Mickey Mouse will celebrate his 100th anniversary in 2028, but first Disney's going back even further into its history. As announced at the D23 fan convention alongside Pixar's Ghost Market, the studio's reviving its oldest cartoon character with a nostalgic 2D animation style.
Before Mickey, there was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, also known as Oswald Rabbit or just Ozzie (NOT to be confused with Disney's Ozzy Fox). He was Disney and Ub Iwerks' first recurring cartoon star, appearing in 26 shorts between 1927 to 1928.
However, Oswald legally belonged to distributor Universal Pictures and producer Winkler Pictures led by Charles Mintz. A contract dispute led the latter to nab Disney's animators and take Oswald in house. Disney created Mickey as a replacement, and the rest is history. After over 150 more cartoons for Universal, Oswald faded into obscurity after the early 1940s.
Completing the circle, Disney bought the rights in 2006. Although Oswald's now in the public domain, the studio will finally bring him back to the screen properly next year for his own mini series on Disney+. But will nostalgic fans finally be happy?
Until now, Disney has only brought Oswald back for short animations, such as the one above to mark Disney's 100th anniversary. He also appeared alongside Mickey Mouse for the first time in the 2010 video game Epic Mickey.
The new Oswald will be a three-part series written, directed and executive produced by Jon Favreau. The actor and filmmaker has previously directed Elf, The Jungle Book and The Lion King live-action remakes and, more recently, The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Many Disney fans have been craving a return to traditional 2D animation since the studio's switch to 3D in the early 2000s. Oswald looks set to deliver that, but with a twist: it will combine hand-drawn 2D animation with live action, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
The cast includes Amy Sedaris, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Martin, Al Madrigal, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryder Allen, and Mykal-Michelle Harris, who voiced Blaze in Toy Story 5.
Disney says the animation will be done by veteran Disney animators and international studios such as SPA Studios, the studio behind Klaus. Live-action settings will include Disneyland and Walt Disney’s Burbank office.
That suggests that the series may be presented as a meta-story exploring Disney history rather than a straight cartoon in its own fictional word (but without the real-world controversy that accompanied Coyote Vs Acme, coming next week). There's not too long to wait to find out. Oswald is scheduled for release on Disney+ in February 2027.
