Oswald the Lucky Rabbit time, Felix the Cat and Krazy Kat. Universal was given the right to name the rabbit and it selected a name out of a hat. The first Oswald cartoon, "Poor Papa", was rejected by the Universal studio heads for its poor production quality and the sloppiness and age of Oswald. Disney, together with Iwerks, decided to create a second cartoon titled "Trolley Troubles" featuring a much younger, neater Oswald. The short, released on September 5, 1927, officially launched the series and proved to be Disney's greatest success to date. The storyline for Poor Papa was reused in a Mickey Mouse
Animated cartoon was "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914) by Winsor McCay. It is considered the first example of true character animation. At first, animated cartoons were black-and-white and silent. Felix the Cat and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit are notable examples. From the 1920s to 1960s, theatrical cartoons were produced in huge numbers, and usually shown before a feature film in a movie theater. Disney (distributed by Pat Powers, then Columbia, then United Artists, then RKO, then independently), Fleischer (distributed by Paramount), Warner Bros., MGM, and UPA (distributed by Columbia) were the largest studios producing these 5- to 10-minute "shorts." Other studios included Walter