Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit
If you take Mickey Mouse, stretch out his ears a bit and give him a little
bigger nose and a little larger body, you basically have Oswald. Oswald,
the Lucky Rabbit was created after the end of the Alice series. Carl Laemmle,
the head of Universal Studios told Charles Mintz that he wanted a cartoon
series featuring a rabbit. Margaret Winkler Mintz suggested Disney for the
job, and Disney responded with the short "Poor Papa." The cartoon
was received very negatively, mostly because of the appearance of Oswald
himself. He was more of a scruffy hooligan rather than the pleasing personality
that Laemmle wanted. Disney went back to the drawing board and returned
with "Trolley Troubles" which presented a more appealing and likable Oswald.
Even throughout the series, Oswald's appearance softened. When the Oswald
series was taken out of Disney's hands and given to Walter Lantz, the figure
changed even more; Disney created Mickey Mouse, and Oswald became more boyish
and cuter; almost an exact duplicate of Mickey. It's difficult to think
about what might have happened if Disney had kept control of Oswald, but
not hard at all to decide which was the most successful creation.