Disney Resurrects Oswald The Lucky Rabbit After Nearly A Century

Chances are, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit wasn’t a part of your childhood; and yet it somehow feels like he was. The character, designed by Walt Disney himself, has the kind of impact that transcends generations.

Now, as Disney approaches its 100th anniversary in 2023, the entertainment giant has breathed new life into the long-gone but never forgotten icon with a delightful new animation.

Back in black and white, Oswald goes to the theater, only to realize the movie is missing its lead character and it’s him. The minute-long film, Disney’s first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short in almost 95 years, also relives the good old days of classic animation by re-adopting traditional techniques.

Hand-drawn animation legends Eric Goldberg, Mark Henn, and Randy Haycock, with Disney’s 2D animation apprentices, helped bring Oswald to life. Goldberg directed the film, and Dorothy McKim produced it.

“Oswald is such a plucky scamp,” reminisces Goldberg, a master animator who was involved in numerous large-profile Disney projects like Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Fantasia 2000. “We wanted to bring Oswald back, and in the short, he literally returns to his original home: the movie screen.“

The animator adds: “We wanted to have Oswald do all of the ‘squash-and-stretch,’ ‘rubber hose’-animation style, celebrating that first generation of Walt Disney’s artists.”

Oswald may be remembered as the Disney mascot who started it all, but there was, in actual fact, another character before the rabbit. And that character was a cat, named Julius. That’s right; before the House of Mouse, there was the House of Rabbit and House of Cat.

Disney retired Julius the Cat since there were already two beloved animated felines—Felix the Cat and Krazy Kat—at the time, and it was unlikely a third would be so fortunate to live nine lives. Weirdly enough, Julius was a dead ringer for Felix.

Walt Disney, alongside animator Ub Iwerks, introduced Oswald on screen in 1927. The rabbit’s lucky stint with the studio, however, was short-lived. He only starred in 26 shorts before Walt Disney lost creative control over the character to Universal Pictures. (Disney’s Bob Iger, who has now reclaimed his role as the company’s CEO, struck a deal with Universal and got Oswald back in 2006.)

Disney didn’t have time to mourn his loss. He created another character almost in the image of Oswald, and Mickey Mouse was his name. Oswald’s successor was, dare we say, the lucky one.

[via IGN and IndieWire, video and images via The Walt Disney Company]