Walt first struck animation gold when he co-created the hit character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt seemed well on the road to success until Universal Pictures, the distribution company behind Oswald, started to play hardball. They demanded Walt work for a reduce fee. When Walt refused to settle for less, Universal kicked him to the curb. Walt wanted to bounce right back after losing the rights to Oswald. He came up with the idea of creating a character based on his pet mouse. The best name Walt could come up with for his new creation was Mortimer. Luckily, Walts wife, Lillian, recognized the name for the stinker it was and came up with a more appealing name: Mickey. Walts initial design for Mickey also needed some tweaking before it was ready to print. Walts partner Ub Iwerks touched up Mickeys design, giving Mickey his now iconic appearance. Mickey went on to achieve a staggering level of international fame. Walt would probably want us to forget that he almost ruined one of the greatest characters ever by giving him a name no one could possibly like. He would also probably prefer that we forget Universal swindled Oswald away from him. However, Walts missteps wouldnt end there.
