# Charles Mintz and Universal take Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; Disney loses the character and most of his animators Date: 1928 ## The fact In 1927 [Disney](/people/walt-disney) and Iwerks made Oswald the Lucky Rabbit for Universal through Charles Mintz. In 1928, in New York, Mintz refused a raise, revealed he held the character, and had hired away most of Disney’s animators. Disney returned to California without Oswald. Later copyright fights over Mickey are separate. Archival locator: Library of Congress — Dave Smith, Steamboat Willie (National Film Registry essay) at https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf (Library of Congress / National Film Preservation Board). Independent locator: Britannica — The Walt Disney Company at https://www.britannica.com/money/Disney-Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica). ## Context Character ownership sat with distributors, not with the drawing table. Labour here is both the poached crew and the remaining shop’s sudden hole. Iwerks stayed. Lillian Disney travelled on that trip in later tellings. This is not a twin of Laugh-O-Gram: different city, different character, different contract. Archival locator: Library of Congress — Dave Smith, Steamboat Willie (National Film Registry essay) at https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf (Library of Congress / National Film Preservation Board). Independent locator: Britannica — The Walt Disney Company at https://www.britannica.com/money/Disney-Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica). The contribution type is direct. The attached driver is [labour-market-tightness](/drivers/labour-market-tightness). The welfare reading used in this dossier is worsening. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. ## Evidence and sources The Library of Congress Steamboat Willie essay by Dave Smith, Chief Archivist Emeritus of Disney, independently narrates the Oswald loss and the train-home sequel. Britannica’s company article independently states that the distributor appropriated Oswald. D23 history pages align. No unique animator roster is reproduced here as a census. Archival locator: Library of Congress — Dave Smith, Steamboat Willie (National Film Registry essay) at https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf (Library of Congress / National Film Preservation Board). Independent locator: Britannica — The Walt Disney Company at https://www.britannica.com/money/Disney-Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Official or archival record: Library of Congress — Dave Smith, Steamboat Willie (National Film Registry essay) (https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf; Library of Congress / National Film Preservation Board). ## Significance Losing a series and a staff in one negotiation is a labour-and-IP path. High confidence on the event; the later 2006 Oswald return is not his 1928 act. Modest-to-medium size. Archival locator: Library of Congress — Dave Smith, Steamboat Willie (National Film Registry essay) at https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf (Library of Congress / National Film Preservation Board). Independent locator: Britannica — The Walt Disney Company at https://www.britannica.com/money/Disney-Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Shared responsibility is part of Charles Mintz and Universal take Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; Disney loses the character and most of his animators. Naming Walt Disney does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1928-03-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them. ## What is established and what is not Established: Oswald belonged to Universal/Mintz after 1928; most animators left. Not established: a unique contract page in this catalog, or a day-precise staff list. Conventional March 1928 for the New York break. Not Mickey’s premiere. Archival locator: Library of Congress — Dave Smith, Steamboat Willie (National Film Registry essay) at https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf (Library of Congress / National Film Preservation Board). Independent locator: Britannica — The Walt Disney Company at https://www.britannica.com/money/Disney-Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica). If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here. Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts. Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mickey is a separate 1928 Fact; do not clone Oswald into Steamboat Willie. Mixed effects of Charles Mintz and Universal take Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; Disney loses the character and most of his animators are separate paths. ## People - Walt Disney: https://factrail.ai/people/walt-disney ## Drivers - Labour-Market Tightness: https://factrail.ai/drivers/labour-market-tightness ## Sources - https://www.britannica.com/money/Disney-Company - https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/steamboat_willie.pdf ## Methodology https://factrail.ai/methodology Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/wd-oswald-lost