Long before Mickey Mouse, there was another cartoon character that starred in animated shorts at Walt Disney Studio. His name was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and he was created by Walt Disney and Ub Works for Universal Pictures.
Oswald was one of Walt Disney's first creations after he opened his animation studio in 1923 and from 1927 to 1928, Walt and his team produced a number of animated shorts for Universal Pictures.
Despite Walt having created the character, Oswald was actually the property of Universal. And in 1928, Universal took control of him. But don't feel too bad for Walt, as he later went on to create Mickey Mouse, who has since become the most famous cartoon character in the world.
The Walt Disney Company never forgot about Oswald though. In 2006, Disney CEO Bob Iger reached an agreement with NBCUniversal to acquire Oswald in return for the contract of sportscaster Al Michaels. Yes, Disney traded the contract of an actual real-life person for the rights to an animated character.
Disney had slowly been reintroducing Oswald to the masses, but the marketing of the character has really ramped up in recent years. In addition to starring in the Epic Mickey video games, Oswald now has his own merchandise sold in the theme parks, made a cameo in Once Upon a Studio, and even had a special one-minute animated short — titled Oswald the Lucky Rabbit — created in celebration of Disney100.
It's unlikely that Oswald will ever supplant Mickey Mouse as the main mascot for Disney, but that doesn't mean he can't have a role in the company. According to a new report from Deadline, director and producer Jon Favreau is working with Disney to develop an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series for Disney+.
The new series is said to be a blend of animation and live-action. Favreau is writing and producing the project from Walt Disney Studios.
Favreau has been a key contributor to the success of Disney and its streaming service, Disney+. However, most of his work has revolved around the Star Wars franchise. He created, wrote and executive produced The Mandalorian, which aired on Disney+ from 2019 to 2023. He's also directing and producing the Lucasfilm's spin-off movie, The Mandalorian and Grogue which is set to release in May 2026. Favreau also executive produces The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Beyond the galaxy far, far away, Favreau also directed and produced 2016's The Jungle Book and 2019's The Lion King. Both movies, remakes of animated classics, were considered "live-action" although they were actually photorealistically animated.
Not much is known about the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series right now, other than it being an animated/live-action hybrid. Hopefully, that means traditional animation and not computer generated.