Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is back in a new animated short – almost 95 years after his last Disney cartoon. The short was created for the 100 Years of Wonder that celebrates Walt Disney’s 100th anniversary. Titled Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, it was hand drawn by Disney’s animation team, directed by animator Eric Goldberg, and produced by Dorothy McKim.

Between May 1927 and August 1928, Disney’s animation studio produced 26 films featuring Oswald, starting with Trolley Troubles. He was Disney’s first featured cartoon character that had been developed specifically for a starring role. While Disney handled the early animation, Universal owned the character, so after Disney’s slate of shorts ended, Oswald cartoons were made solely under Universal. In 2006, the Walt Disney Company acquired Oswald from NBC – Universal, and since then, Oswald has appeared in Disney video games, merchandise, theme parks, and more.

“On the eve of Disney’s 100th anniversary, it was such a joy to create the first new Oswald short from our studio since 1928,” McKim said. “Our hand-drawn animation team – including our hand-drawn legends Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, and Eric Goldberg, as well our wonderful team of 2D apprentices – had a ball animating in the style of Oswald’s era.”

“Oswald is such a plucky scamp. We wanted to bring Oswald back, and in the short, he literally returns to his original home: the movie screen. We wanted to have Oswald do all of the ‘squash-and-stretch,’ ‘rubber hose’ animation style, celebrating that first generation of Walt Disney’s artists,” Goldberg said.