Al Michaels traded for Oswald the lucky Rabbit

[KNWVIKING]

****" In exchange for letting Michaels out of his contract with ABC and ESPN, which are owned by The Walt Disney Co., NBC Universal sold ESPN cable rights to Friday coverage of the next four Ryder Cups, granted ESPN increased usage of Olympic highlights and sold to The Walt Disney Co. the rights to "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit," a character in silent cartoons made by Walt Disney from 1927-28. " ***

Maybe not the right place to post this........ but I don't care ;-)

Disney regaining the rights to OtlR could be huge for them. I'm very curious to see what they do with it.

[lllovell]

Ok - someone get me some clips of this rabbit! Stat!

(I am so clueless when it comes to older comic/cartoon characters)

[PoohsPal]

That is so cool. What a great thing for what was really Walkt's first big hit to get back into Disney hands again!

I think I'm gonna' move this to news & rumors, though.

[dvcconvert]

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/dvcconvert/oswald1.jpg


Disney trades announcer for ... rabbit?
Deal sends Al Michaels to NBC for lost cartoon character

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- A 61-year-old sportscaster for a 79-year-old animated rabbit?
Such are the deals being made these days in Hollywood as new Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger indicated that his company would be extending another olive branch within the entertainment community.
This time, Iger is trading "Monday Night Football" sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC Universal for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a cartoon character that was the predecessor to Mickey Mouse.

It doesn't stop there, though, as Disney's ESPN gets the rights to broadcast Ryder Cup golf, extended Olympics highlights and various cross-promotion deals.
Michaels told ESPN last month that he wanted to move over to NBC with colleague John Madden to do that network's Sunday-night football broadcasts. Under a new National Football League licensing agreement, ESPN will give up its Sunday broadcasts to NBC and take over the popular Monday-night games from its sister network, ABC.
Michaels and Madden had been broadcasting the games on ABC since 2002. Michaels, a 30-year veteran of ABC who also broadcasts National Basketball Association games, has been the Monday play-by-play man for 20 years.
He had said in July that he would join the ESPN broadcasting team and signed a contract in November, but Michaels changed his mind in January, according to ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys.
The cable network let Michaels out of his contract in relatively short order, Soltys said. "Once [Michaels] said that [he wanted to switch], we quickly moved in another direction on both the NFL and NBA," he added.
ESPN's Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser will take over the Monday-night broadcasts.
The deal primarily was negotiated between ESPN and NBC, but Disney executives got involved when they sought to gain rights to Oswald.
Early inspiration
The rabbit was a creation of company founder Walt Disney's in 1927, and the source of 26 cartoons that he produced for Universal Studios. Disney discovered, however, that Universal wanted ownership of Oswald, so he set out to create a new character. That gave birth to Mickey Mouse.
Disney did not spell out what it planned to do with Oswald -- whether the character will be revived and marketed in some fashion.
But the deal does suggest that Iger's early tenure will be marked by détente. After taking over from the mercurial Michael Eisner last year, Iger has mended fences with dissident shareholders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, and patched up relations with animation partner Pixar enough to forge a merger pact between the two companies.

This latest deal returns a long-lost character that some in the Disney family had cherished.
"When Bob was named CEO, he told me he wanted to bring Oswald back to Disney, and I appreciate that he is a man of his word," said Diane Disney Miller, Walt Disney's daughter, in a statement. "Having Oswald around again is going to be a lot of fun."
In addition to the Olympics and Ryder Cup rights, ESPN will be able to promote its Monday-night games on NBC's Sunday games through 2011. It also gets expanded video-highlight rights from NBC Sports properties through 2011.


:)

[Pumpkinboy]

The Oswald bit sounds like one of those extras at the end of the discussions. I can;t imagine there was a lot of cash value there, but there is certainly sentimental value for the Company (and none for it at NBC Universal).

Hey, maybe they'll add an Oswald to the cartoon reel at the resorts - not likely given the bawdy nature of 1920s cartoons. But I still love the Mickey black & white shorts "The Gallopin' Gaucho" in which Mickey smokes, drinks beer :ale:, rides a drunken Emu and fights, and Mickey in "The Chain Gang" in which Mickey spits and does other low life stuff.

[KNWVIKING]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]The Oswald bit sounds like one of those extras at the end of the discussions. I can;t imagine there was a lot of cash value there, but there is certainly sentimental value for the Company (and none for it at NBC Universal).COLOR]

I disagree. I think millions of Walt fans would be more then willing to spend $$$ hand over fist to buy plush,t-shirts,DVD's, snowglobes,etc... just because Oswald is just as much a part of Walt as Mickey is, maybe even moreso.

It's the first true Walt item to become availible to the public in 40 years.

If done right, Oswald could be a goldmine.

[dvcconvert]

It's the first true Walt item to become availible to the public in 40 years.

If done right, Oswald could be a goldmine.


I agree! :)

Edited to say--actually Destino proably wins the title of first Walt original made available to the public in years - Thanks Roy! :)

[Colorado Belle]

Goodness me, you mean I might have to change my signature to read:

It all started with a RABIT???????:jumpingbe

[withdisneyspirit]

I just LOVE this story!!! It really speaks to the Disney lover in me:loveisint So far, Iger has already made points with me! When DH and I visited Walt's One Man's Dream attraction last July, I really got again how much Oswald meant to him and how bad it must have hurt to lose him!!! This news is just soooo cooool:jumpingbe

[Pumpkinboy]

I disagree. I think millions of Walt fans would be more then willing to spend $$$ hand over fist to buy plush,t-shirts,DVD's, snowglobes,etc... just because Oswald is just as much a part of Walt as Mickey is, maybe even moreso.

It's the first true Walt item to become availible to the public in 40 years.

If done right, Oswald could be a goldmine.Sure, the True Blue Disney fans are gonna want Oswald. But it's just not on the same level of Mickey, or Cinderella; and not even up to Clara Cluck or Horace Horsecollar (two of my fav' old Disney characters). I don't think there is a broad market out there for a 79 yr old, silent movie cartoon character. It will be a niche offering, and those of us who love old Disney stuff (myself included) will buy plenty of the stuff, but there aren't all that many.

But you are right that this was more of a deliberate request than an afterthought. I think Oswald was certainly the most newsworthy portion of the deal. Oswald is certainly worth more in the Disney family than it is to NBC/ Universal (haven't seen them producing any DVD collections after all).