I was reading a book (Kingdom Keepers) they mentioned in there that Oswald the Rabbit was Walt Disney’s first animated character. Also, If you type in ‘Walt Disney’s first animated character’ into a search bar, Oswald Rabbit comes up.
Why isn’t Julius the Cat, a Disney character that predates Oswald by 5 years considered Disney’s first character. Pete also predates Oswald by 2 years, of course an argument could be made against Pete as he was originally depicted as a bear, before becoming a cat.
Because Julius looks exactly like Felix the cat. Since they don’t want to get sued by the people who made Felix, Disney went to make Oswald at universal studios, and thus, Oswald is born.
There’s a reason why Julius looks like Felix, (I’m quoting from wikipedia) " Julius’ similarity to Felix was not accidental, but due to Margaret Winkler urging the reluctant Disney to copy him. She had been the distributor for Felix the Cat, but was constantly fighting with Sullivan, eventually leading to a split, so she turned to Disney to fill the void."
Even if they can’t use him, they could still recognize him as Disney’s first Animated character