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Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
and Ub Iwerks for
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
. 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. After the control of Oswald's character was taken in 1928, Walt created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement;
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
, who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world. In 2003,
Buena Vista Games Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher owned by The Walt Disney Company through Disney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed and distributed multi-platform video games and interactiv ...
pitched a concept for an Oswald-themed video game to then-Disney President and future-CEO
Bob Iger Robert Allen Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American businessman who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the President of ABC Television between 1994 and 1995 and the President and C ...
, who became committed to acquiring the rights to Oswald. In 2006,
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...
acquired the trademark of Oswald (with
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primar ...
effectively trading Oswald for the services of
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on n ...
as play-by-play announcer on '' NBC Sunday Night Football''). Oswald returned in Disney's 2010 video game, ''
Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...
''. The game's
metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...
plot parallels Oswald's real-world history, dealing with the character's feelings of abandonment by Disney and envy towards Mickey Mouse. He has since appeared in
Disney theme parks Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...
and
comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...
, 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! ''Get a Horse!'' is a 2013 American animated comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Lauren MacMullan. Combining black-and-white hand-drawn animation and color computer animation, the short features the charac ...
''. He was the subject of the 2015 feature film ''
Walt Before Mickey ''Walt Before Mickey'' is a 2015 American biographical drama film about the early years of Walt Disney based on the book ''Walt Before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, 1919–1928'' by Timothy S. Susanin, with a foreword written by Diane Disney. Th ...
''. Oswald also appears as a townsperson in '' Disney Infinity 2.0''. In 2022, Oswald appeared in a brand new short produced by Disney.


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
ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The n ...
Oswald a younger character, peppy, alert, saucy and venturesome, keeping him also neat and trim." 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." 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, presented situational humor in general and frustration comedy best shown in the cartoon '' The Mechanical Cow''. He would make use of 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 tools. His distinct personality was inspired by
Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
for his courageous and adventurous attitude as seen in the cartoon short ''
Oh, What a Knight ''Oh What a Knight'' is an American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and released in 1928 by Universal Pictures. The film features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit trying to save his girlfriend Ortensia from her strict father, ...
''. In regards to Oswald's personality, Disney historian
David Gerstein David Gerstein (born February 6, 1974) is an American comics author and editor as well as an animation historian. Gerstein has five books and countless comic book credits to his name. He has written many Disney comics stories, usually featuring ...
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." In order to make his Oswald cartoons look "real", Disney turned away from the styles of
Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...
,
Koko the Clown Koko the Clown is an animated character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in '' Out of the Inkwell'' (1918-1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with ...
,
Krazy Kat ''Krazy Kat'' (also known as ''Krazy & Ignatz'' in some reprints and compilations) is an American newspaper comic strip, by cartoonist George Herriman, which ran from 1913 to 1944. It first appeared in the ''New York Evening Journal'', whose owne ...
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 Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in t ...
,
Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary '' Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film c ...
,
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...
and
Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
. 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 Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...
. 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."


