Jon Favreau’s OSWALD Series Reveals First Look, New Details, and February 2027 Disney+ Release
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is finally getting the spotlight he deserves, and Disney is going old-school to make it happen.
Jon Favreau took the stage at D23 Friday night and revealed the first look at Oswald, confirming that the Disney+ project will be a three-part miniseries arriving in February 2027.
We also got to see a bit of footage, and from what was shown, this looks like it could be a wonderfully charming return for one of the most important characters in Disney history.
One of the coolest things about Oswald is its approach to animation. Oswald himself is being created entirely with hand-drawn 2D animation, with Disney bringing back a number of animators to help make it happen.
The footage screened at D23 came from the series while it was still in production, but it gave fans a good idea of what Favreau and his team are cooking up.
The first-look image features Oswald standing on Walt Disney’s desk, with the animated rabbit existing inside a real-world environment kind of like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which feels like a perfect fit for a character who comes from Disney’s earliest days.
The series will take audiences through several locations throughout Disney history, including Walt Disney’s actual office. Live-action filming took place at Disneyland roughly a year ago, allowing the production to place Oswald inside spaces that longtime Disney fans will instantly recognize.
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1927, one year before Mickey Mouse made his debut. After a rights dispute in 1928, Universal ended up with Oswald while Walt lost most of his animators.
Faced with having to create something new, Disney and Iwerks developed Mickey Mouse as his replacement. Things worked out pretty well for that mouse.
Oswald remained outside the Disney family for decades before Bob Iger pulled off one of Hollywood’s strangest trades in 2006. Disney reacquired the rights to Oswald from NBCUniversal in a deal that involved sportscaster Al Michaels moving to NBC. Yes, Disney traded a sportscaster for a cartoon rabbit. Hollywood can be wonderfully weird sometimes.
Since returning to Disney, Oswald has gradually become more visible. He has appeared in the Disney parks, played a major role in the Epic Mickey video games, and starred in a 2022 animated short that marked his first new hand-drawn appearance in 95 years.
But Oswald is operating on a completely different scale. This three-part Disney+ series is easily the character’s biggest project yet.
Favreau is writing, directing, and producing the miniseries, and the filmmaker previously confirmed that SPA Studios, the Spanish animation studio behind Klaus, is handling the hand-drawn animation.
The story won’t belong entirely to Oswald, though. The live-action portion follows three middle schoolers played by Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Ryder Allen. The cast also includes Amy Sedaris and Kathryn Hahn.
From the footage shown at D23, it looks fun, playful, and packed with a love for Disney. After spending nearly a century living in Mickey Mouse’s enormous shadow, Oswald is finally getting a major adventure of his own.
Oswald will stream exclusively on Disney+ in February 2027.