Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (series)

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is a series of theatrical cartoons starring its titular character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The character and the series were owned by Universal Pictures, who distributed a total of 194 cartoons featuring Oswald to theaters.

The first fifty-two cartoons were produced by Winkler Pictures under a contract from Universal, and the animation of the first half of those cartoons was outsourced to the Walt Disney Studio. In addition, the character was designed by Disney Studio employee Ub Iwerks while under the direct supervision of Walt Disney.

History

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".

On March 4, 1927, Winkler Pictures head Charles Mintz signed a contract with Universal within the presence of its vice president at the time, R. H. Cochrane. The contract stated that Winkler would produce 26 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons for Universal during the 1927-28 season. Universal had been negotiating deals with cartoon producers for the past three months; they wanted to get back into the cartoon business after ten years of no cartoons from the company.

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 February 1928, Winkler signed a contract with Universal that would guarantee three more years worth of Oswald cartoons. 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, he would be cut from the production scheme. 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.

Disney's Oswald shorts

No.	Title	Release date
1	Trolley Troubles	September 5, 1927
2	Oh Teacher	September 19, 1927
3	The Mechanical Cow	October 3, 1927
4	Great Guns	October 17, 1927
5	All Wet	October 31, 1927
6	The Ocean Hop	November 14, 1927
7	The Banker's Daughter	November 28, 1927
8	Empty Socks	December 11, 1927
9	Rickety Gin	December 26, 1927
10	Harem Scarem	January 9, 1928
11	Neck 'n' Neck	January 23, 1928
12	The Ol' Swimmin' Hole	February 6, 1928
13	Africa Before Dark	February 20, 1928
14	Rival Romeos	March 5, 1928
15	Bright Lights	March 19, 1928
16	Sagebrush Sadie	April 1, 1928
17	Ride 'Em Plowboy	April 15, 1928
18	Ozzie of the Mounted	April 30, 1928
19	Hungry Hobos	May 14, 1928
20	Oh What a Knight	May 28, 1928
21	Poor Papa	June 11, 1928
22	The Fox Chase	June 25, 1928
23	Tall Timber	July 9, 1928
24	Sleigh Bells	July 23, 1928
25	High Up	August 6, 1928
26	Hot Dogs	August 20, 1928
27	The Sky Scrapper	September 3, 1928

Gallery

Oswald ears

External links

• Oswald's page with list of Oswald shorts on The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts