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- “When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it's because he's so human; and that is the secret of his popularity. I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse.”
- ―Walt Disney[src]
Mickey Mouse is an animated anthropomorphic mouse created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Mickey is, by far, the Walt Disney Company's most famous character and serves as the company's mascot. Estimated as standing 2' 3" (69 centimeters) and weighing 23 pounds (10 kilograms), Mickey rapidly rose to the pinnacle of American culture, becoming the most popular and recognizable cartoon character in the world and the prime influence of following cartoons.
For over 89 years, he has signified the Walt Disney Company, animation, goodwill, fun, laughter, and most of all Walt Disney himself. It was said by Lillian Disney, his wife, that over the years, Mickey and Walt grew together and were mirrors of each other's personality. They both started off mischievous and cheeky, but as they grew older preferred to step out of the spotlight and observe others work their magic. President Jimmy Carter once said: "Mickey Mouse is the symbol of goodwill, surpassing all languages and cultures. When one sees Mickey Mouse, they see happiness."
Mickey's 3-circle silhouette serves as the logo for most of Disney's subsidiaries, save for the ones that don't carry the 'Disney' or 'Walt Disney' label. Andy Warhol's portrait from The Art of Mickey Mouse used Warhol's famous pop art techniques on the classic mouse.
Background
Personality
- “Mickey's a little bit in your face. Mickey's like, 'Hey! I'm smart, I can do anything, I get into trouble, but I can get out of it... I'm sort of rebellious, you know. I live by my own rules.' He's an adolescent dream, is what he is. Rebelling and making it work, that's Mickey.”
- ―Writer Ron Suskind during the American Experience: Walt Disney special on PBS
Mickey's most widely known traits are his wholesomeness and charisma. In contrast to this, Mickey is also rather mischievous; a scrappy, free-spirited rebel with a head full of curiosity, optimism and slight arrogance, Mickey has a habit of finding himself in a wide array of self-inflicted trouble—sometimes comical[13], sometimes highly consequential.[14] Nevertheless, he is also quick-thinking and crafty and is thus able to save himself from the varying danger, ending out on top in the end. Because of his small size and limited resources, Mickey often relies on his wit to overcome adversity. His craftiness is also put into good use when looking for ways to make life easier for himself, even if he knowingly has to break a few rules in the process, being somewhat of a schemer in this sense.[15]
While his success elevates his ego and drives him to act selfishly at times[16], Mickey is a devoted friend and cares deeply for his loved ones. This is most prominently displayed in his relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Minnie Mouse. The two are shown to be deeply in love with each other, and as such, Mickey has repeatedly gone to great lengths to both ensure Minnie's happiness, and to impress her (sometimes out of insecurity of losing her, as seen in "Mickey Tries to Cook"). While he tries his best to avoid danger at all costs, Mickey will immediately force himself to become a valiant hero when Minnie is put into danger.[17] In these instances, Mickey proves himself to be quite skilled in combat, and his craftiness is, again, prominently displayed. In turn, Minnie is an avid supporter of Mickey and openly returns his sentiments. Though his habit of forgetting special occasions and other important matters annoy her[18], Minnie simultaneously serves as Mickey's better half, bringing out the best of him, even after his own flaws create significant mayhem.
Mickey is also a reliable leader and is well-respected amongst his peers because of this. When put in charge of a production, for example (such as a stage show or the House of Mouse nightclub theater) he tends to be rather professional and composed, even when hecklers and other inconveniences get in the way. Another great example of Mickey's reliability can be seen in various cartoons in which Mickey stars alongside his best friends, the ill-tempered Donald Duck and exceptionally clumsy Goofy. Mickey is able to handle issues fairly better than both Donald and Goofy, as his temper and clumsiness are not as distracting for himself as they are for his two comrades. Though whimsical and childlike in his own right, Mickey's maturity shines its brightest when paired with Donald and Goofy showing that, for all his foibles, he can act as a level-headed "voice of reason" when the situation calls for it. Mickey's selflessness is also highlighted when paired with the two. For example, as seen numerous times with Goofy, Mickey tends to act as a passive friend, as he cares a great deal for Goofy's happiness, and therefore puts up with a fair amount of nonsense for the latter's sake. At times, Mickey can be too caring towards others, which can drive him to disregard his own needs, though he has his limits.[19] This highlights how Mickey is charitable toward both his friends and complete strangers. Empathetic and warm, Mickey will gladly come to someone's aid if they appear to be in need[20], though this can sometimes act as a weakness, specifically when he allows his sympathetic heart to blind his better judgment.[21] In Epic Mickey, Mickey sacrificed his only chance of escaping the Wasteland to save Oswald and Gus, both of whom he had just met. This — among other feats — proved to Oswald that Mickey's nobility was genuine, and in turn, motivated him to work alongside the mouse as an ally.
