Some of my favorite Disney illustrations from 2026

Hello friends, I hope the year has been good for you. When I last posted I was getting out of my art block because I was doing some pieces featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Here’s a continuation of those pieces, including a rare drawing featuring both Oswald and Mickey.

I had an idea about putting Mickey in a race car, and having Oswald be his mechanic. I put Oswald in the uniform from his Service Station which was featured at Disney’s California Adventure. This was the sister park across from Disneyland in Anaheim.

The thing I love about working in Adobe Illustrator is that I can adjust colors, and gradients easily, and separate the characters so that I can place them exactly where I want to. This worked for me much easier than painting in different layers in Photoshop. For example here was how Oswald actually looked while standing behind Mickey’s race car.

After doing an Oswald and Mickey drawing I got an idea for another one. I was wondering how they would have gotten along as kids. I imagined Oswald was the big brother even though he was only a year older he took his job seriously. He decided he would show Mickey the ropes. One day he took him to the old fishing hole where they saw a giant butterfly along the way. One of these days I'd like to do a children's book featuring the two visiting Disneyland.

Since the summer had wound down I was in the mood for the holidays. Of course I started with the most important fall event. I wanted to do a witchy Minnie, but not with the pointy cap, or cape like she would wear in the official Disney art. So I went with her classic bow, and dress, but moons, and stars instead of polka dots. I think my version worked very well. What do you think?

As long as I was putting Minnie in costumes I had an idea for a game. One of my favorite Genesis games was Valis III. It was one of the rare anime games translated for the US. I was wondering how it would be to reboot the franchise, but swap out Minnie, and make her the fantasy warrior. I could almost see it now! Have you ever done any Disney fan art? Tell me about it in the comments section. If you enjoy this blog there are several ways you can support me. You can sponsor me directly on Patreon. Or like and subscribe to my videos on YouTube. You can even subscribe to the Pink Monorail Podcast featuring my wife, and myself. 

 

Skeletons, Disney, and Oswald break me out of my art block

Hello friends, I managed to get some more art pieces done in ink, and even illustrator. The going is slow, but I feel good after each piece in the sketchbook. I started with the reliable skeleton drawing, but this time switched it up to a surfer, instead of a skateboarder. I think it came our very well.

I shared a number of my illustrations on Reddit. I had never really used that site before, but decided to post my drawings there, as well as on DevianArt. I was surprised with how responsive the community was to my art. I dug up my old skate skeleton drawings there as well, and got a huge response. It was very affirming to hear the words of positivity. I had a few people reach out asking about a commussion or art trade, but I had to decline. I am very sporadic with my drawings. I can literally go years without touching my sketchbook. So I never want to commit to something unless I really am passionate about it. I did promise one Redditor a drawing from my sketchbook because he asked very kindly. The one doing an ollie over the slippery signs below is what I sent out. 

Skating skeletons were always a surefire way to get me to draw. I even found time to do one of the old Neversoft eyeball monster from the Tony Hawk video games. A lot of people were commenting on how great my art would be on a tee shirt. A few even said that I would make a sick tattoo artist. That was high praise, but I think I'm too old to start tattooing. With that said one person did reach out and ask if I could design a tattoo for him. I messaged that I never did commissions or requests. However the idea of designing a tattoo did catch my attention. The person asked for a skull and skate crossbones, similar to the old Four Star / Crailtap logo, but in the Vernon Courtlandt Johnson style. I said that sounded like a request right up my alley. I accepted the request and came up with this drawing. Do you think this would make for a good tattoo?

Then I got into a Disney rhythm, and did a drawing of one of my favorite classic characters. I love Horace Horsecollar. He is one of a handful of characters that I would give a team to in a Disney Sports Soccer reboot. I could just imagine him having different galloping animations each time he scores a goal in the game. I’d give a team to Oswald of course, or possibly have Oswald and Horace on the same team. I’d give a team to Ian the ghost from Epic Mickey. I’d also have Panchito Pistolas be a hidden character, and the hidden team would be the Three Caballeros. It would feature Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, and Panchito.

