Mickey Mouse's predecessor goes on display for first time in 40 years

(CBS/AP) Before Mickey Mouse, there was Oswald. And now, the drawing of one Mickey Mouse's predecessors will see the light of day after being locked away for nearly 40 years.

A rough 1928 image of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of Walt Disney's earliest drawings, was brought out of the archives this week and showcased at an event unveiling "Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two," an upcoming action-adventure game that allows players to control both Mickey and Oswald. Due this fall, the game will be available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

The mischievous Oswald was co-created by Disney before Mickey, but he was lost in a 1928 contract dispute with Universal Studios. Oswald hopped back to Disney in 2006 when CEO Bob Iger brokered a deal that sent sportscaster Al Michaels to Universal-NBC. Oswald's first appearance since his return came in 2010's "Epic Mickey" as the ruler of a forgotten realm.

"We've always known about the character and loved him and wished that we could do things with him, but he wasn't a character that belonged to us," said Walt Disney Company archive director, Becky Cline.

Cline said most of the drawings from Disney's early Oswald cartoons were destroyed, likely because there was a lack of storage when his studio moved to a new facility in Burbank, Calif., in 1939. She said the image of Oswald comes from a box of drawings that was found in the 1970s and has been preserved in the Disney archives for the past 40 years.