Back in the very early
days of the
Disney studios, even before
Mickey Mouse existed and the films were not
talkies,
Walt Disney teamed up with a group of animation
uberlegends which included
Ub Iwerks and
Friz Freleng. They began producing short
animations for
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Oswald was the inspiration of
Mickey Mouse. Mickey ended up wearing the big floppy shoes and the two-button
trousers that were part os the Oswald character. Oswald helped the Disney studio get established with a steady
income and
exposure.
Oswald had a touch of the blackfaced minstrel from the burlesque houses. He was a combination of Mickey and Goofy in action. Walt separated the clownish actions into the Goofy character and the straight man was assigned to Mickey. The Disney crew churned out about two Oswald shorts a month. In 1927, The Jazz Singer was released, and the Disney studio jumped on the talkie bandwagon.