16162/ |archive-date=June 15, 2012}}</ref> Unlike the previous game, ''Epic Mickey 2'' features full voiced cut-scenes with [[Frank Welker]] (Welker had also provided Oswald's vocal effects and the Shadow Blot in the previous game) as Oswald's first voice actor in an ''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'' production from Disney. [[Bill Nolan (animator)|Bill Nolan]] was Oswald's first voice actor in 1929, when Walter Lantz produced the Oswald cartoons.<ref>{{cite web |title='Epic Mickey 2' Release Date 2012: New Games For 3DS & Wii, XBox, PS3 [VIDEO TRAILER]|website=[[International Business Times]]|date=March 28, 2012 |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/epic-mickey-2-release-date-2012-new-games-3ds-wii-xbox-ps3-video-trailer-431260}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Game creator dishes on 'Epic Mickey' sequel |date=March 23, 2012 |url=https://torontosun.com/2012/03/23/game-creator-dishes-on-epic-mickey-sequel}}</ref>
+[[Tetsuya Nomura]], creator and lead producer of the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' franchise, had requested for Oswald's use in ''[[Kingdom Hearts III]]'', but the response from Disney was that the character would be "too difficult" to use, with no further clarification or details from Disney.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |title=Kingdom Hearts 3: Tetsuya Nomura on working with Disney and catering to fans both old and new |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=March 10, 2017 |last=Hoggins |first=Tom |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/features/kingdom-hearts-3-tetsuya-nomura-working-disney-catering-fans/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 27, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/features/kingdom-hearts-3-tetsuya-nomura-working-disney-catering-fans/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Nomura cites Oswald as one of his favorite Disney characters.<ref name=KHInsider/>
+On November 30, 2023, Oswald was added as a playable racer in ''[[Disney Speedstorm]]'' during its fifth season alongside Ortensia, while he appears in ''[[Disney Dreamlight Valley]]'' as part of its "Eternity Isle" expansion. He is voiced by David Errigo Jr. in both appearances.
+===Disney projects===
+In 2012, sketch animation from a lost 1928 cartoon, ''Harem Scarem'', was compiled by archivists at Disney and released to help celebrate Oswald's 85th Anniversary.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Soteriou. |first1=Helen |title=The rebirth of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit |work=BBC Magazine |date=December 3, 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19910825 |access-date=August 28, 2019}}</ref> He made an appearance in a 2013 throwback-style Mickey Mouse cartoon, ''[[Get a Horse!]]''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morgan |first1=David |title=Obscure Disney characters |work=CBS News |page=3 |language=en |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/obscure-disney-characters/3/ |access-date=August 28, 2019}}</ref>
+While only 19 of 26 cartoons were previously known to have survived, a couple of Oswald's lost cartoons were found in the 2010s.<ref name=tg>{{cite news |last1=Ryall |first1=Julian |title=Disney's 'lost' Oswald the Lucky Rabbit movie surfaces in Japan |work=The Telegraph |date=November 15, 2018 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/15/disneys-lost-oswald-lucky-rabbit-movie-surfaces-japan/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 28, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/15/disneys-lost-oswald-lucky-rabbit-movie-surfaces-japan/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2015, the [[British Film Institute]]'s National Archives were found to hold his ''Sleigh Bells'' (1928) footage. The BFI and [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]] worked to restore the short.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Galuppo |first1=Mia |title=Long Lost 'Oswald the Lucky Rabbit' Disney Animation Discovered in BFI Archives |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=November 3, 2015 |language=en |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oswald-lucky-rabbit-disney-animation-836707 |access-date=August 28, 2019}}</ref> Long-term Disney animator David Bossert wrote a book, ''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons'' which was released in 2017. A Japanese man, Yasushi Watanabe, read the book and discovered that he had a missing 1928 Oswald cartoon, ''Neck & Neck'', since he was a teenager.<ref name=tg/>
+A series centered on Oswald was in development with the project announced in 2019 for a potential release on [[Disney+]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ridgely |first1=Charlie |date=July 6, 2019 |title=Disney+ Reportedly Developing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit TV Series |language=en |work=ComicBook.com |url=https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/2019/07/06/oswald-lucky-rabbit-tv-series-disney-plus/|access-date=August 28, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Nolan |first1=L.D.|date=July 7, 2019 |title=REPORT: Disney+ Developing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Animated Series |work=CBR |url=https://www.cbr.com/report-disney-oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-series/|access-date=August 28, 2019}}</ref> [[Disney Television Animation]] veteran [[Matt Danner]] revealed that a series was in development as a follow-up for the team behind ''[[Legend of the Three Caballeros]]'', but that they "got broken up and scattered to the wind".<ref>{{cite tweet |user=MattyDanner |number=1474996345903587330 |date=December 26, 2021 |title=Iger was very serious about it. ''The Legend of the Three Caballeros'' team was going to follow up with an Oswald show for steaming. Scripts written, designs done, animation test in hand, and a pilot in production. It was beautiful! Then we got broken up and scattered to the wind.}}</ref> He expressed hope that the series could still be revived in the future and further hinted that another team would develop it, because Disney was still heavily invested in wanting to revive the character.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=MattyDanner |number=1475006178019078153 |date=December 26, 2021 |title=Hey gang! Don't be sad about this. Oswald has A LOT of love within Disney. I just wanted to share how serious that love is. I'm sure there will be an Oswald project coming your way in the near future.}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |user=MattyDanner |number=1475959144217645056 |date=December 28, 2021 |title=Lots of people jumping to conclusions here. No one is saying there is no Oswald content in development. Just saying MY TEAM'S version has not been in development for a few years. I wanted to share how passionate and serious myself and the folks at Disney are about Oswald.}}</ref>
