Originally Posted By MGuttag After 78 years, Oswald finally returns home (from Sports Illustrated's web-site): "In exchange for letting Michaels out of his contract with ABC and ESPN, which are owned by The Walt Disney Co., NBC Universal sold ESPN cable rights to Friday coverage of the next four Ryder Cups, granted ESPN increased usage of Olympic highlights and sold to The Walt Disney Co. the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character in silent cartoons made by Walt Disney from 1927-28." <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/02/09/bc.fbn.nbc.michaels.ap/index.html" target="_blank">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c om/2006/football/nfl/02/09/bc.fbn.nbc.michaels.ap/index.html</a>
Originally Posted By Darkbeer The Walt Disney Company Press Release WALT DISNEY'S 1927 ANIMATED STAR – OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT – RETURNS TO DISNEY Mickey Mouse's Predecessor Rejoins Disney's Family of Animated Characters through Agreement with NBC/Universal Burbank, CA (February 9, 2006) – Disney President and Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Iger announced today the return of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to The Walt Disney Company by agreement with NBC/Universal, the company that had previously owned the rights to Oswald since his theatrical debut in 1927. "As the forerunner to Mickey Mouse and an important part of Walt Disney's creative legacy, the fun and mischievous Oswald is back where he belongs, at the home of his creator and among the stable of beloved characters created by Walt himself," said Iger. "When Bob was named CEO, he told me he wanted to bring Oswald back to Disney, and I appreciate that he is a man of his word," said Walt Disney's daughter Diane Disney Miller. "Having Oswald around again is going to be a lot of fun." When Walt Disney opened his animation studio in 1923, he spent four years producing The Alice Comedies, a popular series of shorts featuring a live girl in a cartoon world. After four years, Walt created a new character – Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt produced 26 Oswald cartoons, which were distributed by Universal and well-received by audiences. However, on a trip to New York to renew his contract for Oswald, Walt discovered a clause in his contract that gave Universal ownership of his popular new character. On the train ride back to Hollywood, Walt was devastated but realized he needed to create a new character – one that he would own entirely – and during that long trip across the country, Mickey Mouse was born. This transfer of ownership is part of an agreement permitting sportscaster Al Michaels to contract with NBC. In the transaction ESPN also acquired significant programming and promotional rights, including telecast rights to the live Friday coverage of four Ryder Cup golf championships through 2014, expanded video highlights for the Olympics through 2012, video promotion for ESPN's Monday Night Football during NBC's Sunday night football through 2011, and expanded highlight rights for other NBC Sports properties through 2011. The Walt Disney Company (NYSEIS), together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products. Disney is a Dow 30 company, had annual revenues of nearly $32 billion in its most recent fiscal year, and a market capitalization of approximately $51 billion as of February 8, 2006.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <"When Bob was named CEO, he told me he wanted to bring Oswald back to Disney, and I appreciate that he is a man of his word," said Walt Disney's daughter Diane Disney Miller. "Having Oswald around again is going to be a lot of fun." < okay someone pinch me, is Iger for real ? He really seems to be on a positive roll right now....
Originally Posted By u k fan This is a great opportunity to have a member of the traditional line up of characters not be bogged down by being a Disney corporate image. To act like Mickey used to before he started to symbolise everything that Disney stands for. He can be Disney's own Animaniac with the added benefit of actually being a real for real animated star from that old era. Let's get going on that Saturday morning series and those feature length DTV's that the Toon Studios can produce, heck why not a full on movie and lets get Oswald where he belongs. I kind of picture Oswald coming home from a war after being presumed dead, to find Mickey the son he never knew he had greeting him at the door!!!
Originally Posted By Jim It could be just to do justice to an important historical facet of the company, or they may be interested in doing a Treasures release. In some ways, they have a blank slate with the character because I don't think he had much personality. At the same time, I doubt they would actually do something with him because it would essentially be creating a new character, which they could have done for free. I guess we shall see. Either way, this is exciting news.
Originally Posted By HyperTyper I think Iger "gets" it. Wow. This is really a good sign for Disney traditionalists, that he would make such a gesture. I am totally excited about this man, and hope this is the sign of good days ahead.
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden There was a great radio interview with Dick Ebersol on the Fan in NY last night. It was funny how he described having to call Disney to ask them what in the heck they were asking for. The Ryder Cup and the expanded Olympic highlights he was familiar with, Oswald not so much.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Can you imagine the reaction of the guys at NBC Universal when Iger said he wanted Oswald the Rabbit back? How much research do you think the execs had to do to even figure out who Iger was talking about?
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Apparently, Dick Ebersol had no idea what the frick Iger was talking about. What a strange deal. Diane Disney wanted Oswald back? Why?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 To bring together all the pieces of her father's legacy would be my guess. The better question would be, why not ?
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 As the Rock used to say when he entered an area:: Finally Oswald has come back to Disney. In a way I'm kind of glad Walt lost Oswald orginally. Think about we of course wouldn't have Mickey Mouse. And would Warner Brothers have created Bugs Bunny?
Originally Posted By Kylesmom Oswald's "kidnapping" was deffinately for the best, but I'm glad he's back. I'm excited to see what Disney will do with him
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<is Iger for real ? He really seems to be on a positive roll right now....>> I get this vibe that Iger: A.) Is a guy who knows what he wants to do. B.) Knows how to get what he wants done by using and respecting the talents of those around him. C.) Isn't interested in being a celebrity CEO. No proof of any of these things; just my impression so far.
Originally Posted By Nautilus >> In a way I'm kind of glad Walt lost Oswald orginally. << As am I. Losing Oswald was a blessing in disguise for Walt. I think this is great news! Though I don’t think there’s much money to be made in getting Oswald back. It seems to me that Iger has a profound interest in preserving the history of Walt Disney, and I’m all for that! I’ve seen an Oswald cartoon that was made by Walter Lantz, who took him over from Charles Mintz (who took him from Walt). Since then I’ve really wanted to see the original silent Oswald shorts. I hope they can salvage the originals well and put at least some on a Disney Treasures set or something similar.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Yeah, this is not a money making venture at all, this is setting the records straight and I commend Iger for respecting heritage. ABC let a very good broadcaster go because he didn't want to be there any more - as he wants to do another Superbowl before he retires. They made a good decision to let a potentially very unhappy employee walk to a competitor and managed to get something in return . I thought is was a classy move all around
Originally Posted By electra interesting... is there any way Iger could get us World of Motion or the original Horizons or Journey to Imagination back? :|
Originally Posted By Rsey103 >>Walt produced 26 Oswald cartoons, which were distributed by Universal and well-received by audiences.<< 26 cartoons? I didn't know that. Do they still exist?
