Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: Legacy Forgotten

Chapter 1

After a cartoon is put into the Disney Vaults, it's not acknowledged very often. More often than not, the vaults will contain ideas, plot themes that don't seem to work on-screen. But there is lore among the animators that a character has been hiding in the vault for years, and supposedly would only come out for Walt Disney himself. Unfortunately, Walt had passed away some time ago, so there was no way to prove this abandoned character existed.

In Walt Disney's absence, Mickey Mouse, the idol of the Disney company, had taken over the business of releasing cartoons. He tried his hardest to follow the ideals of his creator, with the theme parks, cartoons, and stories being released to the public and plenty of other things bearing the Disney name. As the mouse noticed that people seemed to like the idea of things from the past, he decided it might not be a bad idea to release some old cartoons, with a few revisions to appeal to the modern masses. While plenty of people were willing to volunteer to search the vaults for such ideas, Mickey himself wanted to go and look. As he approached the door, he thought he could see a silhouette moving across the small window. This frightened him, of course, but at the same time made him curious.

He opened the door and started looking through some of the papers stacked inside, trying to find an idea they could tweak and release when he suddenly heard something that sounded like... crying. He quickly turned around and called out. "Hello?"

The crying came to an abrupt pause, as he saw a little bit of movement in the corner and a small, choked-up voice called back. "W-Walt? Is that...?" Mickey approached the figure as it spoke, only to have it pause and turn its head. "Oh... it's just you..." Whoever this was, they didn't sound too happy to see the mouse.

As Mickey got closer, he finally saw the form of a rabbit, in an animation style very similar to his own. "Uh..." He gave out a nervous laugh, unsure of what to say. "I-I'm sorry, but... who are you?"

Somehow, this one simple question made the rabbit very upset. He jumped up and blurted out, "Who am I? I'm Oswald the Lucky Rabbit! I'm your predecessor, gosh-darn it!" It only took him a moment before the rabbit backed down, going back to his sitting position with his arms across his knees. "I'm sorry. I just... I guess it's understandable you don't remember me. Nobody does. No one but Walt, anyway. He's the only reason I still exist."

This struck Mickey right in the heart. He had a connection with Walt as well, one that was hard to break. But to say Walt was the only reason he existed was a little extreme. He shook off the thought and tried to keep a smile on his face. "It's alright, you're probably just stressed. What did you say your name was?"

The rabbit was reluctant to answer, but he did. "... Oswald." Now that Mickey had a better look at him, he could understand why Oswald claimed to be his predecessor. They had very similar designs, even down to the clothes they were wearing. The main difference was that they were different animals. Suddenly, Oswald perked up a little, Mickey could practically see the light bulb going off in his brain. "Hey, you have connections with Walt, don't you? Being the symbol of the company and all, I'm sure you guys are close. Think you could talk him into visiting the vaults? Just so I can see him again..."

Again, Mickey felt his heart sink. He was close with Walt, but how to break the news to Oswald...? Jeez, how long had this lucky rabbit been in here? "Oswald... I-I'm sorry, it hurts to say this, but... Walt's been dead for quite some time now."

"What?!" was the rabbit's instant reaction. "N-no, no. He can't be dead. He has to be alive, otherwise, I wouldn't exist. I can't live without someone remembering me, that's how forgotten cartoons work. Walt was the only one who ever remembered me! He can't--" He cut himself short as he started looking at his hands in a panic, then was confused as to why he wasn't fading away.

Mickey tried to smile and kneeled to meet Oswald's eye level. "Maybe there is someone who still remembers you. I don't know who, but if you're still here then there has to be someone."

Oswald simply shook his head in denial. "I've been locked in this vault for years. There can't be anyone left alive who still remembers me."

As Oswald's head drooped, Mickey looked around the vault and got an idea. "What if we started making new memories of you?" Oswald looked up at him suspiciously, but a certain gleam in his eyes let Mickey know he was interested. "I came into this vault looking for old cartoon ideas that could be tweaked a little to show on television. You and I could come up with something together, starring both of us. We could share the spotlight!"

The rabbit's expression only changed to one of jealousy. "Share the spotlight? With you? Right. You know you're the reason I've been in here so long, right? Through that window, I watched you make a name for yourself. It barely even took a day! One day, the usual bleak view of the offices. The next day, Mickey Mouse posters were everywhere! Once you started taking over, despite Walt's promises, no one came back here to get me." He started to tear up, which only made Mickey feel strangely discouraged.

But the mouse took a deep breath and kept his voice gentle. "I'm very sorry. I never knew Walt had any forgotten characters. But if you help me, even with just this one project, I'll do my best to make it up." He smiled and extended a hand, hoping Oswald could forgive him.

He was hesitant, but after a minute the rabbit accepted Mickey's hand, and the two stood up. Once they were up, Oswald released Mickey's hand and started towards the stacks of paper. "You know, being locked up in here alone, I typically don't have anything better to do than read these old cartoon plots. Some of them are pretty good. They just need a little reworking and we can put them on television." Mickey felt a genuine smile come to his face. Seemed the rabbit was already warming up.

Mickey returned to the main department, with a few papers in hand and Oswald hiding behind him. As one of the animators asked what he had found, Mickey laughed and replied "Well, maybe not so much a 'what,' but more of a 'who.'" With that, he stepped aside as Oswald pulled a cheery little pose, wide smile, arms out to the sides, and one foot propped up on the heel. Mickey laughed and introduced him. "This is Oswald, the character rumored to hide in the vaults. He's going to be helping us on the new projects, and we plan to share the spotlight." Oswald still seemed a little turned off by the way Mickey said they'd 'share the spotlight,' but he remained silent and tried to keep a smile on his face for the animators. They seemed happy to meet him, and Mickey was certainly happy to help, so why spoil any of it?