Oswald the Lucky Rabbit reappears in Disney short after 95 years

CALIFORNIA: The pre-Mickey Mouse Disney cartoon finally graces the screen again after nearly a century!

According to a report by Variety, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit reappeared in a brand-new animation short by the Walt Disney Animation Studios in celebration of Disney’s upcoming 100-year anniversary .

The short, titled “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”, was created by the studio’s hand-drawn animation team under the direction of veteran animator Eric Goldberg, with Dorothy McKim helming the production.

“Our hand-drawn animation team – including our hand-drawn legends Mark Henn, Randy Haycock and Eric Goldberg, as well our wonderful team of 2D apprentices, had a ball animating in the style of Oswald’s era.” Variety quoted McKim.

Director Goldberg also spoke to Variety about the motivation that went behind the making of the short film.

“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,” he said.

“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,” he added.

The first appearance of the goofy cartoon character was in the short, “Trolley Troubles” in 1927.

As per Variety, Oswald was featured in 26 short films created by Walt Disney and his team before the animator lost its creative control in 1928.

The rights of the character were brought back to the House of Mouse by CEO Bob Iger in 2006 in a deal hatched with NBC Universal.