The creator of The Mandalorian, Jon Favreau, is gearing up to bring an old Disney character back into the fold with his next Disney+ TV show, and this return is set to break new ground for the studio. Favreau, who is currently promoting the upcoming theatrical entry The Mandalorian & Grogu, has been juggling projects across Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Studios, and his next animated series is at the heart of one of Disney's most unusual character histories.
During an interview with Spanish outlet Moobys on the press circuit for The Mandalorian & Grogu, Favreau opened up about his upcoming Disney+ series centered on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the character Walt Disney lost the rights to back in 1928 before creating Mickey Mouse. The series, titled Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, will mark the character's first leading role on Disney+ since Disney reacquired the rights to him in 2006.
In the interview, the The Mandalorian creator laid out the premise of the show and confirmed that the animation is being handled at Sergio Pablos' SPA Studios in Spain, the team behind the Oscar-nominated Klaus. He emphasized that the show leans on hand-drawn art, stating that it is "all 2D animation by artists, human artists":
"I'm working on a TV show for Disney+ called Oswald, about a rabbit that Walt Disney created before Mickey Mouse and he lost the rights to that character. So, that character was left in the past and Disney has gotten the rights back and I want to tell a story about him coming out and coming back into the world of Disney. That's going to be next next year... It's being animated here in Spain at SPA... Sergio Pablos' studio. So I came out here and I visited the animation studio. All 2D animation by artists, human artists. It's a beautiful story."
Oswald's Return Is a Big Deal for Disney
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is not just any forgotten Disney character; he's more important than you'd imagine. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created him in 1927, and he starred in 27 animated shorts before Walt lost the rights in a contract dispute with Universal Pictures. This loss directly led to the creation of Mickey Mouse, the character who would go on to define the entire company. For decades, Oswald was outside the Disney machine, owned by another studio and largely untouched by the company that birthed him.
Disney only got the trademark back in 2006, when then-CEO Bob Iger struck a trade with NBC Universal involving sportscaster Al Michaels. Since then, Oswald has popped up in small ways. He showed up in the 2013 Mickey Mouse short Get a Horse!, appeared in the 2023 hybrid short Once Upon a Studio, and got his own hand-drawn short on YouTube in 2022. But Favreau's project is the first time the character will headline his own series under Disney's modern era, which is what makes this such a notable swing for the studio.
When Favreau talks about Oswald "coming out and coming back into the world of Disney," he is describing something pretty rare. Disney rarely loses a character and gets one back. The studio's catalog is built on tight control of its intellectual property, so a homecoming story for a rabbit that predates Mickey Mouse is uncharted territory. In that sense, the show breaks the usual Disney pattern, taking a character locked out of the company for nearly 80 years and finally creating a modern story around him.
The choice of SPA Studios is also an exciting sign that Oswald is in very good hands. Sergio Pablos cut his teeth as a Disney animator on films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Tarzan before founding his own outfit in Madrid. His studio's last big swing, Klaus, earned an Oscar nomination and proved there is still an audience for traditional 2D animation in a market dominated by CGI. Pairing their expertise with Oswald, a character born in the original hand-drawn era, fits the story Favreau is trying to tell. The character also bears interesting similarities to Favreau's Grogu, which is another exciting detail worth noting.
The series will arrive on Disney+ in 2027, lining up with the 100th anniversary of Oswald's debut. It will be a live-action/animation hybrid with Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Ryder Allen leading the live-action side of the cast alongside Amy Sedaris, Steve Martin, Al Madrigal, and Kathryn Hahn, whose appearance is quite historic. For Favreau, this is a major project alongside his ongoing Lucasfilm work, with The Mandalorian & Grogu set to hit theaters this month as the franchise's first big-screen outing in years.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
