Disney gets Oswald the Lucky Rabbit back!

[jwa1107]

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit made an appearance at the NY Trade Licensing Show. Seems like Disney will try to bring him back into American mainstream...


full article HERE

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Oswald came even before the Mouse that "started it all".

Done right, Oswald's comeback could be a good thing.

[MikeyMouse]

If you recall, however, there were several Japanese companies that were already using the Oswald likeness and image (licensed from Universal, I suppose) on a variety of consumer products. The Japanese watermark on this image seems to indicate to me, at least, that this may be a holdover from that. Is it just me, or does the figure in that picture look very UN-Disney? It's got much more of an anime' look and feel, what with the large head and feet in relation to the body.

I know Disney plans on marketing Oswald once again, but my guess is that this image is not their first attempt. I've been known to be wrong in the past, though.

[Elladorine]

I was thinking that this figure looked "chibi" myself, but I've noticed that Disney has already marketed other characters in this style (as other companies have been doing with their own characters as well).

I suppose we'll see where this heads.

[Alice]

He deserves his return and revenge

[magicalwands]

Oswald looked way better than I pictured him to be. I pictured him a lot like Rodger Rabbit. They should make a buddy film for him...and Mickey.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Well, in the early days Mickey Mouse looked very much like his predecessor Oswald, but with slightly more mouse-like features - the now-iconic ears, first and foremost.

In fact, most "leading" cartoon characters looked very much like that in the 1920s.

[Spongebob Squarepants]

He kind of looks like that character in one Tiny Toons episode I saw once. I can't think of which episode it was.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

So who owns the modern version of Oswald? The only thing he has in common with the original is the name and that he is a rabbit. Some of the comics about him and his friende Toby could probably have been made into a movie. To do this, I guess all they need is to change his name.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Well, Disney lost Oswald in 1928, but, as far as I understand, managed to buy or trade him back earlier this year.

I really don't know how rights issues have been handled in later years, particularly in relation to that recent incarnation from Japan...

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Yes, but it is the original Oswald that Disney owns. The later and more modern Oswald was so different from it that I would be weird if they owned this version too. They may own the characters, but the modern one isn't their design. So if the name was changed, but keeping the modern look and adding stories, would Disney have any rights to comics, cartoons or features made after 2006? Personally, I don't think so, but who knows.
Now when Oswald is back at Disney, does anybody knows if comic book titles are still being published? If not, when was the last issue?

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Then I'd ask: If they are so different, are this modern Oswald and the original one the same character at all?

One thing made me curious: I never heard about Oswald comics. Who made them and (since) when?

I guess I'm not helping much - even more questions and no answers...

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Yes, they are the same. Just as the original Mickey Mouse looks very different from the movern version. The comic was published by Dell Comics, and maybe some other after that. I'm not an expert.

A couple of covers from the comic:

http://capitalcomics.com/cfml/DirectSal ... ordID=1241

http://capitalcomics.com/cfml/DirectSal ... ordID=1422

http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/prof ... dcomic.jpg

The last Oswald cartoon:

http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1943.html (The Egg Cracker Suite)

[GhostHost]

the Oswald from those covers looks different from the original.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Interesting - the comics/Lantz "Oswald Rabbit" looks very different from the original Disney version.

Rumpelstiltskin: If that's the version you refer to as "later and more modern", I'd agree with you that it's hardly obvious that Disney has the rights. Apart from their mutual rabbitness, this and the original Disney version don't look like the same character at all, in my opinion.

That Japanese (?) incarnation seen in the initial post, on the other hand, seems to be a "stylization" of the original Disney Oswald.

[PixarFan2006]

that oswald looks a little too japanese

[Rumpelstiltskin]

The "new" Oswald didn't even evolved gradually, he just suddenly replaced the old one from one cartoon to another. It is if Donald Duck should be replaced by Daffy Duck, but still keeping Donald's name. Can a character be defined by its name and what kind of animal it is only?

The Oswald in the first post actually seems like a more modern version of the original character seen in some Lantz cartoons before the character got his completely new look.