Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was one of the first animated cartoon characters made by Walt Disney for Universal Studios between 1927 and 1928, then produced by Charles Mintz and Walter Lantz from 1928 until 1943.

The Walt Disney era
After the Alice Comedies, Disney's second animated series (after the Laugh-o-Grams) folded in 1927, Carl Laemmle approached Disney and requested a new, all-animated series featuring a rabbit. Disney and Ub Iwerks created a new character entitled "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit". The first Oswald cartoon, Poor Papa, was poorly received by Charles Mintz and demanded a better, younger version of Oswald. The next cartoon, Trolley Troubles, was well received, and the series officially launched.

In 1928, with the series going strong, Disney demanded a raise from Mintz, which he refused. Mintz instead told Disney that he was going to cut the budget, and if Disney did not agree to the cut, Mintz would take over Oswald for himself. Disney refused, and most of Disney's employees left for Mintz. Only Ub Iwerks remained, and the two secretly planned out a cartoon featuring their new character, Mickey Mouse.

Return to Disney
In 2006, the Disney company got back the rights to Oswald, through a trade with sportscaster Al Michaels. In the wake of Oswald's return to the company, a line of special merchandise was released at Disney Stores nationwide and a Disney Treasures set was released compiling all of the surviving Oswald cartoons.

Modern Appearances
Though Oswald has yet to make appearances in animation, he has appeared recently in the Epic Mickey games and Disney merchandise.

Personality
In his current revival, Oswald is portrayed rough, bitter, and short-tempered around anyone he doesn't trust. Being forgotten for years makes him very cynical about his life often. For others who suffer a similar fate like his he has sympathy for. He had especially strong jealousy towards his "brother", who he blamed for stealing his life. It takes someone with a strong will to earn his trust. Beneath his harsh exterior, however, lies a saddened and hurt character who just wants to be loved again by the hearts of others. His time with Mickey helped him realize how Mickey cares about him as a brother despite their differences, allowing Oswald to mend broken ties with Mickey and accept who they are as brothers.

Besides being rather grumpy, Oswald takes after Mickey in many ways. He is somewhat mischievous, adventurous, and never escapes trouble, but finds his way out through cunning and wit. He loves to play and make others laugh at his comedy. He is also still moral despite his flaws and always tries to do the right thing. He attempts to look for what's best for his family and friends, even if there's a risk. Though he doesn't appear to be, Oswald can be quite friendly if he wants to. His love for Ortensia is just as similar and strong as Mickey's love for Minnie.

Epic Mickey
Oswald is one of the main characters in the Nintendo Wii video game Epic Mickey. In the game, he is the ruler of the Cartoon Wasteland--a forgotten world where forgotten, rejected and retired Disney creations reside. Working with the Mad Doctor, he constructed robotic Beetleworx as a construction crew for his Disneyland-inspired vision. But then, an accident caused by Mickey Mouse early in his career created a monstrous Shadow Blot that brought the Wasteland into ruins. The Mad Doctor betrayed Oswald and sided with the Blot. After a long battle, Oswald and his sweetheart Ortensia sealed the Blot inside a large jug at the top of Mickeyjunk Mountain, but at the cost of Ortensia's life. Ever since, Oswald remained at the mountain to guard the jug while nursing his grudge against Mickey for having stolen away the life and career that could have been his. When Mickey arrives, Oswald ends up reluctantly helping him on his quest to get out of Wasteland by refurbishing the Moonliner rocket in Tomorrow City, though Oswald is implied to be tempted to remove Mickey's heart and take it for himself on that rocket ride. After defeating the fake Shadow Blot at the summit of Mickeyjunk Mountain, Mickey reveals that he was responsible for the Thinner Disaster and the Blot and a furious Oswald accidentally releases the real Blot, who steals Mickey's heart and begins to destroy Wasteland. The two decide to use the rocket to attack the Blot, only to land in Dark Beauty Castle, where the plans change to using fireworks to do the job.

The Blot ends up consuming Oswald, Mickey and Gremlin Gus and the three have to fight the Blot from the inside, eventually retrieving Mickey's heart and blowing up the Blot. In the shower of paint that results from the explosion, Wasteland is restored and Ortensia is revived, helping to seal Mickey and Oswald's friendship and perhaps extending into a true brotherhood.

Originally, Oswald was to play a truly negative role. He was meant to be the main antagonist during the game's early stages. He and the Blot were originally going to combine and become the Storm Blot, but this was soon dropped and Oswald eventually became an anti-hero with a boss battle before finally settling down to deuteragonist.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
"OSWALD - While the adventure with Shadow Blot created a bond of friendship between Oswald & Mickey, Oswald still has doubts about his own self worth. Will Oswald grow into the great leader we all know he can be?" Disney Epic Mickey Video Game Facebook page desciption.

"Oswald. Oswald is the leader of the forgotten toons of Wasteland, and he cares deeply for both his home and it's people. Once the star of Disney before being replaced by Mickey, Oswald held resentment towards the mouse for a long time, but their adventures with the Shadow Blot created a bond of friendship. Oswald does still have doubts about his self worth, but he is slowly growing into the great leader everyone knows he can be. Oswald 's Disney Epic Mickey 2 website desciption.'

In the sequel to Epic Mickey, The mad Doctor returns to the wasteland claiming to be reformed, and offering to help protect the wasteland against a new threat in the form of natural disasters. Oswald teams up with Mickey to save the day.

Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland

 * "He's got it all! Friends who admire him! A girl who adores Oswaldandgoofy.png. 420 kids who want him to play with them! Detachable feet that can be rubbed strenuously to give him an extra boost of luck! So why can't Oswald, Disney's first cartoon star, put Mickey Mouse and the outside world into his rearview mirror? Why can't he just focus on Wasteland, the amazing world he's rebuilding into his image? Could it be that the luckiest rabbit in Wasteland simply doesn't know how lucky he is? It almost makes you wonder what kind of disaster would have to hit to make him appreciate everything he's got. Let's hope he never finds out!"
 * ~Oswald's Tales of Wasteland profile

Oswald is the main character in the Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland (digi)comics. These comics are a prequel to Epic Mickey and takes place before the Thinner Disaster. As the main character, he appears in all six of them. He and his Animatronic pals try to clean the clocktower in "Clock Tower Cleaners" and tries to spent the night in Lonesome Manor, because Pete dared him in "One Scary Night". He gets his feet stolen in "The Game's Afoot", fiercely competes with Horace in "The Rubbish Cup", visits the Mad Doctor with Ortensia and tries many different personas to regain his popularity in "Oswald the Lucky Duck" and tries to escape Wasteland in "There's a hole in the sky".

Oswald is quite adventurous, friendly and competitive in the comics. He is quick to take up a challenge and prove his worth, but also believes most people don't care for him and see him as an out of date version of Mickey. The Mad Doctor tries to trick Oswald for his evil plans. Oswald loves Ortensia and their Bunny Children and seems to be good friends with Horace Horsecollar. He also takes his Animatronic pals with him on many adventures.

Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel
Disney Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel is included in the Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland digicomics. It's a 64 page-long graphic retelling of Epic Mickey. Oswald plays a similar role like in the game and is thus one of the main characters. However, it's not exact. Some events of the game are arranged in a different order and are either expanded upon or cut down. For example: The scene where Oswald and Ortensia seal the Blot is expanded upon while many quests are skipped.

Appearance in modern non-Epic Mickey comics
The Norwegian "En magisk jul!" ("Just Like Magic!") marks the first Oswald and Ortensia appearance in modern Disney comics outside of the Epic Mickey universe. Written by David Gerstein and the art by Mark Kausler. It is based and takes place in the times of the classic Oswald shorts from 1927/1928. A hungry Oswald and Toby Bear see Ortensia and her rich banker father called J. P. Whiskers standing before a house where various foods are being brought in for J. P. Whiskers's Christmas dinner party. Oswald uses his charm and asks Ortensia if he and Toby can join them. A charmed Ortensia seems willing ,but Oswald and Ortensia are quickly interrupted by Ortensia 's little brother Homer the Cat. The small bratty cat drags Ortensia inside while Whiskers lectures Oswald and slams the door in his face. Still wanting to join Ortensia and the party, The hungry rabbit tries to prove his good luck as a disguised Oswald and Toby sneak into J. P. Whiskers's Christmas dinner party by impersonating a man they think is the head waiter. But the "waiter" was really a hired magician, so Oswald is forced to put on a magic show with a genuine, very powerful magic hat.

Disney Parks
As of 2011, Oswald has yet to make a live appearance at the parks being that the company had no rights to him for decades. But after 2006, his likeness has become a semi-common part of the parks.

For Tokyo Disneyland's Disney's Easter Wonderland, Oswald was the inspiration for a float.

During the Disney California Adventure expansion, Oswald appeared in a mural depicting him and several of his fellow classic Disney characters working as a construction crew. Also in the park, a souvenir shop called "Oswald's Filling Station" opened with Buena Vista Street in 2012.

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.

Also clothing products are available at Disneyland Paris in Walt Disney Studios Park.

Disney's Oswald shorts
1927
 * Trolley Troubles
 * Oh, Teacher
 * The Mechanical Cow
 * Great Guns
 * All Wet
 * The Ocean Hop
 * The Banker's Daughter
 * Empty Socks
 * Rickety Gin

1928
 * Harem Scarem
 * Neck 'n' Neck
 * The Ol' Swimmin' Hole
 * Africa Before Dark
 * Rival Romeos
 * Bright Lights
 * Oh, What a Knight
 * Sagebrush Sadie
 * Ride'em Plow Boy
 * Sky Scrappers
 * Ozzie of the Mounted
 * Hungry Hoboes
 * Poor Papa
 * The Fox Chase
 * Tall Timber
 * Sleigh Bells
 * Hot Dog

Trivia

 * Mickey and Oswald may not look alike in their final forms, but if you push in Mickey's snout and give him long floppy ears and a round lower body, he looks just like Oswald.
 * Oswald is similar to Bonkers character Fall-Apart Rabbit in that they are both rabbits who have the ability to remove their body parts, and are friends with famous toons. Fall-Apart and Oswald were also both voiced by Frank Welker.
 * In the Bonkers comics, there is a charcter named Nimrod the Rabbit, a comedian and keeper of the Toonstone, that looks like the way Oswald would look if he received a modern treatment.
 * Fourteen years prior to Epic Mickey, Oswald's video game debut was in a Sega Master System game titled Woody Woodpecker's Frustrated Vacation, released only in Brazil in 1996. This game notably marked Oswald's final appearance in his Walter Lantz design.
 * Oswald has black fur and blue shorts, but in Japan, he has blue fur and yellow shorts.