It’s been nearly 94 years since Disney released a cartoon starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. However, today, the company released a brand new animated short to celebrate its 100th anniversary and commence Disney’s 100 Years of Wonder.
The short, simply titled “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,” is directed by famed animator Eric Goldberg (How To Stay At Home, Pocahontas, Fantasia 2000) and produced by Emmy Award®-winning producer Dorothy McKim (Prep & Landing, Get A Horse!, Meet The Robinsons).
You can check out the short via Walt Disney Animation Studios’ official YouTube channel below!
To coincide with the release of the animated short, Disney is launching an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Snapchat lens today. It will allow global users to “channel” Oswald using AR technology.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is considered Walt Disney’s first breakout animated star, and widely considered one of the first characters in animation history to feature a unique personality. Walt Disney introduced Oswald to moviegoers in 1927 with the short Trolley Troubles. Over the next year, 26 Oswald short films were created by Walt Disney and his team, with the final Disney shorts starring the character releasing in late summer 1928.
That same year Walt lost creative control over his beloved rabbit. In 2006, Disney CEO Bob Iger made an unprecedented deal with NBC/Universal, that included permitting sportscaster Al Michaels to contract with NBC in exchange for the return of Oswald to his original home. Since then, Oswald has appeared in video games and merchandise, an animated short, and in Disney theme parks globally.
SOURCE: Walt Disney Animation Studios
