The many almost returns of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Hello friends, I hope that your fall season is going well. My birthday is this month, and I am very much in a Disney mood. I want to talk about my favorite Disney character, and a project that was cut short. If you had read my older blogs then you would know that Walt Disney had created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1927, and produced a number of animated shorts for Universal Pictures. He lost the rights to Oswald, and created Mickey Mouse in 1928 to keep his studio alive. He was incensed that the character, and many of his artists were stolen out from under him. From that point on he was determined to own his own work. He never discussed the character again to the media, or even his own family. Only animation historians were really aware of what had happened. Around 2005 Epic Mickey was pitched at the Disney studios, it was a way to reintroduce Oswald to audiences. Disney CEO Bob Iger loved the idea but was surprised that Oswald didn’t belong to them. He spoke with then NBCUniversal CEO Bob Wright and reacquired the rights to Oswald as a part of the trade for sportscaster Al Michaels.

From 2006 on Disney slowly reintroduced the rabbit to audiences. They did this with shirts, pins, collectables, and eventually in the parks with a walk around character. Epic Mickey from he Nintendo Wii was a major effort to get him back into public consciousness. There were countless ways in which they supported their original star. This included releasing a DVD with the early cartoons that were restored, and going on a global search for the missing films. One of the previously assumed lost movies “Poor Papa” turned up at auction. Disney got the film, restored it, and worked with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra to have its first public showing in 80 years. The 2015 concert was a monumental event for animation fans. I secured a ticket, and went with my wife on a rainy night in June. To make the event something special I brought my Oswald crib toy. I wanted something that existed from the era of Walt to be there when the short was screened for LA audiences.

I had long hoped that Oswald might become as big a star as his younger brother Mickey Mouse was, but Disney didn’t seem to know what to do with him after Epic Mickey 2 was released in 2012. The concert was one of the last public events featuring the character. A few years later, and Oswald would be back on our radar. Disney Television Animation veteran Matt Danner was well known for his body of work. As an animator, and storyboard artist he had a hand in Warner Bros. projects like Shaolin Showdown, ¡Mucha Lucha!, and the Looney Toons Show. For Disney he had worked on Gravity Falls, Wander over Yonder, and Legend of the Three Caballeros. In addition to his art, he also provided a number of voices for cartoons including Kermit the Frog in Muppet Babies. It was obvious that his heart was in cartooning, and was going to be great on anything he worked on. Mr. Danner, and his team started development circa 2013 and around 2018 Disney formally announced that there was an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon for the streaming service Disney+. A year later it would be cancelled.

The show was named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Adventures in Coneyopolis. I suppose the city the cartoon was set in was a play on Coney Island and Metropolis. It had been 90 years since Oswald had a series under production from the Disney studios. For the majority of the time Universal Studios, and Walter Lantz held onto the rights. As a lifelong fan of the character you could imagine how excited I was to see him back on the air. The project was unfortunately cancelled while still in pre-production. Many of the artists, and animators that were working on it went on to different projects, or different studios altogether. Fans of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit were absolutely crushed. I was hurt even more than when I found out Disney would no longer pursue any other sequels in the Epic Mickey series. Game designer Warren Spector should have been the boss, and creative director for Disney Interactive, similar to how Shigeru Miyamoto was for Nintendo. The powers at be were too shortsighted to see the potential for that. A fully supported Mr. Spector, and gaming wing of Disney could have been revolutionary. But I digress…

A few seconds of test footage from the cartoon were leaked from the studio, as were a number of concept art pieces. The majority of the concept art was posted by WilliamOswald1 on Twitter @William40378514. The show was a call back to classic animation, and the early era of Hollywood when Oswald was a star. The concept art revealed that a lot of influences were pulled from both the early Disney, and Universal cartoons, but also from comics, and the theme parks as well. There would also be a chance to create new heroes, villains, and settings that would make Walt proud. It hurt knowing that the project was cancelled when there was so much potential left on the drawing board.

Mr. Danner hoped that public interest might get the studio to revisit the concept. There was no doubt that a number of animators would return, and try to elevate the cartoon to new heights. That sounded like an impossible feat. There was a huge public backlash against the Disney company at the end of September 2025. They took a $4 billion hit following the cancellation of the Jimmy Kimmel. The late night show host would get reinstated, but the public perception of the company was tarnished. It would take something exceptional to get fans to forgive, and forget. It seemed all but impossible for Oswald to return under these conditions. Yet luck was something that he was known for. I’ll talk about an Oswald revival more in the next blog. Did you have a favorite Oswald cartoon, or game appearance? I’d like to hear about it. 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!

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 2...

Many Disney fans are familiar with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit these days but not long ago he was an obscure trivia answer. The most recognizable version of Oswald the Rabbit was actually created by Ub Iwerks. His proportions, scale and size were standardized within a year.

What the current-generation of Disney fans might not realize was how much Oswald changed in the span of a few years. In the original poster art and designs for Oswald Ub had planned a taller, lankier character. His head was more egg-shaped and often featured whiskers on his face and claws on his feet.

Oswald was visualized as having suspenders in some early pieces. These elements were paired down and Oswald became shorter and rounder in the process. The whiskers eventually went away. By the end of 1927 and the start of 1928 the look that most fans are familiar with finally took shape. Yet it was also about then that Disney had lost the rights to the character. Lantz took over and spared no time in remaking the character.

The post-Disney Oswald cartoons were notable for the lack of consistency. The quality of the animation suffered greatly. Animator Bill Nolan had worked for Disney and was one of the artists that left. He was a very prolific artist as well and was capable of producing almost as many frames of art as Ub Iwerks. Yet the one thing he lacked was the visual consistency of Ub. The lines for Oswald were sloppy, his movement lacked fluidity. Nolan was nowhere near the draftsman that Ub was. Nolan worked with Walter Lantz and helped redesign Oswald over the years. The shape of the head and eyes changed again. The costume did as well. The runaway success of Mickey Mouse meant that all of the following characters had to poach many of Mickey's design elements. Oswald soon found himself wearing shoes and sporting a shirt and even buttons on his shorts.

Despite the visual makeover fans were not flocking to Oswald as they once were. The cartoons lacked the creative spark that Disney had. They also lacked the quality and consistency that Ub offered. Oswald spoke in the Universal films but his voice changed from picture to picture because different animators took turns recording the character. Even Pinto Colving (the eventual voice for Goofy) did some voice work for the character. Oswald was losing ground to Mickey Mouse and his friends. Lantz would continue changing the character to try and fit the times. All of the lessons that Ub discovered while creating a cartoon rabbit would have to be relearned by Waner Bros. a decade later when they created a character called Bugs Bunny.

Realistic animal shapes did not lend themselves easily to animation. The artists had to take a lot of liberties in order to make the characters work in the medium of film. Luckily for Warner Bros. some of the animators working on Bugs had first cut their teeth animating Oswald. These artists learned very quickly not get too used to one school of design. Lantz was not finished changing the look of Oswald. In the next blog we will look at how far the character had changed from his first appearance. 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!