Since I was little, I have always thought that Mickey Mouse was a first-of-its-kind cartoon character: an energetic, witty animal figure with unique characteristics, who makes his daily life full of adventure. I never knew that Mickey actually had a “brother”. Thus, it was very surprising for me to find out the existence of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. After watching “Trolley Troubles”, I came to believe that Oswald was just as important and influential as Mickey. Audience should not forget Oswald, but rather give him more recognition, for the great influence he has had on Disney’s most famous character.

“Trolley Troubles (1927)” was an animated short in which Oswald made his debut on silver-screen. It did a great job in storytelling as well as portraying the main character. Compared to the other animation I watched from this period, the short really captured my attention: unlike the other characters who seemed to have no personality, Oswald fully spiked my interest with his characteristics. As the owner of a trolley car, he turned the trip into a wild ride. Numerous obstacles had blocked his way in the film, yet he was able to come up with various witty solutions to get the trolley moving again.

After watching Mickey’s “Steamboat Willie (1928)” for comparison, I found that Oswald and Mickey not only had similar appearance, but also shared the same personality traits. Both of them had wide white eyes, square pants and big black ears. And personality wise, Oswald was energetic, optimistic and venturesome. Just like Mickey, he loved to play and made other characters laugh. They both had some minor flaws, which made them more realistic as characters. For example, Oswald seemed somehow careless with his passengers, while Mickey was wacky violent with the animals in Steamboat Willie. Yet despite these flaws, they still had morals and tried to do the right thing throughout the story.

The striking similarities between Oswald and Mickey clearly shows the influence Oswald has had on Mickey, given the fact that Mickey came out after Oswald was snatched away from Mr. Walt Disney. I was sad finding out that the image and characteristics of Oswald were changed significantly after his distributor Charles Mintz took over the rights to the series. According to Becky Cline, the director of the Walt Disney Archives, “Oswald was kind of a rogue. He was a lothario.” Mickey, on the other hand, “is more of a gentleman than Oswald was. ” However, in my opinion such an Oswald figure was definitely not whom his creator Walt Disney had intended him to be. I believe Walt Disney would have portrayed Oswald the same way as he did Mickey, had Oswald not been stolen from him. Mickey’s characteristics illustrate an ideal image of the original Oswald, and Oswald would otherwise have remained his original mischievous yet well-meaning identity which made him so popular among cartoons in the 1920s.

The other video: “Epic Mickey: the History of Oswald (2012)” really touched my heart. In my opinion, the game Epic Mickey served as a great Catharsis for the tragedy of Oswald. Osward made his first comeback in the game, and ruled the world “Wasteland” which was for forgotten Disney characters including himself. As the first forgotten character in Disney history, he fashioned it after Disneyland, except that he put images of himself instead of Mickey everywhere. It really hit me when I read that Oswald disliked Mickey for taking over his popularity that he felt like he deserved. The plot was a big emotional touchdown, just like the director described, that both Mickey and Oswald were able to reconcile, found out they had family that they had forgotten, and became like true brothers. By ending this way, the game offered a chance of “redemption”, reminding audience of the one incredible character they had forgotten, and setting Oswald back for the success which he deserved.

It seemed to me that another great impact Oswald has had on Disney was the lessons learned. Since then, the studio has been fiercely protective of its intellectual property. There has been plenty of news online involving recent lawsuits brought by Disney concerning copyrights. In 2006, Oswald was repatriated back to Disney under a special deal. However, among the 26 cartoons created by Walt Disney, only 13 were found. Although the uncovered loss was unfortunate, I believe Disney now has the resource and opportunity to make Oswald a great character that no one will ever be able to take away anymore.

We all had our favorite characters when we were little, which included some cartoon characters most of the time. The animation created by Walt Disney studio has changed so drastically over the decades, and Mickey still remains one of the most important figures in the history of American animation. Yet, there would be no Mickey without Oswald. Even when today most of Disney’s newest movies do not feature its first characters, neither Mickey nor Oswald should be forgotten. A journey to discover some of the lost gems can be really exciting, even though it may require some delicate process of restoring them. Eventually, we will be able to remember once again the laughter and happiness these cartoon characters had brought into our lives.