George Bodenheimer, who was president of ESPN at the time, called Disney CEO Bob Iger to break the news that their buzzy new broadcast was losing big names. During the call, Iger reportedly told Bodenheimer that he’d “be willing to let Al Michaels go if you can get us the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from NBC.” Turns out, NBC had owned Oswald, a revered Disney property from the beginning of Walt Disney’s career. He was actually the predecessor to Mickey Mouse, and had been designed for Universal Pictures in the 1920s. Bodenheimer reached out to NBC executives and told them they could have Michaels in exchange for Oswald’s return. They eventually worked out a deal — Michaels went to NBC, and Oswald returned to Disney, where the company threw a parade to welcome the character back.
