Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was Walt Disney's first real success. He was popular across the states (even in other countries!)! For a whole year Oswald was in the spotlight, having toys of him sold everywhere, and people KNEW WHO HE WAS! Then in September 1928, something happened with Walt's contract and he left Oswald behind, with Oswald's popularity leaving with him. Over the next few years, Oswald lost pretty much all of his fame before being phased out of shorts in the early 1930s. And I relate that story to my own pipeline of 'Kid who's whole family treats them as if they’re a genius, to shy, nervous trans girl who doesn't even know if someone's being nice to her or not, who's now being called lazy and dumb by the same people who called her "gifted" and "genius" LESS THAN FIVE YEARS AGO!. It's a similar thing. Going from being loved and treated like you can do anything to being completely ignored in such a short amount of time does things to a person, things that can't be fixed by 'talking it out' (or in Oswald's case 'trading you for a human being'). It's not as simple as that. I think that's why I relate to (and feel protective) over Oswald so much, we have similar histories, and we feel the same about it. Bitter, and kind of embarrassed.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit represents the forgotten, the underdogs, and the overlooked, and I love him for that.
