Long-lost Disney silent film featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is rediscovered in British archives
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| An image from Sleigh |
A long-lost Disney silent film from 1928 featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit has been rediscovered in the British Film Institute’s National Archives, the BFI announced.
The film “Sleigh Bells” was made by Walt Disney and legendary animator Ub Iwerks.
The six minute film was found by a researcher browsing an online catalogue, the BFI stated. The Walt Disney Animation Studios took the film print and created a new print and digital copies.
“What a joyful treat to discover a long-lost Walt Disney film in the BFI National Archive and to be able to show Sleigh Bells to a whole new audience 87 years after it was made,” Robin Baker, head curator of the BFI National Archive said.
The movie premiere will be held Dec. 12, 2015 at BFI Southbank in London, UK.
Disney and Iwerks created Oswald after Disney signed a contract with Universal Studios. The first Oswald cartoon was “Poor Papa,” but was rejected by the head of Universal Studios who thought the production was poor. Disney created a second short and it took off. Universal owned the rights to Oswald. The Walt Disney Company purchased the character back in 2006.