Once I was in the rhythm of drawing I was able to crank out two illustrations on back-to-back days. Three years ago I did a piece celebrating Oswald’s 98th birthday. Then I wanted to do one for his 99th, and 100th. The first cartoon that was finished featuring Oswald was “Poor Papa.” This was a lost cartoon that was rediscovered in 2016, and a special concert was put together to celebrate the discovery. I talked about it previously on this blog.

Unfortunately the cartoon wasn’t enjoyed by the Universal Studios Producers Mintz, and Winkler, so Walt Disney went back to the drawing board. The first cartoon that was actually released in theaters was Trolley Troubles in 1927. I did a version of that Oswald for the 99th Birthday. Then I wanted to do something special for his 100th birthday. I wanted to include three historically important rabbits to be celebrating with him. Bugs Bunny was the first choice. Bugs debuted in 1940. The second would be Roger Rabbit, whose film came out in 1988, but was based on a story from 1981. I was on the fence for who would be the third character. I didn’t think Rabbit from Winnie the Poo was big on celebrations. I thought Max from Sam & Max would be too chaotic. I wanted another classic character. Bre’er Rabbit from the 1946 film Song of the South was my choice. Unfortunately he was tied to a culturally insensitive film by Disney.

Just about any trace of the characters from Song of the South had been scrubbed from Disney history, these included the parks. I decided he should still be a part of the celebration. In my book these classic characters should always be remembered. I’m grateful that the global community never forgot Oswald. After a century he was finally getting the spotlight that had been taken from him. I’m certain Walt would be happy to know how beloved the character was. I’d like to know if you had a favorite character, and if you created any art to celebrate them. Tell me about it in the comments section. If you enjoy this blog there are several ways you can support me. You can sponsor me directly on Patreon. Or like and subscribe to my videos on YouTube. You can even subscribe to the Pink Monorail Podcast featuring my wife, and myself. 

 

Retouching a photo, and checking out some Disney robots...

The best part of being an illustrator is being able to add missing details to a picture. I was bummed out that I couldn’t get a clear picture of the full Oswald mural that I mentioned in the previous blog. I also didn’t understand why the part that read “The Home of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit” was covered in butcher paper. Hopefully the next time I get out to Culver City I might be able to get an unobstructed view of the painting. To hold me over I recreated a classic illustration of Oswald with a bucket of paint, and paintbrush filling in the part that I didn’t get to see.

Before the month wraps up I’m hyped on some high-end Disney toys that I found out about earlier this year. The manufacturer Morstorm has some pricey figures based on the Disney classics, as well as some of the newer films. They made a couple of figures that were stylized to look like robots. What do you think about the mechanical Donald Duck, or Stitch?

Would you spend $50 or more per each of these six-inch figures, or would you pass? Are there any expensive toys that you like to collect? Tell me in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

When was the blue Oswald the Lucky Rabbit created?

Hello friends, I hope that you are doing well. Today I want to talk about a question I didn’t have an answer for. As you may know I’m a huge fan of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. I’ve done plenty of blogs about the character. No doubt I will write about him more in the future. What I didn’t know was when the character officially turned blue. I know that he was presented in an old rubber hose design, with blue fur, and yellow shorts when Universal Studios Osaka had his merchandise in their park. That was from around 2001-2004, just before the Disney company reacquired the rights. But was that really the first time the character was reimagined for audiences? I’ve been wondering if this new look was spearheaded by Japan, or the US.

I’ve also wondered how exactly this redesign came to be. After all, in the mid ‘90s Oswald was still brown in color, and looked like a traditional cartoon rabbit character. He had more or less stayed the same since his old comic book run from around 1937 until the mid 1990’s. There was a time stamp that showed one of his last media appearances from that era. In Brazil Woody Woodpecker was known as Pika Pau. “Coehlo Osvaldo” was brown in the game Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau aka Woody Woodpeckers Frustrating Vacation. The title came out in October 1995 by Tectoy for the Sega Master System, and Sega Mega Drive. In it Oswald gave Woody a magic paintbrush. Mind you this was 15 years before the magic brush in Epic Mickey!