+On December 1, 2022, an online hand-drawn animated Oswald short by Walt Disney Animation Studios was released.<ref name=":1"/> The short was directed by [[Eric Goldberg (animator)|Eric Goldberg]], scored by Dean McClure, and produced by Dorothy McKim, with [[Mark Henn]] and Randy Haycock working on the animation alongside Goldberg.<ref name="Zachary">{{cite web |last=Zachary |date=2022-12-01 |title=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Stars in a New Walt Disney Animation Studios Short for Disney 100 Years of Wonder |website=The Walt Disney Company |language=en-US |url=https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-stars-in-a-new-walt-disney-animation-studios-short-for-disney-100-years-of-wonder/ |access-date=2022-12-01}}</ref> It marked Oswald's first short produced by Disney, as well as his first short ever since ''Feed the Kitty'' (1938).<ref name="Zachary"/> A few weeks later, a hand-drawn animation piece by Disney Animation featuring Oswald was released, meant to promote a line of products developed by Disney and [[Givenchy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/disney-oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-returns-mixed-reality/|title=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Returns to Disney Again in New Mixed-Reality Piece|website=TV Shows}}</ref> Restored public domain versions of the shorts ''Trolley Troubles'' and ''All Wet'' (both 1927) were released on Disney+ in September 2023.<ref>{{cite web |last=Zachary |date=2023-06-15 |title=Disney+ to Debut 27 Newly Restored Walt Disney Animation Studios Classic Shorts to Celebrate Disney's 100th Anniversary |website=The Walt Disney Company |language=en-US |url=https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-to-debut-28-newly-restored-walt-disney-animation-studios-classic-shorts-to-celebrate-disneys-100th-anniversary/ |access-date=2023-08-16}}</ref>
+==Merchandise==
+Shortly after the rabbit starred in his black-and-white animated silent shorts between 1927 and 1928, he sold [[merchandise]] for Universal: a chocolate-covered marshmallow candy bar, a stencil set, and a pin-backed button.<ref>{{cite web |title=OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT Mickey's Predecessor |website=thisdayindisneyhistory.com |url=http://www.thisdayindisneyhistory.com/OswaldRabbit.html}}</ref> In 2004 and 2005, Oswald products became popular in Japan and were primarily made available as prizes in UFO catchers<ref>{{cite web |title=AOU 2004 Report |publisher=AM-J |url=http://www.am-j.co.jp/column/aou2004/report03.html}}</ref> and as official merchandise in [[Universal Studios Japan]], manufactured by [[Taito]] and/or Medicom, these products included puppets, inflatable dolls, keyrings, and watches.<ref>{{cite web |title=OSWALD RABBIT TOYS |website=cartoonresearch.com |url=http://www.cartoonresearch.com/lantz2.html |access-date=February 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050110040447/http://www.cartoonresearch.com/lantz2.html |archive-date=January 10, 2005}}</ref> Oswald made his first Disneyland appearance at Tokyo Disneyland on March 31, 2010, as an Easter float.<ref name=OswaldFloat/> As of October 2017, Oswald has a Service Station at Disney's California Adventure (near the entrance) that only sells exclusive "Oswald The Lucky Rabbit" merchandise including Oswald ears, hats (baseball caps), shirts, t-shirts, plates, coats, cups, mugs, plush toys, key-chains, and much more.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oswald's |website=disneyland.disney.go.com |url=https://disneyland.disney.go.com/shops/disney-california-adventure/oswalds/ |access-date=2024-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New Oswald and Ortensia Merchandise Debuts at Disney California Adventure Park |website=disneyparks.disney.go.com |url=https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/07/new-oswald-and-ortensia-merchandise-debuts-at-disney-california-adventure-park/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707173003/https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/07/new-oswald-and-ortensia-merchandise-debuts-at-disney-california-adventure-park/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 7, 2016 |access-date=2024-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Celebrate Oswald at Disney Parks |website=d23.com |date=September 7, 2017 |url=https://d23.com/celebrate-oswald-disney-parks/ |access-date=2024-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Disney 100 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Collection Debuts at Disneyland Resort |website=dorkyparksdad.com |date=February 15, 2023 |url=https://dorkyparksdad.com/2023/02/14/the-disney-100-oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-collection-debuts-at-disneyland-resort/ |access-date=2024-03-06}}</ref>
+==Theme park appearances==
+[[File:Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - costume.jpg|thumb|left|Oswald on Buena Vista Street in [[Disney California Adventure Park]]]]
+The Oswald character showed up at the parks in Florida and California on the day Disney reacquired Oswald, but made no further appearances at the time.