Mickey's aggression is rather tame overall, but in certain situations, he can be rather explosive and short-fused. When faced with his two most frequent adversaries, Pete and Mortimer Mouse for example, Mickey tends to act irritable and churlish. He is also somewhat relentless when it comes to getting back at them for their harassment.[22] While it is not out of his control, therefore making it a rarity, Mickey has a temper that has been unleashed on occasion, specifically after being annoyed for a prolonged period of time.[23] His temperament is also fairly fragile when a nuisance interrupts him in the middle of a high-stakes job, as he is intolerable of delays, disturbances, and public humiliation.[24] Because of his humbleness and laid-back nature, however, Mickey is usual remorseful after letting his anger get the best of him, and does all that he can to remedy affected feelings, if any.[25] In some cases, instead of outright giving his enemies satisfaction by losing his temper, Mickey would resort to sly pranks and trickery to best his foes—this being a way to one-up them, while also getting in a few laughs at the same time.[26]
In spite of being an anthropomorphic mouse, Mickey has the tendencies to act with his animal nature, including the fact that, being a mouse, he loves cheese. In the television series House of Mouse, Mickey, being a mouse, is made fun of when he is shown to exercise on a hamster wheel and drink from a rodent drinking bottle (like the ones found in a hamster cage). These particular facts seem to only exist in the House of Mouse and haven't been shown again, proving to have been used for brief gags only.
Voice
Disneyland in CinemaScope!
An example of one of Walt's post-1947 performances as Mickey's voice.
A large part of Mickey's screen persona is his famously shy falsetto voice.
Since 1928, Mickey was voiced by Walt Disney himself, a task in which Disney took great personal pride. However, by 1947, Disney was becoming too busy with running the studio to do regular voice work which meant he could not do Mickey's voice anymore (and as it is speculated, his cigarette habit had damaged his voice over the years) and during the recording of the Mickey and the Beanstalk section of Fun and Fancy Free, Mickey's voice was handed over to veteran Disney sound effects artist and voice actor Jimmy MacDonald. (Both Disney's and MacDonald's voices can be heard on the final soundtrack.) MacDonald voiced Mickey in the remainder of the theatrical shorts and for various television and publicity projects up until his retirement in the mid-1970's, although Walt would still reprise Mickey's voice on rare occasions, such as in the introductions to the original 1954—1959 run of The Mickey Mouse Club TV series and "The Fourth Anniversary Show" episode of the Disneyland TV series. Carl Stalling voiced Mickey in The Karnival Kid in 1929. Clarence Nash voiced Mickey in the 1934 short The Dognapper, which would also be the only time that Nash voiced him. Walt was traveling in Europe at the time and was unavailable to record his lines for Mickey. J. Donald Wilson, Joe Twerp, and John Hiestan provided the voice of Mickey in the 1938 broacasts of The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air.[27] Stan Freberg voiced Mickey in the 1954 Disney record album Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party. Alan Young voiced Mickey in An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players in 1974, which would be the first and only time that Alan Young voiced him.[28][29]
1983's Mickey's Christmas Carol marked the theatrical debut of Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse. Allwine, who would serve as Mickey's official voice actor from 1977 until his death in 2009, once recounted something MacDonald had told him about voicing the character: "The main piece of advice that Jim gave me about Mickey helped me keep things in perspective. He said, 'Just remember kid, you're only filling in for the boss.' And that's the way he treated doing Mickey for years and years. From Walt, and now from Jimmy." Allwine was, incidentally, married to Russi Taylor, the current voice of Minnie Mouse. Les Perkins voiced Mickey in two TV specials in the mid-1980s: Down and Out with Donald Duck and DTV Valentine. Pete Renaday voiced Mickey in the 1980s Disney albums Mickey Mouse Splashdance and Yankee Doodle Mickey.[30][31] He also provided his voice for The Talking Mickey Mouse toy in 1986.[32][33] Quinton Flynn briefly filled in for Allwine as the voice of Mickey in a few episodes of the first season of Mickey Mouse Works whenever he was unavailable to record.[3]
Bret Iwan, a former Hallmark greeting card artist, is the current voice of Mickey, having taken over the role after Wayne Allwine's passing. His earliest recordings in 2009 included work for the Disney Cruise Line, various Mickey toys, the Disney theme parks, Disney on Ice: Let's Celebrate!, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. However, despite Iwan being Mickey's current official voice actor, the character's voice is provided by Chris Diamantopoulos in the Mickey Mouse series.
History
Creation; 1928-1930
Mickey's evolution over the years from 1928 to the present.
Mickey was originally created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier star in the 20s and 30s created by the Disney studio. Oswald had been created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Charles Mintz of Universal Studios. In fact, Mickey closely resembled Oswald in his early appearances. However, Disney received an unpleasant lesson when he asked Mintz for a larger budget for his popular Oswald series: in reply, Mintz fired Disney and Iwerks and taken all of Disney's artists to draw Oswald , to which Mintz and Universal owned the rights. From that point on, Disney made sure that he owned all rights to the characters produced by his company. Oswald would eventually return to the Disney fold in 2006 as part of a trade between NBC Universal and Disney, with NBC getting the contract of sports announcer Al Michaels as a compensation.
In order for Walt and his older brother and business partner Roy to keep their company active, new characters had to be created to star in their subsequent animated shorts. One day, during a train ride, Walt desperately wanted to come up with a money-making character to replace the one he lost, Oswald, whom he loved dearly. He had visions of a mouse in the back of his head (he had previously made silent cartoon shorts with animated mice). He wanted to name his new creation Mortimer Mouse, but his wife Lillian Marie Bounds thought the name was too pompous, so she suggested he change it to Mickey Mouse, which he did. (The name Mortimer would later be used for a character who became a new rival for Mickey in one cartoon.) It was said that Walt Disney was influenced by an actual mouse that he almost tamed by feeding it crumbs on his desk at the Laugh-O-Gram Studio.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse (Mickey's flapper girlfriend) debuted in the cartoon short Plane Crazy, first released on May 15, 1928. The short was co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks was also the main animator for this short and reportedly spent six weeks working on it. Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising were credited for assisting him; these two had already signed their contracts with Charles Mintz, but he was still in the process of forming his new studio and so for the time being they were still employed by Disney. This short would be the last they animated under this somewhat awkward situation.
Mickey in his most famous cartoon, Steamboat Willie.
The plot of Plane Crazy was fairly simple. Mickey is apparently trying to become an aviator in emulation of Charles Lindbergh. After building his own aircraft, he proceeds to ask Minnie to join him for its first flight, during which he repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempts to kiss her, eventually resorting to force. Minnie then parachutes out of the plane. While distracted by her, Mickey loses control of the plane. This becomes the beginning of an out-of-control flight that results in a series of humorous situations and eventually in the crash-landing of the aircraft. A non-anthropomorphic cow that briefly becomes a passenger in the aircraft is believed to be Caroline Cow making her debut.
Plane Crazy apparently failed to impress audiences, and to add insult to injury, Walt could not find a distributor. Though understandably disappointed, Walt went on to produce a second Mickey short: The Gallopin' Gaucho. It would not be until Mickey's third, probably most famous, and first sound cartoon Steamboat Willie, that Mickey began to gain the popularity that he has today. The short's original release date - November 18, 1928 - was later declared to be Mickey's official birthday by archivist Dave Smith in 1978.
Mickey in The Karnival Kid, his first actual speaking role.
The twelfth and final Mickey short released during the year was Jungle Rhythm, first released on November 15, 1929. Mickey is seen in a safari somewhere in Africa. He rides on an elephant and is armed with a shotgun. But the latter proves to be problematic. Soon after, Mickey finds himself standing in between of a lion and a bear. Mickey proceeds to play music to calm them down. During the rest of the short, various jungle animals dance to Mickey's tunes. The tunes vary from the previously mentioned "Yankee Doodle" and "Turkey in the Straw" to Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne" (1788), Johann Strauss' "The Blue Danube" (An der schönen, blauen Donau - 1867) and Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii's "Aloha ʻOe" - 1878. This was the first Mickey short to be released during the Great Depression. Mickey's efforts as an entertainer to the jungle can be seen as a representative of a function often credited to him, also to provide relatively cheap but much-needed entertainment to the audiences of the period of Jimmy Durante.
In this era of short cartoons, Mickey was portrayed as a rascally mouse living in a barn-like environment, accompanied by his aforementioned girlfriend Minnie Mouse, as well as his friends Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar among others. He was also regularly faced against the monstrous Peg-Leg Pete, who made his Mickey Mouse debut in Gallopin' Gaucho and would go on to become a recurring antagonist for Mickey, commonly and iconically featured as his arch-nemesis.
1930-1950
Mickey the conductor in The Band Concert.
During this time period, Mickey and the gang were introduced to Technicolor, something that Walt had taken a gamble on for the Silly Symphonies in 1932. Walt didn't want to take a gamble on his most famous creation, the Mickey Mouse series. In 1935, however, Walt felt that Mickey was ready for color. The first of the cartoons being The Band Concert, a short centering Mickey's frustration through a public band concert, with such nuisances such as Donald Duck and a sudden tornado causing havoc throughout the performance, with Mickey trying to maintain composure the entire time. The feedback and profits rocketed so Walt never used Black and White again, not even for his television series (which was filmed in color).