The next time Oswald appeared in an officially licensed game was in Woody Woodpecker Escape from Buzz Buzzard Park for the GameBoy Color. It was developed by Planet Interactive Development, and published by DreamCatcher Interactive (North America) on August 14, 2001. Oswald appears in Level 2 in his blue form. This time he wasn’t friendly with Woody, and would actually attack you with a drop kick.

A few years later Oswald got a cameo in a Japanese pachinko machine called CR Woody Woodpecker. Developed by Maruhon, and released in December 2004. In the game the blue Oswald made a short cameo on the game screen. In 2006 the sequel CR Woody Woodpecker 2 was released. Again the blue Oswald got a cameo on the video screen. What was interesting about this appearance was that it was the same year that Disney had gotten the rights back from Walter Lantz / Universal. This could possibly be the last piece of media featuring that version making it a rare collectors item. The blue Oswald was indeed in circulation between 2001-2004 just as I thought. The pieces were falling into place, however the pachinko machine made me realize the updated look lasted longer than I first suspected. 

It turns out that the blue version had actually been proposed much earlier. Universal was looking at relaunching the Walter Lantz IP with a new Woody Woodpecker show in the mid 1990’s. This meant that the characters would be receiving a minor stylistic update, to make their look a little bit more contemporary. You can read the details on the New Woody Woodpecker show on the Walter Lantz Fandom page. Not only were Lantz’ biggest stars like Woody Woodpecker, and Chilly WIlly getting a refresh, but rare characters like Space Mouse, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit were also getting a makeover. The show started development around 1997, with a few revisions made before production began. The new designs were posted by Daily Woody Woodpecker on Twitter. As these new versions were being finalized the comics, and games featuring the updated begun licensing. 

Sadly we wouldn’t actually see Oswald, or a few other rare characters make it into the new cartoons. They would appear in Latin American comics, and the aforementioned games, and pachinko cabinets. As for Oswald’s earliest blue design, the oldest officially licensed item that I could find with him was a rectangular dish / tray from 1998. He was very loosely drawn, and didn’t have the standardized look used in the Universal Osaka merchandise. Altogether the blue Oswald lasted for about eight years. I began wondering if I could track down any US merchandise from this era, but I’ll probably stick to the Japanese items. Were there any rare cartoon characters that you want to see return? Perhaps in game form? Tell me in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Disney, the Italian Legacy, part 6 - A 1UP classic from July 19, 2011

When Epic Mickey was under development Disney in the USA used it as a vehicle to reach out to the community. They wanted to remind younger audiences why Mickey Mouse was an icon. The studio wanted to show them why the mouse had international appeal, even decades after his introduction. The concepts of selflessness, friendship and loyalty that made Mickey famous had to be made clear. In order to reach the younger generations the studio had to tap into their primary forms of entertainment, videogaming was the obvious one, yet comic books were also a contemporary form of entertainment that the studio could use as well.

While Warren Spector penned the outline for the Epic Mickey game, fellow Disney fan, comic book veteran and Eisner Award Winner Peter David was hired to write the story in comic book form. These were set to be a series of adventures that took place before the videogame, titled “Tales from the Wasteland.” In the US the comics were distributed digitally using the Disney DigiComics service, available via the iTunes store. Those with an iPhone, iPod or iPad could download the comics for free. The actual collected stories would not appear in graphic novel format until almost year later.

The decision to distribute comics digitally did not make a lot of sense to comic or videogame fans. Perhaps the studio did not want to have the stories get lumped together with the children’s comics in stores. By going all digital they ensured that part of the target audience would have direct access to the story without having to hunt for issues.