+In 2010, [[Tokyo Disneyland]] produced a float featuring Oswald for their first Easter holiday event.<ref name=OswaldFloat>{{cite web |title=Oswald Float by Dalia1784 on DeviantArt |website=deviantart.com |date=April 9, 2010 |url=https://www.deviantart.com/dalia1784/art/Oswald-Float-160166894}}</ref>
+In 2011, Oswald appeared with other old Disney characters on the construction walls for Disney California Adventure Park's new entrance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Home – Disney's OSWALD the Lucky Rabbit Fan-Site |url=https://oswaldsbuddy.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=oswaldappearances&action=post&thread=35&quote=148&page=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723082258/http://oswaldsbuddy.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=oswaldappearances |archive-date=July 23, 2012}}</ref> Oswald also appeared on a poster as a magician's rabbit in Town Square Theater in [[Magic Kingdom]] park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mickey Mouse shows you around backstage at Town Square Theater at Disney's Magic Kingdom |publisher=YouTube |date=March 30, 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_7kWyKfQoM |access-date=February 23, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/9_7kWyKfQoM |archive-date=2021-11-17}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Oswald appeared on various items of clothing available for purchase at [[Disneyland Paris]] in the shops on Main Street USA.
+In 2012, Disney California Adventure park at the [[Disneyland Resort]] reopened with a new entry area called [[Buena Vista Street]], themed to 1920s Los Angeles. Oswald's Service Station is a 1920s gas station (housing a gift shop) located at the north end of the street and features Oswald prominently in its logo. Disney California Adventure also sells Oswald merchandise and next-door Disneyland offers Mickey Mouse merchandise exclusively. In the same year, Oswald ear hats appeared at the Emporium at Walt Disney World in Florida.
+As of May 2014, Oswald can be spotted on the exit of ''The Seven Dwarves'' ride at Magic Kingdom, Orlando. He is carved into a tree near the exit door. During the same year a new Oswald costumed character began meet-and-greets at [[Tokyo DisneySea]] on April 1, and on September 14 Oswald began making appearances on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure.
+As of October 2017, Oswald has a Service Station at Disney California Adventure and has been spotted making appearances.<ref>{{cite web |last=Slater |first=Shawn |title=Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Is on His Way to Disney California Adventure Park |publisher=Disney Parks Blog |date=September 2, 2014 |url=https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/09/oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-is-on-his-way-to-disney-california-adventure-park/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903214058/http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/09/oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-is-on-his-way-to-disney-california-adventure-park/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 3, 2014 |access-date=September 9, 2014}}</ref>
+On June 2, 2018, at the FanDaze event Oswald's spouse, Ortensia accompanied him as a VIP guest in Disneyland Paris. They also performed in the show, "Oh My, Ortensia".<ref>{{cite web |title=Disney FanDaze |website=DLP Town Square – Disneyland Paris News, Guides and Discussion |language=en-GB |url=https://www.dlptownsquare.com/disney-fandaze/ |access-date=2022-04-16}}</ref>
+Oswald was featured on the medal of the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 10K. The event took place on January 7, 2022, as part of [[runDisney]]'s WDW Marathon Weekend.<ref>{{cite web |title=2022 Walt Disney World Marathon Medals Revealed |date=September 5, 2021 |url=https://dapsmagic.com/2021/09/2022-walt-disney-world-marathon-medals-revealed/}}</ref>
+Oswald made a debut in Hong Kong Disneyland in January 2023 as part of the celebration for the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company.
