Sketch Oswald The Lucky Rabbit And Walt

The above sketch is a wonderful reminder that when things don’t work out the way you want, that’s not always a bad thing. Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was a character a young Walt Disney created in 1927 for Universal Pictures. Through a series of issues, Walt lost the rights to the character which led him to create another character, his name was Mickey Mouse.

Had Walt never lost Oswald, Mickey would never have come along, and perhaps the Disney Empire would have at least looked very different. All my life I’ve heard it all started with a mouse, and while that’s true in many ways, there’s a rabbit hole involved.

An the story doesn’t end there, fast forward to Bob Iger becoming CEO of Disney. At one point he promised Walt’s daughter Diane he would bring Oswald home, and in 2006 he kept his word in a very funny way.

The exchange, or ransom happened this way. ABC no longer had the NFL contract, NBC now had it. Al Michaels wanted to rejoin John Madden on the new broadcasts, and Disney ABC agreed, if they got Oswald back. From 1927 to 2006 is a long journey, even for a bunny, but he was back home.

It’s a reminder that, like the three times Walt went bankrupt before succeeding, you can’t let obstacles stop you. You have to keep going, keep working, and keep dreaming.