Rare Cartoon Featuring First Disney Character Rediscovered

A rare film featuring the first ever Disney character has been found, and in Britain, of all places.

The 6-minute film, "Sleigh Bells," done in 1928, was created by Walt Disney and co-animator Ubi Iwerks and featured Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

What made this discovery, which took place in the British Film Institute (BFI), significant is that it involves a character who could have been the face of Mouse House had there been no contractual disputes that gave rise to the creation of Mickey Mouse.

"The rights to the character Oswald were owned by Universal," CNN said. "Following a contractual disagreement, Disney and Iwerks stopped making Oswald films and went on to create Mickey Mouse."

Notably, Oswald and Mickey look very similar, with the former's main distinguishing feature being his elongated ears. The rest of Oswald's features are pretty much like that of Mickey's.

"Oswald and Mickey clearly resemble each other in terms of physical characteristics," BFI Animation Programmer Justin Johnson noted. "But, even more importantly, their characters have a lot in common."

"Before Oswald, cartoon characters were pretty generic, without much personality," he went on. "However, Oswald is clearly a fun and mischievous character, just like Mickey."

A restored print of "Sleigh Bells" will later be premiered at the BFI next month in London, the BBC reported. "The restoration work was carried out by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the new print will be shown at BFI Southbank on 12 December as part of a programme of Disney Christmas shorts."

The said animated film was discovered by a researcher at the BFI National Archive, which was where the short flick was kept since the 80s. It was given up by a film company who went bankrupt.

"We're thrilled to be collaborating with the BFI National Archives in the restoration of the 'lost' Oswald short, 'Sleigh Bells,' and to be sharing this delightful animated discovery with audiences in the UK as part of this special Disney holiday programme," said Walt Disney Animation Studios president Andrew Millstein, as noted in the BFI site. "The Oswald shorts are an important part of our Studios' history, and we have been working with film archives and private collectors all around the world to research the missing titles."

Oswald had long been speculated as the character that might have been Disney's torch bearer. His name was actually not his creator's choice, but that of Universal executives. Disney, however, allowed them to. And the process merely involved pulling names out of a hat, as recalled by the BBC in an earlier piece.

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