Disney is making a three-part Oswald the Lucky Rabbit miniseries for Disney Plus, Jon Favreau announced during the D23 showcase. The series, titled Oswald, will premiere on February 17, 2027, nearly 100 years after the character's first appearance in the animated short Trolley Troubles, Polygon reported.
The miniseries blends live action and animation in the manner of Coyote vs. Acme. In it, Oswald escapes into the real world after an earthquake and befriends a group of middle school kids, who help him explore a world he has not seen in a century.
Favreau wrote, co-directed and produced the project. He is best known for directing the first two Iron Man films, Elf, and The Mandalorian and Grogu, released in May. Kathryn Hahn is the most prominent confirmed cast member, alongside Ryder Allen, Albert Brooks, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Mykal-Michelle Harris and Al Madrigal.
Why Disney owns Oswald at all
Walt Disney created Oswald before Mickey Mouse but did not own the rights to him. The character was abandoned and fell into obscurity, while Mickey Mouse, which Disney owned outright, became the company's flagship. In 2006 Disney struck a deal with NBCUniversal to get Oswald back, trading ESPN sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC's sports programming team.
The reason for wanting him became clear a few years later. Oswald had a starring role in Epic Mickey, the Wii game about Mickey Mouse exploring worlds filled with obscure and forgotten Disney characters, and went on to appear in its sequel and in the 2024 remaster. Since then he has mostly been limited to the occasional cameo or brief reference in other Disney Animation projects, which makes a series of his own the first substantial new use of the character in more than 20 years.
Epic Mickey Rebrushed, that 2024 remaster, is being ported to iOS and Android on September 16 and to Nintendo Switch 2 on October 6, ahead of the show's premiere.
