I noticed a couple of trips ago to Disney's California Adventure that Ortensia the Cat -- Oswald's wife -- was on sale in plush form at the Oswald's Service Station gift shop just inside the front gates.
That's right... inter-species love in Disneyland Resort, years before Nick and Judy got together in Zootopia. (Though, honestly, the depth of their relationship has yet to actually be revealed. I am sure there is plenty of furry fan-fiction that has other ideas...)
Back when Disney still owned the rights to Oswald, he had an occasional cat girlfriend who was usually unnamed onscreen, though she was known as Sadie in the 1928 short (now considered lost) Sagebrush Sadie. You could consider her the first draft of Minnie Mouse. Oswald fought with Pete (aka Pegleg Pete) over her in some of the cartoons. In one short, Poor Papa, they were married and had 420 kids running around the house.
When Oswald got stolen away from Walt, so did Sadie, and she appeared in some of the later shorts produced separately by Charles Mintz and Walter Lantz. In those shorts, she was often called Kitty and Fanny.
But when Disney got Oswald back a few years ago, they also gained his girlfriend/wife. When Oswald made his grand, modern debut in the Epic Mickey video games, Sadie is fully established as Oswald's wife, and has been given a new name -- Ortensia -- to tie in with the Disney tradition of alliterative names in cartoon couples. And the Bunny Children? They are seen roaming about inside Epic Mickey 1 and Epic Mickey 2, and are often involved in gameplay.
I am not sure if the Bunny Children will show up in the gift shops anytime soon. I guess they are actually Bunny/Cat Children, but I don't think Disney is ready to cross that bridge on a fully public level yet. But I am quite happy to see Ortensia in the parks, mostly because it gives me more Oswald memorabilia to collect.
1 comment:
Interspecies love!
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