An anime historian has found that he holds he is an unofficial keeper of a Disney cartoon which has been lost for over 70 years.

The two-minute short featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a precursor to Mickey Mouse is one of the seven lost films owned by Disney.

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According to Yasushi Watanabe, the owner of the film originally called Neck and Neck, he bought it from a toy wholesaler for ¥500 when he was still a teenager. Now 84, the cartoon remained with him for 70 years.

He didn’t realise the treasure he held until he read the book, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons, written by Disney animator David Bossert and published last year.

“As I’ve been a Disney fan for many years, I’m happy that I was able to play a role,” he told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is Disney’s first character to have a series.

 

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