Disney+ Reportedly Developing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit TV Series

Everyone in the world knows about Mickey Mouse, the bubbly mascot of The Walt Disney Company. Since first appearing in 1928, Mickey has become a global icon, likely the most instantly recognizable cartoon character in history. However, what some people may not know is that Walt Disney actually created a similar character a couple of years before Mickey. The name of this character is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and it looks as though an animated TV series based on the adventures of Oswald is currently in development at the upcoming Disney+ streaming service.

This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, considering Disney has been steadily putting more and more eggs into the streaming service basket as of late. All sort of popular properties, including Monsters, Inc. and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are getting new projects developed for Disney+, and it now appears Oswald is joining them.

Disney hasn’t made an announcement about the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series, but writer Christopher Painter (SpongeBob SquarePants) seems to have confirmed the new project. His online resume, which you can find here, lists a new series called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in the “Animated Television” section. Painter lists himself as a writer on the series for “multiple episodes.”

Of course, nothing is official until it’s announced by Disney, so this series could potentially fall by the wayside rather than make it to the streaming service. That said, Oswald hasn’t been out of the spotlight for some time, and Disney has only had the last decade or so to use him, so an inexpensive animated series seems like a safe bet.

Walt Disney first created Oswald in the 1920s, and the character first appeared in an animated short film in 1927. He was featured in several films from Disney until 1928, when Charles Mintz took the rights to the character to Universal Studios. Later that year, Disney created Mickey Mouse.

Oswald’s rights stayed with Universal until 2006, when Disney CEO Bob Iger made a deal to allow sportscaster Al Michaels to move to NBC Sports. In exchange, Disney got back Oswald and other minor assets.

Disney+ is scheduled to launch on November 12th.