Feb 3, 2010

Get to know Mickey's predecessor...


We learned in class that Oswald was Disney's first cartoon character star, and that Charles Mintz stole Oswald out from under Disney. This certainly is not the end of Oswald's career! Mintz did not have control for long; he was fired from Universal studios within a few years after taking Oswald from Disney. A man named Walter Lantz was then put in charge to create Oswald cartoons, and made over 100 the following decade. Oswald's appearance quickly developed into a very Mickey esque character. Disney bases Mickey off of Oswald, Lantz then changes Oswald to be more like Mickey. Craziness!!! Oswald's career also consisted of many comics that were produced as early as 1935, and some were still being made in the 90's.


fast forward 8 decades later.... 

Disney regains rights to the original Oswald films! The 26 Oswald shorts that Disney created go back under the Disney name. The remaining episodes stay with Universal. Oswald is released in collections by both companies, and I say, the more the merrier! Hooray  for Oswald! In the past decade Oswald's face has become famous again. He is a very popular character in Japan; many Oswald toys and dolls were made. He is also going to be in a future Disney video game for wii.

Go Oswald Go!


-Yael Silverman

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