During this time, Mickey's body structure was changed and was given a new look. His round body was replaced by a pear-shaped looking one and his head was changed so his nose was closer to his body. His ears were turned from round to oval and his eyes became more detailed (the pupils smaller, the eye itself outlined instead of partially open).
Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in Lonesome Ghosts.
In his earliest cartoons, Mickey was often mischievous and the cartoons sometimes used outhouse humor. As the series became more popular, Disney decided to change his best-known character into a well-meaning everyman and creating mischief was thereafter left to other characters.
Around this time, Mickey began to star in a series of comedy shorts alongside Donald Duck and Goofy. Some of the most well-known shorts featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy together as a trio include Clock Cleaners (1937), Lonesome Ghosts (1937), and Mickey's Trailer (1938).
During these years, Mickey became a character that audiences could sympathize with. During that time, many mothers were upset at how Mickey's constant rudeness and bullying was starting to rub off on their own children. Walt then turned Mickey into a kinder, hero-type character as opposed to the more anti-hero character that he was in the early years. He became an everyman who could do anything (and usually did). He was turned into a character that people could laugh with, rather than laugh at.
Concept art of Mickey as the sorcerer's apprentice.
Unfortunately, this did not come without repercussions. With his mischievous personality having been reduced, stripping a great deal of his comedy and charm, Mickey's cartoons declined in popularity. Not only this, his everyman nature made it difficult for animators to create gags for shorts, forcing them to remove Mickey from a majority of the upcoming "Mickey, Donald, and Goofy" entries, beginning with the release of 1938's Polar Trappers. To remedy this issue, Disney began development on an elaborate short titled The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which would serve as a comeback for Mickey. Fred Moore, dubbed the "Mickey expert" by Walt, would be brought on to redesign Mickey to allow a broader range of emotion in the character animation. Eventually, however, the short would become attached to a larger project - a full-length feature film - titled Fantasia, which would become Disney's third animated film, following the critical successes of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and Pinocchio in 1940. Mickey's role in the short, as the eponymous apprentice, would become one of the most recognizable roles of his career.
After Fantasia, World War II had taken hold of the studio, with many artists and animators being drafted, thus reducing company resources. The studio forcibly put focus on war-related, propaganda cartoons starring most of the headlining characters, with the exception of Mickey. At this time, Mickey would appear in fewer shorts compared to Donald and Goofy, as animators and storymen had an increasingly difficult time developing new and interesting stories for Mickey to star in; some ideas would even be given to the less-restricted Donald. In a 1949 interview, Walt stated, "Mickey's decline was due to his heroic nature. He grew into such a legend that we couldn't gag around with him. He acquired as many taboos as a Western hero—no smoking, no drinking, no violence." In a 1978 interview, regular Donald Duck storyman Jack Hannah recalled, "I remember many stories were started with Mickey but as soon as they started to rough the mouse up, somebody would come up and say, 'Well, that's more of a Donald Duck story' so they'd turn around and make it a Donald Duck story." The issue would continue to grow for the following years.[34]
Mickey Mouse did continue to appear in a number of shorts throughout the decade, however; one of which included Lend a Paw, which became the only Mickey Mouse cartoon to date to win an Academy Award, having won for Best Animated Short of 1941. In 1947, Mickey made his second appearance in the Disney animated features canon in Fun and Fancy Free, starring in the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment.
1950-2000
After the war was over, Disney shows a great advancement in the animation style. This is probably due to the fact that many of the old animators had died overseas and Disney had to find new ones. These cartoons led the way to the "modernized" style of animation that Disney used from the mid-1950s to the later 1960s. In these years (which were Mickey's final theatrical years) Mickey was given eyebrows in his redesign. Eyebrows will continue to be seen on Mickey's face until the late 1980s and rarely in the early 1990s. In his most recent appearances, Mickey's eyebrows have since been removed.
There were 56 more color cartoons in the original Mickey Mouse theatrical series. The last of which was The Simple Things in 1953, which focused on Mickey and Pluto's day at the beach. Afterward, Mickey's series would receive a thirty-year hiatus.
A 1950s stylized Mickey in the Mickey Mouse Club.
In 1929, Disney created the original Mickey Mouse Club for fans of his character and cartoons, which later formed the basis for a popular 1950's television show (with follow-ups of the same name debuting in 1977 and 1989).
On November 18, 1978, in honor of his 50th anniversary, Mickey became the first animated character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. That same year, Mickey would appear at the 50th Academy Awards ceremony to help announce the winner for Best Short Film (Animated). Mickey would later go on to appear at the Academy Awards ceremonies of 1988 and 2003.
