Special Exhibit Articles Oswald the Lucky Rabbit As everyone knows, Mickey Mouse was Walt's ticket to international success. But Mickey had an ancestor, named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt started creating Oswald cartoons in 1928, while his cartoons were still being distributed by Charlie Mintz. Oswald bears something of a resemblance to Mickey (except, of course, a rabbit's ears are somewhat more elongated than those of a mouse), and he too was a rather successful animated creature. Actually, the very first Oswald cartoon, called Poor Papa, had been completed by Walt and his crew in April 1927. But Mintz, and executives at Universal Pictures, which was distributing them, joined forces to tell Walt that they thought he had failed, miserably. Wrote Mintz, "There are so many other characters that at no time is Oswald outstanding." Wrote Universal, "There is too much repetition of action. Scenes are dragged out to such an extent that the cartoon is materially slowed down." The letter went on to say that "the picture is merely a succession of unrelated gags, there not being not even a thread of story throughout its length." Walt didn't have much of a choice than to go back to the drawing board. He promised to make Oswald younger and peppier, and set about with another effort, to be called Trolley Troubles. This one was somewhat more successful from the outset. Universal gave it a great deal of publicity, as well as strong distribution on both coasts. Audiences responded favorably, and the Oswald series was off the ground. As cartoon followed cartoon — animated principally by Walt's long-time co-worker and all-star animator Ub Iwerks — reviewers were full of praise. As J.B. Kaufman reports in Walt in Wonderland, "Motion Picture News found the fourth Oswald, Great Guns, 'chock full of humor,' and predicted: 'This series is bound to be popular in all types of houses if the present standard is maintained.' By the end of the year, Moving Picture World reported that the Oswald series had 'accomplished the astounding feat of jumping into the first-run favor overnight.'" Walt had agreed to churn out Oswald cartoons at a remarkable clip — twenty six in a year. Had Oswald been unsuccessful, it's likely that rate of production might have been forcibly slowed. But success pushed Walt to keep up with his commitment, and that was hardly easy. Once every two weeks, he had to crank out yet another cartoon, and so Walt began hiring more animators including Ham Hamilton, "Max" Maxwell and Les Clark (who would go on to become one of the outstanding animators in the Studio's history). Not only was Oswald successful in theaters — the moviegoers themselves wanted to bring a little bit of him home with them. And as a result, Oswald brought Walt into the field of character merchandising — an area in which the Disney Studio would eventually become a world leader. Oswald's image was branded on a chocolate-coated marshmallow candy bar, on buttons with his picture, on pencil cases. Though Walt didn't get any money for the use of Oswald's image, it was great publicity for his character; and experience in a field that would prove to be a big moneymaker once Mickey had emerged. Ultimately, an acrimonious break with Charlie Mintz spelled the end of Walt's involvement with Oswald. The character was later taken on by animator Walter Lantz (famed as the creator of Woody Woodpecker). But he and his growing studio had learned a great deal from the 26 cartoons they made with a rabbit as a star. And they were ready to put that knowledge to use when Oswald was replaced by Mickey as the brightest star in Walt's Studio.