+From January 20 to February 15, 2023, at Disney California Adventure, Oswald and his wife Ortensia appeared to celebrate [[Chinese New Year]], which marks Ortensia's debut in an American theme park.<ref>{{cite web |title=PHOTOS: Ortensia Makes US Parks Debut Alongside Oswald the Lucky Rabbit for Lunar New Year Festival 2023 at Disney California Adventure – WDW News Today |date=January 20, 2023 |url=https://wdwnt.com/2023/01/photos-ortensia-makes-american-parks-debut-alongside-oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-for-lunar-new-year-in-disney-california-adventure/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Disney California Adventure Park celebrates Lunar New Year |date=January 21, 2023 |url=https://abc7.com/disney-california-adventure-park-lunar-new-year-2023-events/12722165/}}</ref>
+==Filmography==
+{{Main|Oswald the Lucky Rabbit filmography}}
+==Home media==
+* In the 1940s and 1950s, Oswald titles could still be found in 16mm and 8mm film catalogs.
+* Some earlier Oswald shorts are in the public domain, and have thus been available for some years in various lower-quality video and DVD compilations. Some are lost.
+* An attempted restoration of the then-surviving Disney Oswald shorts, under the title ''The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'', appeared as a two-disc volume in ''[[Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Seven#The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit|Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Seven]]'', released on December 11, 2007. The cartoons included ''Ozzie of the Mounted'', ''Tall Timber'', and a much-extended version of ''Bright Lights'', all newly rediscovered at the time.
+* Six Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons, including ''Hells Heels'' and ''Toyland Premiere'', have been included in ''[[The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection]]'' DVD.
+* Five additional Lantz Oswald shorts, including ''Wax Works'' and ''Springtime Serenade'', are included in ''[[The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection: Volume 2]]'' DVD.
+* The full version of ''Oh, What a Knight'' is included as an unlockable cartoon in ''[[Epic Mickey]]'' by collecting various film reels in the game.
+* The restored version of ''[[Hungry Hobos]]'' is included as part of the bonus features in the release of the Walt Disney Signature Collection edition of ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' on Blu-ray. Although the short is not included on the disc itself, a digital code is included with the Blu-ray that "unlocks" the short for viewing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disney Gives Us a Peek at Restored 1928 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Short 'The Hungry Hobos' (Exclusive) |date=January 19, 2016 |url=https://www.yahoo.com/movies/disney-gives-us-a-peek-1346821921529910.html |access-date=January 23, 2016}}</ref>
+* The shorts ''My Pal Paul'' and ''Africa'' are fully restored and included as extras in the Criterion release of ''[[King of Jazz]]''.
+* The short ''Poor Papa'' was restored and included as an extra in the Walt Disney Signature Collection edition of ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]''.
+==Reception==
+[[File:Movingpicturewor87july 0560 — review.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Review of Oswald Cartoons, ''The Moving Picture World'', August 1927]]
+During the 1920s, the Oswald shorts, as well as Oswald himself, were extremely popular and had received substantial critical acclaim. ''[[The Film Daily]]'' noted that the series was "one of the best sellers of the 'U[niversal]' short subject program". According to ''[[The Moving Picture World]]'', Oswald had "accomplished the astounding feat of jumping into the first-run favor overnight".<ref name="SusaninMiller2011"/>
+With the release of ''Trolley Troubles'', ''The Film Daily'' wrote: "As conductor on a 'Toonerville' trolley, Oswald is a riot. This ... you can book on pure faith, and our solemn word that they have the goods".<ref name="SusaninMiller2011"/>
+''The Moving Picture World'' noted that Oswald was "good for a lot of smiles and real laughs. ''Trolley Troubles'' presents Oswald as the skipper of a dinky little trolley on a wild ride over mountains".
+According to ''The Moving Picture World'':
+{{Blockquote|If the first of these new cartoon comedies for Universal release is an indication of what is to come, then this series is destined to win much popular favor. They are cleverly drawn, well executed, brimful of action, and fairly abounding in humorous situations. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is all of that. Some of his experiences are hilarious and breathtaking.}}
+With the release of ''Oh, Teacher'', ''Moving Picture World'' wrote that it "lives up to the promise of the first ... as a clever, peppy, and amusing series of cartoons that should prove popular in any type of house. This one deals with Oswald as a school kid and introduces a cat as his rival. It contains some of the best gags we have seen in cartoons".
+With the release of ''The Mechanical Cow'', ''Moving Picture World'' wrote that Oswald "has a wild and amusing time with his ingenuous milk producer".
