Rare Character Finally Makes His Disney Park Debut

The latest in what seems like a never-ending list of Disney celebrations is upon us: Disney100.

Marking 100 years of Disney magic, this celebration kicked off in Disneyland in January and is now slowly making its way across Disney Parks worldwide. Its latest stop? Shanghai Disneyland Resort.

Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016, making it Disney’s newest theme park. Ironically, it’s now home to Disney’s oldest character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who just made his Chinese meet-and-greet debut as a part of Disney100.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Disney have a complicated history. Once upon a time, Oswald was the OG mascot of the Walt Disney Company (then known as Walt Disney Studio). Walt and his animation team oversaw the production of 26 Oswald shorts, all distributed by Universal Studios.

When Walt asked for a raise, Universal instead offered a pay cut –revealing that they actually owned the rights to Oswald. Walt refused the cut, Universal swiped the character and some of his best animators from under his nose, and Walt Disney Studio was left to come up with its next big thing (who, thankfully, turned out to be a pretty lucrative mouse).

Disney retrieved the rights to Oswald in 2006, with the character making sporadic appearances in Disney California Adventure, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland ever since. Now, in the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Rabbit, he’s found a new home in Shanghai Disneyland.

As of April 10, Oswald is available to meet Guests on Mickey Avenue – Shanghai Disneyland’s equivalent of Main Street, U.S.A.

The Resort announced his arrival on Instagram, where they shared footage of his welcoming ceremony in front of the Park’s Storytellers Statue (which, fittingly, depicts Mickey with Oswald’s star-crossed creator, Walt Disney himself).

Shanghai Disneyland is currently in the middle of its Springtime Splendor celebration, running from March 1 to May 31, 2023. This sees the Park filled with a “breath-taking display of blossoming blooms” and the addition of several other new characters, including Mei Lee from Pixar’s Turning Red (2022) and Winnie the Pooh and friends in adorable, spring-ready, ice cream-themed outfits.