Nowhere is this more apparent than after his first major setback. As has been recounted often this past week, Walt Disney's first successful animated character was not Mickey Mouse, but a mischievous rabbit named Oswald. Eager to get his rabbit out on America's movie screens, Walt Disney put his trust in the people who distributed his cartoons. This trust would prove to be misguided; not only did they take his only character away from him, but most of his animation staff as well.

Defeated and betrayed, nobody would have faulted Walt Disney if he had decided to leave the entertainment world behind forever and concentrated on getting a safe, secure "real job". But we're talking about Walt Disney- someone who took risks as a matter of course. As he would later comment:

"All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

Walt used what would have been the most devastating event of his young life and made the daring decision to keep following his dreams. Rather than dwell on the cards fate dealt him, he saw the bigger picture- that the same talents that he used to help make Oswald such a huge success could just as well be used to introduce the world to some other animated character.

So little Oswald was taken away and the animators who had betrayed Walt packed up and went to work for their new bosses. Most observers at the time probably figured that Oswald would continue to be a huge success and that Walt Disney would fade into obscurity, a victim of the cruel realities of showbiz. But we know better than that; after all, we're still talking about Walt Disney!

Walt Disney and his smaller crew of animators, including the ever loyal and talented Ub Iwerks, defied expectations by coming up with the biggest cartoon character the world has ever seen- Mickey Mouse! Mickey Mouse quickly became a bigger star than Oswald ever was- an explosive new talent that took the United States and the world by storm. Mickey was proof positive that something amazing could come from the worst of all situations, especially when Walt Disney was involved.

Walt Disney soon found that his life was back on track and just ten years after suffering the huge loss of Oswald, he undertook his biggest project yet- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first feature length animated film. Oswald, meanwhile, became a little known anecdote, especially when compared to his younger brother Mickey Mouse.

Since the first time that I'd read about Walt's misfortune with Oswald, I saw Mickey Mouse's success as a validation of Walt's determination and talent. As far as I was concerned, the chapter of Walt's life as it pertained to Oswald was forever closed. Sure, It would bother me when I would see the occasional reference to Oswald as being the creation of Walter Lantz, who had taken over production of the cartoons after Walt had to give him up, but there wasn't much anyone could do about it, right?

If I had reason to recently feel that maybe, just maybe, things don't turn out well in the end, (sacrilege, I know!) that feeling was dispelled when I discovered that little Oswald was being returned to The Walt Disney Company! What a story- Universal Studios was returning Oswald to his father's company nearly 80 years after they took him away. While some took the opportunity to make light of this news, I was inspired by the idea that anything can happen and wrongs do get righted- even if it might take 80 years to do so.

So welcome back, little Oswald; your return is a wonderful surprise and only appropriate during the current Disneyland celebration, The Happiest Homecoming on Earth! As Julie Andrews says nightly at Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom, "Remember… dreams come true!"