Ortensia

Ortensia is the anthropormophic cat wife of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Ortensia appeared in the Oswald shorts starting with The Banker's Daughter, replacing Oswald's former love interest, a much more feminine and sultry rabbit named Fanny in production materials. Ortensia's original name during the production of the Oswald shorts was Sadie (as referenced in the title of the animated short: Sagebrush Sadie). However, the names for Oswald's love interests were never widely publicized, which is likely the reason she was given a new name in Epic Mickey, following the alliteration pattern of Mickey and Minnie's mirrored relationship. As can be seen in her character design, she was very much a precursor to Minnie Mouse. Often in the original Oswald shorts, Oswald would compete with Pete for her affection. She also appeared in Oswald shorts produced by Charles Mintz and later Walter Lantz. In the Lantz shorts, she was called "Kitty". To add some confusion, copyright synopses of some Mintz and Lantz shorts erroneously refer to Ortensia/Kitty as Fanny.

As a side note, Ortensia is an Italian name that means "gardener", something that some of her art related to Epic Mickey shows to be a hobby of hers.

Appearence
Ortensia's trademark outfit is a frilly light pink skirt with white bloomers under, and a matching hat. It useually varies, since it can be fushia purple or gold too. Like minnie, she wears pumps matching her boyfriend's pants color: blue.

Personality
''​Oh, he's the cats meow. He is sweeter than my chow. He is the best of the best. I must confess, Oswald is the bunny for me!''

-Ortensia talking about Oswald

Ortensia tends to show a poetic, romantic, and dreamy personality. She spends every moment on oswald and is very considerate.

With her love for him so strong, she will do anything no matter how crazy or dangerous. When in poetry mode, she tends to sing deep in a jazzy tone.

Oretensia is also very gullable at times, but also street smart to be aware when things aren't going right.

She is very defensive to those who try to mess with oswald, her friends, family, and herself.

Disney shorts she appears in

 * The Banker's Daughter
 * Harem Scarem
 * Rival Romeos
 * Sagebrush Sadie
 * Oh. What a Knight
 * Sky Scrappers

Role in Epic Mickey
In Epic Mickey, she is the mother of Oswald's 420 rabbit/cat children In the main story, Ortensia's paint was removed when the Shadow Blot was being sealed, turning her into stone. (The Epic Mickey Graphic novel shows Ortensia sacrificing herself to protect Oswald by pushing Oswald to safety and getting hit by the Blot's attack instead.) In this statue-like state, she couldn't move and her voice is heard only faintly in one of the cutscenes. Still, she has some impact on the plot of Epic Mickey even in this state. Her state leaves Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and several Bunny Children in her house in deep depression, but many times, the memory of her leads to Oswald acting nicer to Mickey than usual. When the Blot is destroyed, she is changed back to normal by the rainstorm of paint that heals the rest of Wasteland and reunites with Oswald and Oswald introduces Mickey to her.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two


''"ORTENSIA - The motherly toon universally respected and revered by all! No matter what the danger may be, you can be sure that she will do whatever it takes to protect her family!" - ''Disney Epic Mickey Video Game Facebook page description.

"Ortensia. Ortensia is like a mother to all cartoon characters in Wasteland, universally respected and revered by all. She was undeniably sweet but also no-nonsense and direct when she needs to be. She always does what's best to protect her family, no matter the danger." - Ortensia's Disney Epic Mickey 2 website description.

Ortensia returns in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. First appearing in the 2D cutscene that functions as a recap of the original Epic Mickey. After that, the scene changes to Oswald strolling down the street of a recently restored Wasteland. Just as an earthquake begins to shake the street apart, the Mad Doctor and his Beetleworx creations arrive on the scene in a twisted sort of take on the Main Street Electrical Parade. The Doctor sings a stirring musical number, using the refrain "Help Me, Help You" to convince Oswald to join forces with him to save the Wasteland. While first confused about the Mad Doctor 's arrival, Ortensia tries to stop Oswald from joining the Mad Doctor as she doesn't seem to trust him. However, Oswald has already been convinced and joins him, much to Ortensia's annoyance. Angry and still not trusting the Mad Doctor, Ortensia leaves with Gus as Oswald leaves with the Mad Doctor.

She and Gus go back to the castle where Gus creates a machine to contact the toon world. A comically impatient Ortensia walks around, eagerly waiting and eventually falling asleep as Gus finally finishes the machine, enabling them to again reach out to Mickey to set things straight again.

While Ortensia is waiting for Oswald to return in the castle, Mickey re-enters Wasteland by falling into a window of Dark Beauty Castle. He meets Ortensia and Gus who are happy to see him again, (as do Mickey) and they explain the current situation of Wasteland and the return of the Mad Doctor to him until Oswald arrives. A worried Ortensia happily greets him, glad to see him safe. Oswald explains that the Doc told him about the Blotworx and that the creatures are going to attack them. Ortensia doesn't trust the Mad Doctor, but Oswald is convinced that they should give him a second chance. Mickey suggests they go find the Mad Doctor. Oswald tells him he's helping out in Mean Street and suggests they take the train since the projectors are broken. Then a quake starts and the castle begins collapsing all around them. When some rubble comes down and separates Ortensia from the others, Mickey, Gus, and Oswald outrun the rubble to escape the castle and reunite with Ortensia, who (in her own words) had her own adventure escaping the castle, much to Oswald's amusement. Eventually all four escape by train.