History


Creation

In 1927, because of cost and technical restrictions, Disney and his chief animator Ub Iwerks decided to end their work on the
Alice Comedies The ''Alice Comedies'' are a series of animated/live-action shorts created by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice (originally played by Virginia Davis) and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an ...
and Julius the Cat. Around the same time, Charles Mintz got word that
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
wanted to get into the cartoon business, so he told Disney to create a new character he could sell to Universal. After Oswald was created, Winkler signed a contract with Universal on March 4, 1927 that would guarantee 26 ''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'' cartoons."Oswald Comes Home" (DVD). (2007). ''
Walt Disney Treasures Walt Disney Treasures is a series of two-disc DVD collections of Disney cartoons, television episodes and other material. They cover material from the studio's earliest days to its more recent work. There were nine waves, each containing two ...
: The Adventures of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit'' (Disc 1). Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.
Work on both the character and series began soon after Disney moved his studio to Hyperion Avenue. Disney chose to make the character a rabbit since there were already two popular animated cats at the time,
Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...
and
Krazy Kat ''Krazy Kat'' (also known as ''Krazy & Ignatz'' in some reprints and compilations) is an American newspaper comic strip, by cartoonist George Herriman, which ran from 1913 to 1944. It first appeared in the ''New York Evening Journal'', whose owne ...
. The first Oswald cartoon, '' Poor Papa'', was rejected by the Universal studio heads for its poor production quality and the sloppiness and age of Oswald.Poor Papa
.
Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, Feature film, animated feature films, Animated television series, animated television shows, and cartoon Short film, shorts. The BCDB proj ...
, April 13, 2012
Disney, together with Iwerks, decided to create a second cartoon titled ''
Trolley Troubles ''Trolley Troubles'' is a 1927 animated short subject film, produced by Charles Mintz and George Winkler and directed by Walt Disney. The cartoon is the first appearance of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character that Disney and Ub Iwerks created ...
'' featuring a much younger, neater Oswald. The short, released on September 5, 1927, 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 ''Mickey's Nightmare'' is a 1932 Walt Disney short black and white cartoon starring Mickey Mouse and Pluto. It was the 44th Mickey Mouse short, and the eighth of that year. The plot incorporates elements from Disney's first Oswald the Lucky Rab ...
''. 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 Koko the Clown is an animated character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in '' Out of the Inkwell'' (1918-1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with ...
. 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 Roy Disney may refer to: * Roy O. Disney (1893–1971), partner and elder brother of Walt Disney * Roy E. Disney Roy Edward Disney KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive ...
'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). 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. Oswald's success also resulted in Universal and Winkler signing another contract in February 1928, guaranteeing three more years of Oswald cartoons. 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, Walt 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. In the spring of 1928, Disney traveled to New York City in hopes of negotiating a more profitable contract with his producer Charles Mintz. But 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 decided to 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 Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
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.


Universal takes direct control

Mintz, meanwhile, opened his own studio (later known as
Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...
) 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 Oswald was taken over by others. Animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, unhappy with Mintz, asked Universal head
Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the most important o ...
to remove Mintz, suggesting they would be the ones to continue the Oswald series. Laemmle did terminate Mintz's contract, but instead of hiring Harman and Ising, he opted to have the Oswald cartoons produced right on the Universal lot. Laemmle selected
Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lant ...
to produce the new series of Oswald shorts (the first of which was 1929's ''
Race Riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700 ...
''). 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, the character's look was 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. The cartoons containing the new, white-furred Oswald seemed to be 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 Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
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 the character. She later voiced him again for an unaired radio pilot, ''Sally in Hollywoodland'' (1947). 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. However, 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.


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 the entirety of ''New Fun'' and the first issue of '' More Fun''. Oswald's second run in comics began in
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...
' '' 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 Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...
: he was portrayed as a live
stuffed animal A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...
, 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 Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by ...
—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, with the publishers not liking the name of the rabbit anymore, Oswald comics tended to be produced outside the United States, for example in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, Italy, and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. He made brief appearances in the ''Woody Woodpecker'' comics series until it ended in the 1970s. Through the end of the 20th century, the foreign comics 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 David Gerstein (born February 6, 1974) is an American comics author and editor as well as an animation historian. Gerstein has five books and countless comic book credits to his name. He has written many Disney comics stories, usually featuring ...
and drawn by Mark Kausler. It is based on and takes place in the times of the classic Oswald shorts from 1927–28. 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 Robert Allen Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American businessman who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the President of ABC Television between 1994 and 1995 and the President and C ...
initiated a trade with
NBC Universal The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
in which a number of minor assets, including the rights to Oswald and the 27 shorts that
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
had worked on, were acquired by
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...
in exchange for sending sportscaster
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on n ...
from Disney's ABC and
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
to
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its ...
. 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 John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pl ...
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 National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. 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 ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...
''. Walt Disney's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, issued the following statement after the deal was announced: Around the same time, the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...
and
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...
made a similar deal, the Chiefs giving the Jets a draft pick as compensation for releasing coach
Herm Edwards Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Ph ...
from his contract. Referring to this trade, Michaels said: In January 2007, a
T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are genera ...
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 Walt Disney Treasures is a series of two-disc DVD collections of Disney cartoons, television episodes and other material. They cover material from the studio's earliest days to its more recent work. There were nine waves, each containing two ...
'' DVD series. Several Oswald collectors' figurines and a limited edition grayscale plush toy appeared shortly after the DVD set's release.
The Disney Store The Disney Store is a chain of specialty stores selling only Disney related items, many of them exclusive, under its own name and Disney Outlet. It was a business unit of Disney Consumer Products with the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products ...
also began to introduce Oswald into its merchandise lines, starting with a canvas print and Christmas ornament that became available Fall 2007. A standard-issue color plush toy matching Oswald's appearance in ''
Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...
'' 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 Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...
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. 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 among other special Oswald items. In 2014, Oswald began making appearances in the area near the shop.