At the same time the stories were made available digitally they were published physically overseas in the pages of Topolino.

In keeping with Topolino magazine tradition there was a multi-page blowout about the game, plot and interviews with Warren Spector. Epic Mickey concept art, characters and history were featured before audiences got a chance to read the first in a series of adventures.

In order for Disney to accomplish their goal of reaching audiences via the comic book medium the best option was to go to Italy. Very few comic book artists working in the USA were trained in the Disney style or had any experience drawing Disney Comics. Italy was the one place where Disney comics were being published regularly and developed with a strong attention to detail.

Peter David got most of the attention in the US media outlets yet the art staff was just as accomplished. Fabio Celoni and Paolo Mottura were veterans from the pages of Topolino. They trained with the Disney Academy and had experience drawing just about every character in the universe at one point or another through their careers Their styles were not quite classic but more of a modern cartoon style instead. They helped bring Epic Mickey to life for fans on both sides of the Atlantic. The stories laid out by Mr. David were fun and took many chances to call out the classic attractions that would be highlighted in Epic Mickey. He was able to incorporate the most memorable elements that visitors saw at each attraction. For example the ballroom scene and bride from the Haunted Mansion were incorporated into the story. 

The lovelorn bride chased Oswald and the mechanized Donald and Goofy around the inside of the mansion as well as through the graveyard on floating “Doom Buggies.” Fabio and Paolo did a great job making cartoon versions out of the classic Marc Davis designs. Although they were ghosts none were too macabre as to scare off younger readers. Mr. David also wrote in Oswald trying to fill in the shoes of other classic characters. Instead of Donald Duck they tried out Oswald the Lucky Duck. Instead of Chernabog, the large demon at the end of Fantasia, Oswald tried his best at being menacing. Neither roles really worked for the rabbit. The classic squash and stretch reactions rendered by the art team did work in his favor though.

The collaboration of US writing and Italian art worked in favor of the Tales from the Wasteland. In a few months those that did not get a chance to read the digital downloads will be able to buy the collected graphic novel. This will include concept art from Junction Point and additional notes from Warren Spector and Peter David. The collection will be published by Disney Press instead of Boom Studios.

Not to be outdone Boom Studios, or rather Kaboom Studios had started publishing an all new series written by Warren Spector and penciled by other Italian greats. The next blog will take a look at the new DuckTales comic book adventures. I hope to see you back for that. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Oswald the Lucky Race Car Driver?

Hello friends, I hope your week went well. I’ve got a few things on the back burner now, that I hope to share with you in the future. News is a little slow this early in the new year, I’m sure you’ve already heard that Mickey Mouse has now entered public domain. Well to be fair it is a specific version, the Steamboat Willie / Plane Crazy iteration of the mouse are now available to be produced by fans for commercial purposes. If you try to make knock-off versions of recent Mickey art then you can expect a cease and desist letter from the Disney legal team. It got me thinking about Mickey’s older brother, and how he had recently popped up in a racing game. I wanted to share the updated design with you.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was the star character that Walt Disney had created before Mickey Mouse back in 1927. Unfortunately he lost the rights to the character to Universal Studios. The company wouldn’t regain the rights until around 2006. Since then he has appeared on merchandise in the parks, and even a few video games. In fact his girlfriend / wife Ortensia the Cat was redesigned for the SpeedStorm racing game as well.

We have to give credit where it is due. Ortensia was not really a set character until Warren Spector, and his team at Junction Point created her in Epic Mickey, the Wii exclusive from 2010. In the early Oswald cartoons he would move in between a cat, and a rabbit girl as his girlfriend. It was Warren that decided on making her design stick with a cat, and even named her. I was fortunate enough to see his presentation at the E3 in Los Angeles when he talked about this. He was also jealous of my Oswald plush.