In 1983, Mickey appeared in his first theatrical short since 1953's The Simple Things: Mickey's Christmas Carol, where he played the role of Bob Cratchit, opposite Scrooge McDuck's Ebenezer Scrooge. Seven years later in 1990, he played the starring (duo) role in The Prince and the Pauper, which was screened in front of The Rescuers Down Under.
In 1994, four of Mickey's cartoons were included in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons, which listed the greatest cartoons of all time as voted by members of the animation field. The films were The Band Concert (#3), Steamboat Willie (#13), Brave Little Tailor (#26), and Clock Cleaners (#27).
In 1995, Mickey starred in a new theatrical cartoon short titled Runaway Brain, where Mickey's brain and body get switched with that of a monster who falls in love with Minnie named Julius. This short was originally screened in front of A Kid in King Arthur's Court.
2000-present
Promotional artwork of Mickey and Minnie for Mickey Mouse Works.
Mickey and his friends received a major comeback with the premiere of the Mickey Mouse Works series of shorts in 1999, shepherd by Roy E. Disney (son of Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt). Developed in the style of Disney's golden age of animation, the show was significant in solidifying the aesthetics and environment of the Mickey Mouse franchise; its setting, Disneyville (a city modeled after Mickey's Toontown in Disneyland), would be featured as the quintessential home of Mickey and his supporting cast in all forms of appearances including films, video games, television, and a wide array of marketing material.
Mickey served as the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day of 2005 as part of the kickoff of the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth", celebrating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary.
Artwork of Mickey meeting his predecessor Oswald in the Epic Mickey video game series.
In 2009, Mickey reappeared in balloon form in the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, dressed as the captain in Tugboat Mickey. That same year, Disney Channel premiered a short series known as Have a Laugh!, which is a collection of remastered classic shorts starring Mickey and friends. Also in 2009, Disney began to rebrand the Mickey Mouse character again by putting less emphasis on his pleasant, cheerful side and reintroducing the more mischievous and adventurous sides of his personality, beginning with the video game Epic Mickey.
In 2010, three dozen Mickey statues were used to promote the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which was played in Anaheim, California, adorned with insignias of the teams.
In 2011, Mickey and Minnie were given the honors as Grand Marshals of the 20th Annual Festival of Lights Parade in Chicago.
In 2012, Mickey and the gang starred in the online animated short Electric Holiday.
Paul Rudish's redesign of Mickey and Minnie for the 2013 animated series.
In June 2013, Mickey and his friends were rebranded, once more, with the premiere of a new series of stylized shorts (appropriately titled Mickey Mouse) headed by animator Paul Rudish. The shorts were designed in the style of Mickey's earliest appearances of the late 1920s and 1930s and emphasized the mouse's comedic potential and human flaws while retaining his likeability and wholesomeness. With millions of views on YouTube, the series garnered major critical acclaim, and became a multi-Emmy and Annie-award winner, being praised for its writing, music, and animation. Paul Rudish's take on Mickey has since been featured significantly in the Disney theme parks, merchandise and currently serves as the mascot of Disney Television Animation.
Later that year, on November 27, an all-new short starring Mickey and the gang titled Get A Horse! was shown in theaters in front of Frozen. The short featured archival recordings of Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey and provided the latter with his tenth Academy-Award nomination.
Film appearances
Fantasia
Mickey in his first feature film, Fantasia.
Mickey's most famous role (alongside Steamboat Willie) is in the 1940 film Fantasia. In the film, Mickey appears in a segment called "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". After the segment, he and Leopold Stokowski share a live-action/animated handshake, congratulating each other.
In this role, Mickey is the apprentice of a powerful sorcerer known as Yen Sid. Whilst the sorcerer spends his time conjuring spells and working with his abilities, Mickey merely works more as a servant, carrying buckets up a massive staircase to a well full of water. One night, however, after Yen Sid retires to slumber, Mickey sneaks on the sorcerer's hat, which appears to be the main source of his magic. Having enough of the physical labor, Mickey brings a broomstick to life with his new found magic and orders it to carry on his duties. It's a success, and the little mouse soon falls asleep, dreaming he is the world's greatest sorcerer. At first, he does not realize the broom continues to bring water to the well. So much, that the tower becomes flooded. Mickey tries to stop the broom, but it's no use, and the mouse is forced to kill it by cutting it to pieces with an ax. After the deed is done, Mickey begins to rest again, but the tiny pieces of sliced wood magically become hundreds of living brooms, and the army continues on with the duty of filling the overflown well with water, soon flooding the entire tower until Yen Sid arrives and puts an end to the chaos. After all seems well, Mickey silently apologizes and is ordered to return to his duties as punishment.
Fun and Fancy Free
Mickey in Mickey and the Beanstalk.
