A lost Walt Disney Animation Studios cartoon featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from 1928 has reportedly been found in Japan, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- The cartoon is titled “Neck ‘n’ Neck” and a 16mm copy of it was found in possession of anime historian Yasushi Watanabe.
- Watanabe reportedly purchased the cartoon when he was in high school, nearly 70 years ago.
- He only recently learned the significance of the book after reading Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons by David Bossert.
- The film only cost Watanabe￥500 or $4.40 at the current exchange rate.
- The original cartoon was five minutes long, but was cut down to two minutes for the 16mm version sold for home use.
- Watanabe’s copy of the film is currently being held at Kobe Planet Film Archive, one of the largest private film collections in Japan.
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit has had a long, strange history that has seen the character taken over by Universal Studios, only to be returned to Disney nearly 80 years later in a trade for sports commentator Al Michaels.
What they’re saying:
- Watanabe via the Asahi Shimbun newspaper: “As I’ve been a Disney fan for many years, I’m happy that I was able to play a role.”