Video games

In 1995, Oswald briefly appeared in ''
Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau ''Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau'' (''Woody Woodpecker's Frustrated Vacations'') is a platform video game developed and published by Tectoy for the Mega Drive, and the Master System, it was released in October 1995 for Brazil only. This video g ...
'', a
Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by ...
video game released for the
Sega Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...
and the Mega Drive in Brazil only. Oswald is one of the main characters in the video game franchise ''
Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...
''. The world of ''Epic Mickey'' is called "Wasteland" and it is similar to
Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...
but for "forgotten" Disney characters, including Oswald, who rules the place. Actually, Oswald fashioned it after Disneyland, but he put images of himself in the place of Mickey in the statue with Walt Disney and other places throughout the town. Oswald was the first cartoon character to be "forgotten" and inhabit Wasteland. Oswald dislikes Mickey for stealing his popularity that he felt he deserved. Oswald tries to make Wasteland a better place for forgotten characters, especially his "bunny children" and his wife Ortensia. '' Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two'' is a video game that was released on November 18, 2012. Unlike the previous game, ''Epic Mickey 2'' features full voiced cut-scenes with
Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
(Welker had also provided Oswald's vocal effects 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.)
Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director working for Square Enix (formerly Square). He designed characters for the ''Final Fantasy'' series, debuting with ''Final Fantasy VI'' and continuing with various later installments. Addi ...
, creator and lead producer of the ''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square ...
'' franchise, had requested for Oswald's use in ''
Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of the ...
'', but the response from Disney was that the character would be "too difficult" to use, with no further clarification or details from Disney. Nomura cites Oswald as one of his favorite Disney characters.


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. He made an appearance in a 2013 throwback style Mickey Mouse cartoon, ''
Get a Horse! ''Get a Horse!'' is a 2013 American animated comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Lauren MacMullan. Combining black-and-white hand-drawn animation and color computer animation, the short features the charac ...
'' While only 19 of 26 cartoons were previously known to have survived, a couple of Oswald's lost cartoons were found in the 2010s. In 2015, the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's National Archives were found to hold his ''Sleigh Bells'' (1927) footage. The BFI and
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fr ...
worked to restore the short. 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. A series centered on Oswald was in development with the project announced in 2019 for a potential release on
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
.
Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...
veteran
Matt Danner Matthew Thomas Danner (born June 30, 1981) is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, director, producer and voice actor. His credits include work on '' The Ripping Friends'', '' ¡Mucha Lucha!'', '' The Looney Tunes Show'', '' X ...
revealed that a series was in development as a follow up for the team behind ''
Legend of the Three Caballeros ''Legend of the Three Caballeros'' is an animated television series based on the 1944 animated Disney film ''The Three Caballeros'' and features the characters Donald Duck, José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles. It was first released in 2018 in th ...
'', but that they "got broken up and scattered to the wind." He expressed hope that the series could still be revived in the future and further hinted that another team would develop it as Disney was still heavily invested in wanting to revive the character. On December 1, 2022, an online hand-drawn animated Oswald short by
Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fr ...
was released. 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. It marked Oswald's first short produced by Disney, as well as his last short ever since ''Feed the Kitty'' (1938). The short's music was registered in the Copyright Office in August of 2020. 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.


Merchandise

Shortly after the rabbit starred in his black and white animated silent shorts between 1927 and 1928, he was successfully able to sell merchandise for Universal: a chocolate-covered marshmallow candy bar, a stencil set, and a pin-backed button. In 2004 and 2005, Oswald products became popular in Japan and were primarily made available as prizes in UFO catchers and as official merchandise in
Universal Studios Japan is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of ...
, manufactured by
Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. I ...
and/or Medicom, these products included puppets, inflatable dolls, keyrings, and watches Oswald made his first Disneyland appearance at Tokyo Disneyland on March 31, 2010, as an Easter float. At the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, a poster of Oswald can be seen at the Town Square Theater where Mickey Mouse is available for meet and greets. Also inside Mickey's meeting area, a doodle of Oswald and Mickey can be seen. Clothing products are also available at Disneyland Paris in Walt Disney Studios Park. As of October 4, 2017, Oswald now 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.


