Walt Disney’s first cartoon creation just returned to the Walt Disney Company. Guess Robert Iger just got a few more credibility points in Disneyana’s eyes, eh? Apparently, he traded Al Michaels, a sportscaster (not like I would know), to NBC, who inherited the rights to develop Oswald when they bought Universal Studios. Isn’t this fantastic? As a Disney fan, I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard the story of Oswald. He was Walt’s first cartoon character creation when he was just starting out in Los Angeles. Just as he was ready to go solo with “his creation”, the company he was working for (Universal Studios) laughed at him and kicked him into the street…sans Oswald. He had signed away his first character without realizing the consequences. Of course, this led to Walt taking that historic train ride on which he invented Mickey Mouse… but many wonder (not me, I probably would have loved either one if I had grown up with it…it’s the Oswald the Rabbit Club! Nope, doesn’t quite roll off the tongue the same way) whether or not Oswald had the potential to be as big a star as Mickey is now. But that’s a side issue…the fantastic thing is how Robert Iger is shining as a true star in his new post of CEO.

The first to break the news was the LA Times in yesterday’s paper. Also, Jim Hill Media delivers Jim’s story of what really went down as Iger made this reacquisition.