Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is the first animal-based character made by Disney productions. In 1927, Universal Studios hired Disney studios to make him for Alice Comedies. Universal Studios owned the character by law.

Oswald, as he appears in an ad for The Film Daily

According to Disney, Universal Studios named him "Oswald" by picking the name out of a hat.

Oswald was called the lucky rabbit because of the idea of rabbits' feet being lucky. In his cartoons, Oswald would pull off his own foot, rub it for luck, and then put it back.

Oswald is drawn with big eyes, big ears and shorts like the ones Mickey Mouse wears Unlike Mickey, Oswald does not have buttons on his pants.

When Disney separated from Universal Studios, the artists there made a new character called Mickey Mouse. Meanwhile, Universal used Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in comics in 1935 and in animated programs until 1943.

Disney bought Oswald back in 2006. Disney put him in the video game Epic Mickey in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii

Since 2024, all of the Disney-era Oswald cartoons are in the public domain. In the same year, the Winkler Oswald cartoons released in 1928 are in the public domain.