Sometimes I find myself obsessed with the idea of something or other. Recently I was thinking about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and how interesting it would have been if Walt Disney had not lost the rights to this character and had built his media empire on the back of Oswald instead of Mickey.
In the 2005 Disney Editions book "The Disney Keepsakes" by Robert Tieman, there is a replica of a Mickey Mouse Club membership card from 1929. The front of the card shows a smiling Mickey Mouse and lists the club chapter number and name, and has a space for the members name to be written along with a membership number. There is also a place for "Chief Mickey Mouse" to sign the card. The back of the card has the Mickey Mouse Club Creed:
I will be a square shooter in my home, in school, on the playgrounds, where-ever I may be.
I will be truthful and honorable and strive, always, to make myself a better and more useful little citizen.
I will respect my elders and help the aged, the helpless and children smaller than myself.
In short, I will be a good American!
After seeing this, I started thinking about what it would have looked like if there was no Mickey Mouse and instead we had an Oswald Club. I took a photo I found online of a Mickey Mouse Membership Card and turned it into an Oswald Club Membership Card which now has a spot in my collection! It makes me smile every time I see it there displayed amongst my other official Disney collectables.
If Oswald hadn't been yanked away at that moment, it's probable there never would have been a Disney empire -- even if Oswald became as big or bigger than Mickey did.
ReplyDeleteAfter losing Oswald, the Disney brothers made darn sure they owned everything they produced -- the cartoons, the characters in the cartoons, and eventually the movies and a lot more. This meant they kept the proceeds from merchandising and reissues. They were also far more careful about keeping their independence, able to change distributors without losing Mickey or other treasures. Compare to the Fleischers, who had their studio and their vault yanked out from under them by Paramount -- a seemingly safe and reliable partner for many years.
When we come to the postwar era, the dinosaurs were going extinct and animation studios owned by them were closed down. The independent Disney survived because by now it not only had a library of re-releasable classics, but had diversified into live action features -- many of which had similar second and third theatrical releases. And unlike other studios, Disney never sold its library outright to television. Walt Disney only agreed to television because he needed funding for Disneyland -- and even then he kept a tight grip, allowing a comparative trickle of vault goodies on his network shows and selling nothing. (Walt incidentally made genius use of television to promote his park, new movies, and the overall Disney brand ... while getting paid for it.)
Had Disney kept Oswald -- and a relationship with Winkler and/or Universal -- he might have ended up like Walter Lantz, who had a long and profitable, if unadventurous, run with Universal. But more likely he'd end up like the Fleischers, especially if he insisted on expensive perfectionism and daring gambles.
Hi Ronn,
ReplyDeleteWhat great, creative work! I'm a huge Oswald fan, and love that membership card! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Amy & DBenson. I printed a pile of these Oswald Club cards and sent them out with all my Christmas cards this past Christmas. If you want one, I'll send it to you free. Just contact me with an email at ronnroxx at gmail dot com.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the cards I printed all say No. 851, you could actually be members #002 and #003 in the completely unofficial, Never actually existed Oswald Rabbit Club!