Mickey, Donald, and Goofy live in a once peaceful village called Happy Valley, that became a wasteland after the beautiful singing Golden Harp was kidnapped by a mysterious giant. The friends nearly die of starvation, but Mickey went off to sell their prized cow for food. Instead of a meal, Mickey bought three magic beans from a peddler, which Donald in a fit of anger threw out of the house. The beans then grew into a beanstalk that led to the castle of Willie the Giant who is the kidnapper of the Harp. The three battle the giant to save the harp and restore the peace in their village. They rushed down the beanstalk with the harp, chopped it down once on the ground, and escaped safely. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy became heroes and peace is restored.
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Mickey in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.
In this film, Mickey is lacking in money, preventing him from easily purchasing a chain for Minnie's watch as a Christmas gift. To gain money faster, he and Pluto work extra hard at their job at "Crazy Pete's Tree Lot". However, after ruining Pete's scheme to sell an overpriced tree to a struggling family, Mickey's tip money is stolen by Pete, and the mouse is fired.
With no money, Mickey and Pluto think of a way to make more money, whilst Mickey plays his beloved harmonica. The beauty of Mickey's harmonica playing catches the attention of the Chief of Police who is having a toy drive. However, the band for the drive was unable to perform at the time. The Chief asks Mickey to play at the drive, but Mickey tries to explain that he has no time. Upon seeing the sad face of a child who donates a toy, Mickey decides to play.
Even after his stellar performance, Mickey still has no way to get Minnie her gift. Before Mickey departs, the Chief congratulates Mickey on his performance and tells him that he and his harmonica are something special. This gives Mickey the idea to trade in his harmonica for Minnie's chain. The store owner doesn't accept the offer, however, until he hears Mickey's harmonica playing. Feeling sympathy for the mouse, the store owner goes through with the trade.
At Minnie's, the couple exchanges the gifts and it turns out that Minnie traded her watch for a case for Mickey's harmonica. The couple then realizes that each other are all the gifts they'll ever need. In the finale, Mickey and Minnie join the other characters for Christmas carols.
Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers
Mickey in Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers.
When Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto were children, they were street urchins who were attacked by the nefarious Beagle Boys. Suddenly, three heroic musketeers came to the rescue. One musketeer even gave Mickey his hat as a gift. From that day on, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy dreamed of becoming musketeers, but even as they became adults, they were still just as far from their dream as ever. Now, they serve as janitors for real musketeers, but still keep the dream alive by daydreaming of how great the musketeer life would be.
However, Captain Pete constantly bashes the trio by telling them they'll never be musketeers because Mickey is too small, Donald is a coward, and Goofy's too dumb. Unbeknownst to the trio, Pete is actually plotting to kidnap Princess Minnie Mouse, and take over France as king. To do so, he hires the Beagle Boys to kidnap the princess, but they fail. Out of fear, Minnie demands musketeer bodyguards and Pete hires Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, believing they'll do a terrible job. On their first day, the trio rescues Minnie and her lady-in-waiting Daisy, from the Beagle Boys in yet another kidnap attempt.
After the rescue, Mickey and Minnie fall in love. Meanwhile, Pete plots to get rid of the trio after he realizes they're more trouble than usual. Goofy is lured away from Minnie's castle by Pete's lieutenant Clarabelle and Donald is kidnapped by the Beagles but he is able to escape. When he does, he heads back to the palace to warn Mickey. Mickey attempts to have Donald help him take down Pete, but the duck is too afraid. Donald quits and leaves France, while Pete kidnaps Mickey.
He takes Mickey to Mount St. Michael. There, he is imprisoned in a chamber that will flood with high tide, drowning Mickey. Fortunately, Goofy is freed by the reformed Clarabelle, and Donald decides to rejoin the force. Donald, Goofy, and Pluto head off to rescue Mickey, which they do just in time. Mickey and the gang head to the opera theater where Pete has already managed to take control. A battle follows and Pete is defeated. Mickey and Minnie then proclaim their love, and the trio is dubbed royal musketeers.
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
Mickey in Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas.
In the sequel to Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, Mickey is first seen attending Minnie and Daisy's ice skating tournament with Donald. Later on, Mickey is planning a big Christmas party for everyone to enjoy. Although Minnie would rather have him do something simple, Mickey goes ahead and decorates excessively with an animatronic Santa Claus, a moving train set around the Christmas tree, and much more. While on the phone with Minnie, Pluto accidentally ruins the decorations. With all the decorations destroyed, Mickey has no choice but to go out and get new decorations. Before he leaves, he grounds Pluto and sends him to his dog house. After Mickey departs, Pluto runs away and finds himself at the North Pole, where he's adopted by Santa's reindeer.
