Welcome back to Disney Stuff. Many of you sent in responses to my last Stuff article, Disney Stuff–Disney_Kitchen_Stuff. Thanks for all the emails and please keep them coming. Today, I’m going to talk about an interesting character known mostly by true Disney fans and classic animation buffs only.
When asked, “What was Walt Disney’s first cartoon creation?” most people will say, “Mickey Mouse of course; easy question!” They would, of course, be wrong. As many of you already know, before Walt created our favorite mouse, he first created our favorite rabbit. Not Bugs Bunny, nor Thumper. I’m talking about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt and animator, and all around creative genius, Ub Iwerks’ first character was a plucky little rabbit named Oswald. Walt produced 26 Oswald shorts in 1927 and 1928 under a distribution deal with Universal Pictures. Oswald was a hit with fans and critics alike. In a classic bit of Hollywood turnabout, Walt lost his creation to a shrewd Universal producer named Charles Mintz.
As the story goes, Walt traveled to New York to ask Mintz for an increase in his production budget. Not only did Mintz refuse the increase, he insisted Walt take a 20% budget cut and informed him that he had already hired away most of his animators and would get Oswald pictures finished and distributed without him unless he agreed to the cuts. Walt stubbornly and wisely refused the budget cuts, and in turn gave up his first creation to Universal and Charles Mintz. (If that name rings a bell to you, Pixar in one of their continuing inside nods to animation history, named the villain in Up Charles Muntz.)
After this major setback, on the train ride home to Los Angeles, Walt famously came up with their next character, a mouse that he wanted to call Mortimer. His wife Lillian balked at the name and suggested that they change it to Mickey. Disney and Iwerks went on to create Mickey Mouse and Walt insisted that this time, he wouldn’t lose control of his creation and, of course, we all know the happy ending to that story.
Oswald continued to have a career in animated shorts until 1943, overshadowed by a very popular mouse and his friends. He later appeared in comic book form alongside the likes of Walter Lantz stars such as Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda up until the ’60s when Walt’s first cartoon creation began his dormancy.
Circle wipe, as they say in the business, to 2006 when new Disney chief Bob Iger takes the reigns of the company from the much-beleaguered Michael Eisner. One of the first things Iger does is pursue a return of Oswald to his original home with The Walt Disney Company. In a now famous deal with NBC Universal, Disney sent veteran sportscaster Al Michaels over in exchange for Oswald’s return to the fold. Michaels (famous for his 1980 Winter Olympics hockey call, “Do you believe in miracles?”) was quoted as saying, “ I’m going to be a trivia answer someday.” Indeed he is, but indeed Oswald is finally back home where he belongs.
In 2007 Disney began to release some very interesting, but limited, Oswald merchandise to the Disney Stores. There was the obligatory Oswald plush, coffee cups, a nice poster, an ornament and the item I’m featuring today, the Oswald Special Edition figure.
When I saw this on the Disney Store shelf, I knew I had to buy it. I love Disney’s line of “Big Figs,” the large collectible statues that have been released over the years, but let’s face it; they’re too big and too expensive to really collect. What I liked about Oswald was his size, bigger than the average action figure, small enough to not get me kicked out of the house for bringing it home. He was pretty detailed and came in a fantastic box.
The great package design is a plus. Photo by Chris Barry.
There’s a little of his history on the back of the box…
A piece of Oswald’s history. Photo by Chris Barry.
…as well as two frames from Oswald shorts.
Two frames of Oswald’s shorts. Photo by Chris Barry.
It’s really a top-notch job of collectible packaging and for $34.50; I thought he was fairly priced.
Oswald, no longer mint in box. Photo by Chris Barry.
Unfortunately Disney’s big Oswald push seemed short-lived. From reports I’ve read, my $34.50 figure was going for $1.99 on the clearance shelf at most Disney Stores not too long after his re-introduction to the public. He just didn’t move. The majority of the public didn’t know him. Even though the Al Michaels thing made headlines and was on the news, Oswald seemed to be quite the unknown character as far as marketing goes.
A note to let the buyer in on who Oswald really is. Photo by Chris Barry.
Merchandise-wise he can be found on the D23 Collectibles page as part of the Walt Disney Classics Collection “True Originals” Walt Disney and Oswald Figurine and on the Disney Store Walt Disney Studio Art page in an $800 framed cel. From what I’ve read he does play an important role in the upcoming Wii game Epic Mickey, so, hopefully, we may be seeing more of him in the future. This figure and some of the other items from that small merchandise push can be found in the usual places online. You can’t get him for $1.99 anymore, so my investment is sound.
The surviving original shorts can be seen on the Walt Disney Treasures – The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit edition. It’s a great set in an unusual gold tin with an excellent documentary included, The Hand Behind The Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story.
The importance of Oswald can’t be denied. He was the precursor to Mickey Mouse and his unfortunate loss to a heavy-handed producer really helped shape Walt’s vision for the future of his company. As Disney fans we all owe Oswald a great deal of gratitude. I’m happy that he’s back where he belongs, but I do wish they would utilize him a bit more. Re-release the plush, or maybe some pins at the parks or a vintage looking t-shirt. I’m quite sure that Oswald items would sell in the Art of Disney stores in Walt Disney World.
Let’s give the little guy his due. After all, to paraphrase Walt himself, “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by…a rabbit.”
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time with more of that great Disney Stuff.
