Francine "Fanny" Cottontail was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's original love interest, appearing in his earliest cartoons up to All Wet.
Design and personality[]
In her earliest appearances, she was a very conservative and innocent rabbit, very closely resembling the character designs of Ortensia and later Minnie Mouse. Toward the end of her run in her Oswald cartoons, she became progressively more sultry and flirtatious, culminating in her last appearance in All Wet, where she ended up bordering on femme fatale.
Naming[]
Like Ortensia, her name was never clarified to the public in the shorts, only seen on official copyright documents and the book: Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney. Curiously, she was identified as Ortensia herself back when Ortensia was nameless (despite being a different species) in Universal Pictures' official copyright synopsis.[2]
Video games[]
Disney Speedstorm[]
In Disney Speedstorm, Fanny makes her first modern appearance since Oswald's return to Disney, using her full name of "Francine 'Fanny' Cottontail" and sporting a slight redesign similar to concept art from Epic Mickey. Fanny is an Epic Crew Member, and is exclusively usable by Oswald. When equipped, Fanny boosts all of Oswald's stats, increases the power of his Unique skill, and gives him a Shield skill to use at the start of the race. Fanny (as well as any other Crew Member in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Collection) is currently only available through limited-time special events for racers Oswald and Ortensia.
Other Appearances[]
Fanny was originally supposed to be in Epic Mickey, but Ortensia ended up being used in her place.
Fanny under Walter Lantz[]
Fanny reappears in a 1934 Lantz cartoon, "The Candy House", and was reworked to be Oswald's sister instead of his love interest.
Gallery[]
![Fanny as Oswald's bedridden spouse after delivering kids ["Poor Papa" (1927)]](/wiki/File:Fanny_with_her_kids.png "Fanny with her kids.png (329 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Her last name, "Cottontail", might be an allusion to the Easter Bunny, "Peter Cottontail", potentially indicating that she is related to him in some way.
- With the modern uses of Oswald focusing solely on his relationship with Ortensia, it is unknown what his current relationship with Fanny is.
