Gameloft, the developers of Disney Dreamlight Valley, released a teaser trailer showing off the new content update scheduled for May 1. The new Disney character joining Disney Dreamlight Valley is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
If you don’t know who Oswald is, and there’s a good chance you don’t, this guide can shed some light on the character.
Who is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is the Micky Mouse that never caught on.
Believe it or not, Walt Disney created Oswald in 1927, a year before Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately, Universal Studios owned the rights to Oswald, and because of different opinions and conflicts of interest, Walt Disney ultimately decided to abandon him and create a new character (Mickey Mouse). The rest, as we know, is history, but what about poor Oswald?
As a character, Oswald is very similar to Mickey Mouse, albeit a bit more mischievous. In the original Oswald The Lucky Rabbit cartoons, Oswald got into trouble, fought against other characters, and wreaked havoc, but always did right in the end.
Universal continued to publish Oswald cartoons, comic books, and toys. But as you can probably guess, they could not compete with Mickey Mouse or other beloved Disney characters, so Oswald faded into obscurity.
In 2006, there was a trade between Disney and NBCUniversal, where The Walt Disney Company claimed (re-claimed) the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Has Oswald appeared in any video games or shows recently?
Since Disney claimed the rights to Oswald, he has made an appearance in several video games and shows, mostly as a cameo character.
In 2010, the game Epic Mickey came out featuring Mickey Mouse, who visited a world of forgotten Disney characters. As you can probably guess, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was the leader of the world. This was actually my first introduction to the character. Epic Mickey also featured a few of the original Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons as unlockables.
Two years later, the game received a sequel called Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, in which you can play as Oswald.
A remake of the original game, titled Epic Mickey: Refurbished, is scheduled for release this year, but the release date is yet to be confirmed.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Disney Dreamlight Valley
On May 1, you can meet Oswald in Disney Dreamlight Valley, A Rift in Time Act 2 expansion. According to the developer update, Oswald’s questline will act as a brief introduction to the character.
There will be many references to cartoons from the ’20s and tropes where everything is black and white. While I don’t think Oswald will ever become as popular as Mickey, Donald, or Goofy, I’m glad he will start mingling around Disney Dreamlight Valley and mingle with the characters that drew inspiration from him.