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 (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to ...
produced a float featuring Oswald for their first Easter holiday event. In 2011, Oswald appeared with other old Disney characters on the Construction walls for Disney California Adventure Park's new entrance. In 2011, Oswald appeared on a poster as a magician's rabbit in Town Square Theater in
Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...
park. In 2011, Oswald appeared on various items of clothing available for purchase at
Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disney ...
in the shops on Main Street USA. In 2012, Disney California Adventure park at the
Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks ...
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, while next door
Disneyland Park Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
offers Mickey Mouse merchandise exclusively. In 2012, Oswald ear hats appeared at the Emporium at Walt Disney World in Florida. As of May 28, 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. On April 1, 2014, a new Oswald costumed character began meet-and-greets at
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual prope ...
. On September 14, 2014, Oswald began making appearances on Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure. As of October 4, 2017, Oswald now has a Service Station at Disney California Adventure and has been spotted making appearances. 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". 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 runDisney (stylized as ''run''Disney, formerly Disney Endurance Series and The Endurance Series at Walt Disney World Resort), is the road race division of Disney Sports Enterprises, a unit of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a segment and ...
's WDW Marathon Weekend.


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'', released 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 ''The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection'' is a three-disc DVD collection of theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lantz Productions for Universal Pictures between 1930 and 1956. The set was released by Universal Studios Home ...
'' 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 ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...
'' by collecting various film reels in the game. * The restored version of '' Hungry Hoboes'' 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 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as ...
'' on Blu-ray. Although the short is not included on the disc itself, a digital code is included with the Blu-ray so the short can be "unlocked" for viewing. * The shorts ''My Pal Paul'' and ''Africa'' are fully restored and included as extras in the Criterion release of ''
King of Jazz '' King of Jazz'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code color musical film starring Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. The film title refers to Whiteman's popular cultural appellation. At the time the film was made, "jazz", to the genera ...
''. * The short ''Poor Papa'' was restored and included as an extra in the Walt Disney Signature Collection edition of ''
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...
''.


Reception

During the 1920s, the Oswald shorts, as well as Oswald himself, proved extremely popular and had received substantial critical acclaim. ''
The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...
'' noted that the series was "one of the best sellers of the 'U iversal short subject program." According to ''
The Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. I ...
'', Oswald had "accomplished the astounding feat of jumping into the first-run favor overnight". 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." ''The Moving Picture World'' noted 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'': 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 na situation where two planes fight each other like pugilists". They found that ''Great Guns'' was "chock full of humor" and wrote, "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: In addition: In the modern era, animation historian David Gerstein notes: Oswald won Best New Character in both Readers' Choice and Editors' Choice in
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
's Best of 2010 awards.2010 Nintendo Power Awards results
Nintendo Power
Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director working for Square Enix (formerly Square). He designed characters for the ''Final Fantasy'' series, debuting with ''Final Fantasy VI'' and continuing with various later installments. Addi ...
, creator and lead producer of the ''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square ...
'' franchise, lists Oswald as one of his favorite Disney characters.Nomura & Shimomura Joint Interview for KH Orchestra
Kingdom Hearts Insider


See also

*
Animation in the United States during the silent era Animated films in the United States date back to at least 1906 when Vitagraph released '' Humorous Phases of Funny Faces''.Jeff Lenburg 1991 The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons Although early animations were rudimentary, they rapidly became mor ...
*
Golden age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the late 1960s, where theatrical animated shorts began losing popularity to the ...


References


External links

* *
Oswald the Lukcy Rabbit
at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on September 7, 2015.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Theatrical Series -M. J. Winkler Prods
at the
Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, Feature film, animated feature films, Animated television series, animated television shows, and cartoon Short film, shorts. The BCDB proj ...

Of Rocks and Socks: The Winkler Oswalds (1928–29)


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20170424125055/http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0223694/ Oswald the Lucky Rabbiton
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Lost Disney film found in the BFI National Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald The Lucky Rabbit Anthropomorphic rabbits and hares Film characters introduced in 1927 Film series introduced in 1927 Male characters in animation Disney core universe characters Disney animated characters Walt Disney Studios (division) franchises Animated film series Fictional inventors Fictional rabbits and hares Fictional anthropomorphic characters Universal Pictures cartoons and characters Woody Woodpecker Video game bosses Disney short film series Walter Lantz Productions cartoons and characters Screen_Gems_film_series Animated characters introduced in 1927