What's the Lantz / Disney - Oswald Rabbit deal?

[herman_the_german]

Walter Lantz and Disney used to work together and Disney stole the Oswald character? What is the deal? If this is the case, why did Lantz keep the Rabbit later on and why did Disney not develop the character further? Anybody familiar with this issue?

[Lars Vermundsberget]

My guess is that you're mixing up Lantz's name with a guy named Charles Mintz. In the pre-Mickey Mouse days, around 1927, he distributed the Oswald films and paid Disney a certain amount for each one of them. At one point Disney wanted to renegotiate their contract to get a bit more money for each new Oswald short, but then Mintz turned the tables on him and let him know that, according to contract, Disney did not really own the Oswald character. Mintz had already "stolen" some of Disney's co-workers and was prepared to keep on making Oswald films without Walt Disney. So he did, apparently, but after a while he did get strong competition from a new character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks: Mickey Mouse.

Added: I wrote this under the impression that the initial post asked if Lantz stole from Disney, but the question turns out to be the exact opposite.

[Luke]

Disney created Oswald, and the series of shorts with the lucky rabbit was a hit. Walt went to New York to meet with his distributor and ask for more money so that better pictures could be made. Margaret Winkler owned the distribution company, and her husband, Charles Mintz said no to a raise and in fact forced Walt to accept an even lower production fee. Walt denied it, and Mintz, as distributor, was able to take the character and Disney's key animators away from him. Walt was very upset by this, of course, and it influenced his desire to oversee distribution and rights to all of his future creations. The practice, though shrewd, was not uncommon in these days of the animation distributors.

[Ludwig Von Drake]

It was stolen from Walt!

[wwwjim]

This link explains how Lantz came into the picture...

[streeter]

I've been fascinated by the Oswald character but have never seen any films. Have they ever been released on video or DVD?

[MickeyMousePal]

Ludwig Von Drake Wrote

It was stolen fromWalt!

Yes, it was very very sad moment for Walt Disney.
But if that never happen we wouldn't have gotten Mickey Mouse.

[herman_the_german]

Thanks! That certainly clears up stuff for me. I read it a looong time ago and was quite fuzzy on the details. The funny thing is, I clearly remember it backwards.

I guess it all started with a rabbit...

BTW here is a Woody Woodpecker DVD 1 cent auction, if anybody is interested:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 12546&rd=1

[herman_the_german]

Somebody at DVDtoons sent me this:

http://www.dvdtoons.com/features/63

[Disney Guru]

I love that Cartoon!

[AwallaceUNC]

Herman- the link's not working.

-Aaron

[herman_the_german]

It works for me, maybe you need to be a member & log in???

Anyway, here is the important quote, (but go ahead and seek the entire article, it's pretty interesting):

"...Production of the Alice comedies continued, but Mintz and Disney agreed that they were running out of steam. The novelty was waning, and it was time for something new. Mintz and his wife suggested that Disney provide some rabbit cartoons that were being requested by Universal Studios. This led to a partnership to produce and distribute a series called “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”. After a rough start, Oswald became a strong success for Universal, but again Walt’s climbing costs sabotaged him. The animation quality got continually better, but this was due to exacting and costly production methods. When the current contract was about to expire in February 1928, Disney found himself once again placed at the mercy of a greedy Mintz. Although the Oswalds were grossing well, Mintz knew that they could be made more cheaply, and he plotted to steal all of Disney’s staff out from under him. He could “steal” Oswald, too, since Oswald as a character belonged to Universal, not Disney. He revealed this to Disney at a negotiation meeting in New York, and a call to Roy back in Los Angeles led to an investigation that confirmed it: only Iwerks had resisted the offer from Mintz. Following a short period of discussions, Walt ceded Oswald to Mintz and went back to Los Angeles.

(Do not worry about Mintz getting his comeuppance, though--- Oswald continued to be the property of Universal, something that Mintz failed to fully consider. He lost control of the Oswald cartoons almost immediately when Universal created their own studio and handed Oswald over to Walter Lantz in 1929.)..."

[feedmelinguini]

I've been fascinated by the Oswald character but have never seen any films. Have they ever been released on video or DVD?

Great Guns and The Mechanical Cow were released on VHS NTSC video on a compilation called "Disney's Beginnings," produced by Video Dimensions, 322 8th Ave, New York NY 10001. Also included were:

Newman's Laugh-O-grams Sample Reel
Laugh-O-gram: Four Musicians of Bremen
Alice Comedy: Alice Rattled by Rats
Alice Comedy: Alice's Egg Plant
Alice Comedy: Alice's Orphan
Alice Comedy: Alice Solves the Puzzle

Hope this helps. I ordered mine through Movies Unlimited a VERY long time ago. Who knows if it is still available for sale?

Lon

[englishboy]

First of all--everything that Luke said. And Lantz later inherited the rabbit when distribution went to--I think it was--Universal. But all that aside.

Mintz "stole" Oswald from Disney because Mintz claimed that he owned the copyright to the characters. Disney had agreed to sign-over the copyright to Oswald in order to get distribution.

The really crappy part of all this: Disney recently pulled a Mintz on Pixar. Pixar signed over copyright to their characters to Disney to get distribution. Now that Pixar doesn't want to play financial ball under Disney's terms, Disney plans to produce sequels to Mosters Inc, etc., using the characters Pixar developed, just like Mintz did with Oswald. Crappy, no?

[englishboy]

First of all--everything that Luke said. And Lantz later inherited the rabbit when distribution went to--I think it was--Universal. But all that aside.

Mintz "stole" Oswald from Disney because Mintz claimed that he owned the copyright to the characters. Disney had agreed to sign-over the copyright to Oswald in order to get distribution.

The really crappy part of all this: Disney recently pulled a Mintz on Pixar. Pixar signed over copyright to their characters to Disney to get distribution. Now that Pixar doesn't want to play financial ball under Disney's terms, Disney plans to produce sequels to Mosters Inc, etc., using the characters Pixar developed, just like Mintz did with Oswald. Crappy, no?

[reyquila]

For a very goog explanation you'll need to the Walt: The Man Behind the Myth DVD, its great and its part of my collection.