Disney has gone back to the inkwell many times before but this is ridiculous! Walt Disney Animation Studios has released a brand new short starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, nearly a century after his debut.
The film, titled Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (clever, Disney!), runs just over one minute but is an utterly charming short. You can watch at the end of this article.
The short is part of the studio’s 100 Years of Wonder celebration/campaign. It is directed by Annie Award winner Eric Goldberg, who worked on such Disney movies as Aladdin, Pocahontas (director) and The Princess and the Frog. On the character and creation of the short, Goldberg said, “Oswald is such a plucky scamp. We wanted to bring Oswald back, and in the short, he literally returns to his original home: the movie screen. We wanted to have Oswald do all of the ‘squash-and-stretch,’ ‘rubber hose’-animation style, celebrating that first generation of Walt Disney’s artists.”
Created by Walt Disney for Universal, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit made his debut in 1927’s Trolley Troubles, one year before the debut of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie. Mickey Mouse was created by Disney and Ub Iwerks as a replacement for Oswald. In 2006, nearly eight decades after losing the rights to the character, Disney obtained them once again, allowing the rabbit to appear in various works, from an important role in the video game Epic Mickey to a cameo in Zootopia.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is the character’s first short starring the character since 1938.
According to Disney, the studio also “launched an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Snapchat lens worldwide that will allow users to channel Oswald using AR technology.” Yeah, that’ll be a big hit with the teens…
Check out the new Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short below and let us know your thoughts!