Meanwhile, Mickey has returned to redecorate the house. Unlike the previous decorations, these are simpler. After the finishing touches were complete, Mickey went to the dog house to apologize to Pluto for his anger, wanting Pluto to place the star on the tree. Instead of Pluto, Mickey finds his discarded collar, and spots paw prints on the snow, heavily indicating that Pluto has run away. In a panic, Mickey calls Minnie for help and heads out to find his pal. He spends the entire day hanging up posters around the city. During the night, Mickey visits Santa Claus, who is having a meet-and-greet session, and tells him that all he wants for Christmas is Pluto back. But this is no ordinary department store Santa, this is the real deal.
Mickey returns home, with all hope lost. Suddenly, Pluto pops up on the roof of the house and rushes down to Mickey's arms. Just as the two begin to reunite, a snow plow truck that nearly ran into Mickey earlier rushes into the front yard of Mickey's house. The driver turns out to be Goofy, accompanied by Max, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Minnie explains that Scrooge purchased a snow plow company to help find Pluto. Overjoyed with his friends being there, Mickey invites them in, and they all sing Christmas carols to celebrate.
Cameos in other movies
Mickey's cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Mickey would make a cameo in the film alongside other cartoon characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He makes a notable appearance skydiving with Bugs Bunny and later at the end leading the other toons into the human world to Roger Rabbit.
In Oliver & Company, Fagin was shown to have a Mickey Mouse watch.
In The Little Mermaid, Mickey made a cameo with his friends, Donald and Goofy at the beginning of the film, in the crowd of merpeople who were waiting for the concert of Ariel and her sisters. They can be briefly spotted before King Triton illuminates the coral chandelier.
Mickey made three cameo appearances in A Goofy Movie, first seen in the audience of students at Max's high school's assembly, then hitchhiking with Donald Duck during the song "On the Open Road", and finally as a member of the crowd at the Powerline concert. A Mickey Mouse phone was also seen in Max's room in the film's opening. Mickey is also mentioned during the climatic events of An Extremely Goofy Movie.
In Toy Story, a Mickey Mouse wall clock can be seen in Andy's bedroom.
Mickey with James Levine in Fantasia 2000.
In Fantasia 2000, Mickey starred in the same short, as well as a brief live-action/animation scene with James Levine to introduce Donald and Daisy's segment, Pomp and Circumstance.
Mickey makes a cameo in the end credits of the Teacher's Pet film. He is shown posing with the Helperman family in a photo of a trip they took to Walt Disney World.
In The Lion King 1½, Mickey makes a brief, non-speaking cameo in the form of a silhouette during the film's finale, joining a cast of various other Disney characters as they prepare to watch the movie all over again.
In Chicken Little, Melvin was shown to have a three-eyed Mickey Mouse watch.
In Wreck-It Ralph, a billboard with artwork of Mickey can be seen in the background of Litwak's Arcade.
In Frozen, a Mickey plush can be seen in the stocks of Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna whilst Princess Anna is gathering her winter wear.
In Saving Mr. Banks, Mickey is commonly mentioned and alluded to by Walt Disney, significantly during a scene where Walt confesses he was once offered a large payment in exchange for Mickey's rights, and although he had no money to his name, his love for the mouse prevented him from taking the offer stating:
- "I've fought this battle from her side. Pat Powers, he wanted the mouse and I didn't have a bean back then. He was this big terrifying New York producer and I was just a kid from Missouri with a sketch of Mickey, but it would've killed me to give him up. Honest to God, killed me. That mouse, he's family."
In Zootopia, a plush of Mickey is seen in a stroller passing Nick Wilde and Finnick.
Television shows
Walt Disney anthology series
Mickey in Mickey's 60th Birthday.
Mickey was regularly featured in the series, portrayed as a good friend and partner of the show's host, Walt Disney himself, as well as an acclaimed actor for the company.
Mickey was commonly the primary focus of a few episodes but was also heavily featured in episodes centering Donald (much to the duck's dismay), Goofy, Jiminy Cricket, and others. Some of these episodes include On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends, A Ranger's Guide to Nature, Four Tales on a Mouse, The Donald Duck Story, From All of Us to All of You, The Goofy Success Story, and many others.
Throughout the years, various specials celebrating Mickey's success and history also aired, mostly centered around the mouse's birthday, including Mickey's 50 and most notably Mickey's 60th Birthday, where the story revolved around Mickey Mouse mysteriously disappearing during the anniversary of his debut, resulting in worldwide catastrophe and despair.
The Mickey Mouse Club
Mickey was the mascot for the show and scene in the opening theme song with him as the club's leader. Mickey was dressed in a marching band outfit.
The Mouse Factory
Mickey made recurring appearances in the live-action wrap-around skits alongside the other costumed characters and celebrity guests.
Mickey Mouse Works
Mickey with Pluto in Mickey Mouse Works.