+With the release of ''Great Guns'', ''Moving Picture World'' wrote that Oswald is a "hero in action in the trenches and [in] a situation where two planes fight each other like pugilists". They found that ''Great Guns'' was "chock full of humor" and wrote that "this series is bound to be popular in all types of houses if the present standard is maintained".
+''Moving Picture World'' also wrote of the series:
+{{Blockquote|In addition to striking a new note in cartoon characters by featuring a rabbit, these Disney creations are bright, speedy and genuinely amusing ... The animation is good and the clever way in which Disney makes his creations simulate the gestures and expressions of human beings adds to the enjoyment. They should provide worthwhile attractions in any type of house.}}
+In addition:
+{{Blockquote|Oswald looks like a real contender. Walt Disney is doing this new series. Funny how the cartoon artists never hit on a rabbit before. Oswald with his long ears has a chance for a lot of new comedy gags and makes the most of them. Universal has been looking for a good animated subject for the last year. They've found it.}}
+In the modern era, animation historian David Gerstein notes:
+{{Blockquote|Disney has done some new projects with Oswald since recovering him. He's co-starred with Mickey in a video game series [...] called ''Epic Mickey''. Kids who have discovered those games have discovered the Oswald films, and it's fascinating to see that Oswald is a genuinely popular character with kids today. If you ask a high schooler if they know Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a surprising number will say yes. [There] is just something vital about these characters that, when presented the right way, [connects] with all ages.<ref name="hometheaterforum">{{cite news |title=Exclusive Interview with David Gerstein – Animation Historian |publisher=Home Theater Forum |date=January 25, 2016 |last=Taylor |first=Blake |url=https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/exclusive-interview-with-david-gerstein-animation-historian.345630/ |access-date=January 28, 2016}}</ref>}}
+Oswald won Best New Character in both Readers' Choice and Editors' Choice in ''[[Nintendo Power]]''{{'}}s Best of 2010 awards.<ref>[https://nintendoeverything.com/2010-nintendo-power-awards-results/ 2010 Nintendo Power Awards results], Nintendo Power</ref>
+[[Tetsuya Nomura]], creator and lead producer of the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' franchise, lists Oswald as one of his favorite Disney characters.<ref name=KHInsider>[https://www.khinsider.com/news/Nomura-Shimomura-Joint-Interview-for-KH-Orchestra-8752 Nomura & Shimomura Joint Interview for KH Orchestra], Kingdom Hearts Insider</ref>
+==See also==
+* [[Animation in the United States during the silent era]]
+* [[Golden age of American animation]]
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
+==External links==
+{{Commons category}}
+{{Wikisource portal}}
+* {{Inducks character|Oswald+the+Lucky+Rabbit}}
+* [https://www.toonopedia.com/oswald.htm Oswald the Lucky Rabbit] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160523191441/http://www.toonopedia.com/oswald.htm Archived] from the original on September 7, 2015.
+* [https://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/W/M._J._Winkler_Productions/Oswald_the_Lucky_Rabbit/ Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Theatrical Series -M. J. Winkler Prods]{{dead link|date=November 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} at the [[The Big Cartoon DataBase|Big Cartoon DataBase]]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607024308/http://www.cartoonresearch.com/winkler/index.html Of Rocks and Socks: The Winkler Oswalds (1928–29)]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060104171045/http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/profiles/oswald/index.html The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: Cartune Profiles: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170424125055/http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0223694/ Oswald the Lucky Rabbit] on [[IMDb]]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151104195435/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/announcements/lost-disney-film-found-bfi-national-archive Lost Disney film found in the BFI National Archive]
+{{Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons}}
+{{Disney core universe characters}}
+{{Epic Mickey series}}
+[[Category:Oswald the Lucky Rabbit| ]]
+[[Category:Animated characters introduced in 1927]]
+[[Category:Animated film series]]
+[[Category:Anthropomorphic rabbits and hares]]
+[[Category:Characters created by Ub Iwerks]]
+[[Category:Characters created by Walt Disney]]
+[[Category:Disney core universe characters]]
+[[Category:Disney short film series]]
+[[Category:Fictional inventors]]
+[[Category:Film characters introduced in 1927]]
+[[Category:Film series introduced in 1927]]
+[[Category:Male characters in animation]]
+[[Category:Screen Gems film series]]
+[[Category:Video game bosses]]
+[[Category:Walt Disney Studios (division) franchises]]
+[[Category:Walter Lantz Productions characters]]
+[[Category:Animated characters]]
+[[Category:Fictional mute characters]]
+[[Category:English-language independent films]]