Walt Disney has created some wonderful and truly iconic animation characters - many of which we have grown up with and still love today. However, it was Oswald the Rabbit that was his first creation.
A scene from Sleigh Bells (1928) (c) Walt Disney Animation Studios Ltd.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a long-eared precursor to Mickey Mouse and will be coming to the big screen this December as the film Sleigh Bells has been found.
It was back in 1928 when Sleigh Bells was made and features Oswald, the first ever Disney character. However, it was a film that believed to have been long lost... until now.
The print of Sleigh Bells (1928) was preserved in the collections of the BFI National Archive. The exciting re-discovery was made by a researcher browsing the online catalogue of the BFI National Archive's holdings.
Walt Disney Animation Studios have taken this unique surviving film print and created both a new preservation print and digital copies. The film has a running time of approximately 6 minutes.
I have been a huge Disney film my whole life and news of the rediscovery of a new short film is incredibly exciting. The film won't be shown until December but here is a terrific clip from the new film:
Oswald The Rabbit was first invented by Walt Disney back in 1927 and Sleigh Bells is a movie that has been unseen since its original release.
Disney created Oswald with Ub Iwerks but after a contractual disagreement with Universal, for whom they made the Oswald films, the duo went on to create and have huge success with Mickey Mouse.
And while Oswald is a character that has been lost over the years, he is about to be re-introduced to a new generation of animation and Disney fans.
The world premiere of the new restoration of the film by Walt Disney Animation Studios will take place at BFI Southbank on 12 December 2015 as part of a programme It's A Disney Christmas: Seasonal Shorts, screening other festive Disney gems from the 1930's to the present day.
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