Animation fans are sort of split on the classic character appearing in new games. Not so much in that they are being brought in, but rather how they are being presented with modern aesthetics. Specifically when they get details like teeth added to their 3D models, when those were rarely, if ever, seen in old cartoons. It’s not quite uncanny valley, but a small detail that throws off their classic roots. I’m just happy to see something being done with these icons.

I’d like to know what you think about classic cartoon characters appearing in modern games of any genre. Would like you like to see more, or less of them? Do you think they would be better used in platform titles, or other games? I’d like to know.

If you’d like to learn more about Oswald then please check out some of my earlier blogs below. 

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 1... 

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 2… 

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 3… 

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 4… 

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 5… 

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 6… 

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, final part… 

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a list of Taito products ... 

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a list of Taito products featuring the rabbit!

I had some pictures left over after my series on the evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and thought to share these with my fellow Oswald fans. In particular these are images of the various prizes created by Taito for Universal Studios in Japan. For the almost two years that the company had the rights to Oswald they created more unique and memorable Oswald merchandise than Disney did in the first few years since they got the character back. Let's take a look at the tags that were created for the various plush figures that had come out.

Universal wanted to educate their audience as to Oswald's origins. The Disney name carried a lot of weight in Japan. His films inspired Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Manga. Presented was the character that predated Mickey and helped put Walt Disney on the map.

 

The tags sold the origin myth of Oswald very well while ignoring the fact that the studio stole the character and most of Walt's animators away from him. Taito designed many figures which would become prizes in their arcade machines. Oswald appeared in several formats.

 

The majority of the Oswald figures were plush but at least two were actually a soft vinyl, like a bean bag.

There was a set of Oswald figures that were sold exclusively in the Universal Japan park. They were small, medium and large plush figures with similar proportions and expressions.

 

The smallest figures were designed as cell phone straps, it was and continues to be a popular trend in Japan to have mascot keychains and accessories.

One of the more common Oswald figures seen outside of the theme park was a mid-size plush figure. The character was mainly seen shirtless. The earliest version of the character sometimes had a sweater with his name on it. There were at least four different sweater colors with this version. There was also one with a green "Christmas" sweater released during the winter.

Oswald was often presented with a single overall strap over his shoulder. Several figures did have the character in full overalls. This was a nod to the early appearance of Oswald as a farm-type character in the comic books. These plush figures were more rare than the typical mid-size figures.

Some of the smaller mid-size figures came in collectible soft vinyl bags. Note that these figures had closed mouths, subtle differences like these made the figures desirable to fans.

During the spring and summer there was a version of Oswald wearing a striped shirt. Taito had planned for this character to be used as a puppet. Unfortunately I do not know of any pictures with the character actually having the control arms.

One of the largest figures made by the company was Oswald lying down. This plush figure was made with a soft material much fuzzier than the mid-size plush figures. There were two known versions of this figure made, one with an open mouth and one with a closed mouth.

Possibly the rarest of the mid-size plush figures were the cake and sleeping versions. A small plush cake was affixed to the hands of some characters. The others featured Oswald in a head scarf and nigh shirt while holding a pillow. At least two of the sleeping versions were presented with closed eyes.

Not everything that Taito produced for Universal was a plush figure. Three of the most unique items from the company were watches. At least one of the watches had moving hands similar to the classic Ingersoll Mickey Mouse watch. This was the first Oswald watch to figure that type of movement. After Disney got the rights back Japanese watch maker Hirob created a variation of the moving hands action as well. Any of these watches are highly sought after collector pieces.

While the vast majority of everything that Taito and Universal produced had a blue fur Oswald wearing yellow shorts I did see at least one alternate colorway of the character. Many years ago when I purchased an Oswald plush from a Japanese arcade vendor I noticed that he had a picture of the same figure but in with gray fur and red shorts. Had I known that the Taito items would have disappeared overnight I certainly would have ordered the alternate color version. I used Photoshop to mock-up what the figure looked like in my memories. If I ever come across any other versions produced by Taito I'll be sure to share them on the blog. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!