[J] Hey, brother!
Ben, the more we upload on this channel, the more into the, just, entire history of animation I get.
Today's video is actually going to be about something entirely different, but
as often is the case, I began investigating one path
and found myself wandering down a completely separate path.
And that path led me to a brand new Easter egg in one of my favorite movies, "Up."
An Easter egg that has been staring us all in the face this entire time,
and that basically suggests that Kevin —
— is actually —
— Mickey Mouse.
[Theme music]
[J and Ben] Hey, brother!
[J] We often give a lot credit to "Toy Story" on this channel for
paving the way for the computer animated paradise we are enjoying now.
A place where we can enjoy lots of different computer animated films, like,
"Shrek," or "How to Train Your Dragon," or "Despicable Me," or
"Frozen," or "Tangled," or "Wreck-it-Ralph," or "Big Hero 6!"
None of which were actually created by Pixar, but
all of which exist because of it.
So, then... what paved the way to "Toy Story?"
Well, you could argue quite a few things, but if you want to continue sort of down this same train of thought,
I might argue "Snow White,"
the very first Disney princess and the very first feature-length animated film.
But what about before that?
Well, before there were full-length animated movies, there were just animated shorts.
These would normally play before the featured picture at the movies,
kind of like the animated shorts before Pixar movies today.
And the undisputed champion of this era,
whether you knew this is where he came from or not,
is none other than the most recognizable character on Earth...
...Mickey Mouse.
But it almost wasn't.
It was almost a different character named, Oswald the Rabbit.
And if you're thinking, "Wow, those two look really similar,"
that's because they were actually both designed by the man himself, Walt Disney.
And actually, Oswald was created first, and was really popular,
which was a big deal at the time, because at the time, animation wasn't really all that popular.
The other "big players" of the day were "Felix the Cat," and "Coco the Clown,"
both of which at that time, had been around for about a decade,
but both of which also found themselves almost immediately in the shadow of Disney's emerging rabbit.
So, then, what happened?
Why do we have Mickey instead of Oswald?
Well, here is were we meet the villain of our story,
and I think you'll agree his name sounds familiar...
Mintz owned and operated Winkler Productions, which was the distribution company for what was then called, "Disney Brothers."
"Disney Brothers?" Pfft. I mean, seems like you missed the real opportunity to put the word "super" in front of that, I'm just saying.
And at first, things were going really well.
Oswald's popularity allowed Disney to grow,
but the economy was a little shaky at the time, this is at the end of the 1920's,
and as time passed, Mintz was less willing to pay the full price for new Oswald cartoons.
In fact, he even had his brother-in-law start hiring away Disney's animators, inviting them to join his studio, instead.
Not cool, man! Not cool.
And here's where things get a little tricky.
Since Winkler Productions had ordered a character from Disney Bros, which eventually turned out to be Oswald the Rabbit,
they were the ones who owned the character, even though they weren't the ones who created it.
And since Mintz had hired away most of Disney's animators after the contract between the two ended,
Disney suddenly found himself without control of his most popular character,
a bare-boned staff, and had lost his biggest client.
But don't feel too bad for him, because if ever there was a case of winning the battle, but losing the war...
...this was it.
Because I'm sure as you all know, the Walt Disney Company is alive and well today,
and I bet you can guess what happened next.
Disney created, in secret, a character to compete with Oswald the Rabbit,
and this time, was careful to trademark the character for himself.
That character was Mickey Mouse, who Disney debuted officially in "Steamboat Willie,"
which just also so happened to be the first ever cartoon to be accompanied by a synchronized soundtrack.
The whole thing went over extremely well with audiences,
and the rest, as they say, is history.
Which brings us back to Charles Muntz and "Up."
The story of "Up" can be interpreted in a lot of different ways, whether
you just think it's the story of an old man getting over his wife,
or an old man's ascent into Heaven, or maybe just an old man going crazy.
But no matter how you slice it, Charles Muntz was hands-down inspired by Charles Mintz.
Although I'm definitely not saying that "Up" was specifically created to tell a
wildly metaphorical version of the Oswald-Mickey battle,
it's hard not to recognize that much like Disney and Mintz,
Carl and Muntz are both fighting over the well-being of a very valuable and/or rare character.
Muntz seeks Kevin for personal glory and money.
While Carl sees him as a representation of freedom and spontaneity.
AKA, his dead wife, Ellie.
He's just happy Kevin exists and wants to protect him.
Or, protect her,
and, or, I guess maybe he does at the beginning, but eventually, he does, so that would mean Carl's a good guy.
So, for the record, just because I can already hear it down in the Towel Section,
no, I don't think Kevin is literally Mickey Mouse.
But, if Muntz is meant to represent Mintz,
then, there's almost no question that at least in some way,
Kevin is supposed to be the Mickey Mouse of that story.
Of course, the real irony of the whole story is that
nowadays, many people see Disney as that giant greedy organization that abuses trademarks and is
buying up all the things you love, like Marvel, and Star Wars, and ESPN.
And, wait for it, because I think this is the hilarious cherry on top of this cake.
As of 2003, Disney once again owns...
...Oswald the Rabbit!
Oh, man! That is what you call a total, and 100% victory, right there!
Ben, my question for you and everybody else is a little bit more serious, today.
I'd love to know what you guys think about Disney like, buying up a bunch of different properties, like this.
Like, is it a bad thing, or is it a good thing? Because, hey, now we get a lot more of those things!
I'm not sure how I feel about it, but let me hear what you guys think in the Towel Section down below.
These socks are amazing!
And a special thanks to these patrons who support Super Carlin Brothers on Patreon!
Guys, thanks for watching, as always. Please leave a like on this video if you haven't already.
and subscribe so you don't miss any future Disney videos.
If you want to see some more stuff about "Up," I recommend you check out this video, here, where we talk about maybe how Carl is crazy,
or check out this video, here, where we reveal who the mysterious Emma Jean is.
Ben, that's all I've got for you today, man. I will see you in another life, brother.