When they arrive in Mean Street Station and enter Mean Street, Ortensia and the others find the Mad Doctor. The Mad Doctor sings about changing his ways and the dangers that threaten Wasteland, but Ortensia remains unconvinced about his good intentions. Mickey almost didn't trust him. When the Mad Doctor leaves, Gus suggests they should get the projectors working again and see Gremlin Jamface, and Ortensia tells Oswald to go ahead as she'll wait until the Ostown projector starts working. She worriedly asks him to be careful as he kisses her. The scene ends with Ortensia wishing her "hunny bunny" good luck and leaving. Mickey is unsure that the Mad Doctor is good and Oswald hopes he changed.

Ortensia can be found in the museum while the projectors aren't working. She tells Oswald and Mickey not to worry about her as she'll stay there until they can get the projectors fixed. She does worry about her Bunny Children in Ostown.

Ortensia will eventually travel to Ostown after the projectors are fixed and find the Bunny Children missing and scattered around Wasteland. Resulting in her giving Oswald and Mickey a quest to return the Bunny Children to her.

According to Warren Spector: Oswald's significant other, Ortensia, 'is a character from start to finish that you interact with a lot, Audrey Wasilewski providers her voice in the game.

Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland
"Ortensia is Oswald's one true love. Her dedication to Oswald is absolutely unstinting, but she's nobody's pushover. She's no-nonsense and direct, and will not hesitate to let anyone - most of all Oswald know exactly what's on her mind. Whether she's busy fending off unwelcome advances from the notorious Pete or wishing that Oswald would spend more time with her and their copious children, Ortensia is, in every way, Oswald's better half. Now if she could just get him to stop obsessing about Mickey and thinking more about her!" (Ortensia's "Tales of Wasteland" profile)

Ortensia is one of the main characters in the Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland (digi)comics. These comics (created by Peter David ) are a prequel to Epic Mickey and take place before the Thinner Disaster. (before she was petrified) She appears in five of the six (digi)comics.

She makes a small cameo in "Clock Tower Cleaners", but has larger roles in the other comics: from getting unwanted attention from Pete in "The Game's Afoot", visiting the Misadventurers club in "The Rubbish Cup", or simply being together with Oswald and their kids in "Oswald the Lucky Duck" and "There's a Hole in the Sky".

Ortensia loves Oswald and is very dedicated to him. She's very caring, but also sensible, realistic and direct. She's one of the few who suspects the Mad Doctor's bad intentions, something Oswald is quite oblivious to. She's not afraid to share her opinion on things, but she'll support Oswald when he's truly dedicated to something.

Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel
The graphic novel adaptation of Epic Mickey shows in more detail how Ortensia was turned into her statue-like state. Oswald and Ortensia made one final effort to get rid of the Blot by sealing it in the thinner bottle on Mickeyjunk Mountain that fell in Wasteland when the Blot first appeared. The Mad Doctor warned the Blot, but Oswald succeeded in grabbing the Blot's attention. He was too good a target for the Blot to resist. Oswald was ready to sacrifice himself, if it meant the end of the war, but Ortensia wasn't ready to allow that. When the Blot attacked Oswald, she pushed him away to safety and Ortensia fell victim to the Blot instead, transforming her into her statue-like state. "Oswald's silent scream was heard from one end of Wasteland to the other", but he had enough presence of mind to successfully trap the Blot by jamming the stopper into the bottle. Sadly, it didn't end the war. The Blot's minions were still loose upon the land under the guidance of the Mad Doctor and the Shadow Blot, the Blot's most fearsome minion." None of which mattered in the least to Oswald. By losing Ortensia, "his entire reason for living had been obliterated by the Blot".

Appearance in modern non-Epic Mickey comics
The Norwegian "En magisk jul!" 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.



Oswald in the lucky preperation
Disney of Japan released a really short, silent Christmas cartoon starring Oswald and Ortensia for the holidays. Creating the first new pure Oswald animation since his return to Disney.

Trivia

 * Ortensia had a tail in early Disney shorts like "The Bankers Daughter" and "Rival Romeos", but doesn't have a tail in later shorts like "Sky Scrappers" and "Oh, What a Knight". She lacks a tail in the Epic Mickey game and comics as well ,but has one in some of the recent Japanese merchandise.
 * Despite "En magisk jul!" taking place during the time of the old Oswald shorts and being pretty faithful to them as well, the comic refers to the cat girl by her modern name "Ortensia" instead of "Sadie". Seemingly confirming they are the same character renamed.
 * Ortensia's hat bears a strong resemblance to Minnie's original hat in both shape and design, however her hat is pink and more cylindrical.
 * Ortensia is the oldest female Disney character that is still being used to this day, surpassing even Minnie Mouse.