Mickey was the star of the series similar to his classic cartoons. Mickey usually got into problems out of his own mischievous attitude. Mickey had his own 90-second cartoon segments entitled "Mickey to the Rescue" in which he would break into Pete's trap-laden hideout to rescue Minnie.
In some episodes, Mickey would be involved in the Ajax business with Donald and Goofy having various jobs often ending in complete failure while in other cartoons might involve him in trying to impress Minnie by going over the top and modern.
Hearkening back to his roots, Mickey was shown to be a trickster in the show, in such shorts as Mickey's Mountain and Mickey's Cabin, usually having Mickey outwit his nemesis, Pete, as they battle each other. He was also reunited with his rival, Mortimer Mouse, for the first time in animation since Mickey's Rival; the two would regularly clash throughout the series, beginning in Mickey's Rival Returns.
House of Mouse
Mickey as the host of House of Mouse.
In Disney's House of Mouse, Mickey is the owner of the eponymous popular night club in downtown Main Street. Mickey strives to keep the club profitable to keep safe from the landlord, Pete while making sure himself is entertaining. Like his previous series, Mickey is mischievous and often gets the club in hot water because of that, such as in the episode "Rent Day", where he spent the club's rent on a large order of cheese.
In Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse, Mickey and the guests are trapped inside the club on Christmas Eve. Mickey suggests they throw a Christmas party at the club. While the guests enjoy themselves by watching cartoons and socializing, Mickey and the employees try to get Donald into the Christmas spirit. With the guidance of Jiminy Cricket, Mickey is able to shed light on Donald, making it a merry Christmas for everyone.
In Mickey's House of Villains, Mickey tries to give his guests a good-spirited spooky Halloween. However, things take a turn for the worst when Jafar rallies the villains together at midnight and kicks him out along with the rest of the staff (trapping non-evil guests in the kitchen) and rename the club the "House of Villains". Mickey tries reasoning with Jafar to get the club back to normal, but to no avail. This forces Mickey to sneak backstage and don his sorcerer robes and hat from his time as Yen Sid's apprentice and take Jafar on in a magical duel. However, he soon loses his hat and becomes disadvantaged as the villains gang up on him, but Aladdin provides a lamp to imprison Jafar, scaring the other villains away and returning the House to normal.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Mickey, as he appears in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Mickey is the host of the computer-animated series in which he uses brains and teamwork to solve problems. Mickey is the leader of the clubhouse gang and often going on various adventures to help and/or save his friends.
In the show, Mickey and the clubhouse gang solve various problems using the viewers help. Aside from leaving on adventures and solving puzzles, Mickey and his friends also go through other problems such as stopping Goofy's Goofbot and Mickey and Pluto spending the day trying to return to solid ground after being trapped in a bubble. Mickey is also the host of the spin-off television series: Mickey Mousekersize. In these shorts, Mickey, accompanied by Toodles, help his friends stay in shape by using exercises to solve their daily problems. Mickey also appeared in the Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving-themed episodes of Minnie's Bow-Toons.
Mickey Mouse
Mickey as he appears in his made-for-TV shorts.
In the animated mini-series, Mickey and his friends are shown having numerous adventures in exotic places around the world, including Paris, Tokyo, New York City, and more. In the series, Mickey retains his rascally persona most prominently featured in the shorts of the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his cartoons revolve around impressing Minnie in one way or another, though the true focus of the episodes revolves around Mickey figuring out comical ways to achieve whatever task is at hand while keeping his lovable nature.
Many episodes focus on Mickey attempting over-the-top methods of wooing Minnie, dealing with Goofy's antics and clashing with Donald's fiery temper and selfishness.
This incarnation features Mickey living either in an apartment in a city or in a suburban home, with an occasional goldfish named Gubbles and Pluto. When shorts are focused in these settings, Mickey tends to take a more down-to-earth approach with things, such as trying to cure Donald of an illness, win a dog show, escape the summer heat or save his goldfish from a hungry cat. At times, though, his adventures can still escalade in his default home, such as the night he ran through the dangerous city streets to save a sleep-walking Goofy, the night he accidentally lost his ears or the time he challenged Pete to a wrestling match, albeit accidentally.
Notably, some cartoons portray him in various roles set around the globe. For example, in "Yodelberg", Mickey is a Swiss mouse who wishes to visit Minnie atop the Matterhorn, but the treacherous terrain may cause such a plan to be difficult. "Tokyo Go" stars Mickey as a Japanese mouse going on an adventure aboard the Tokyo bullet train system. In "O Sole Minnie", Mickey is an Italian mouse struggling to win Minnie's heart.
Mickey and the Roadster Racers
Mickey appears in the animated series, where he and his friends live in a town called Hot Dog Hills, which prides itself in its recurring racing tournaments. Mickey is the head of a local auto garage commanded by himself alongside Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale. Mickey's transforming roadster is known as the "Hot Diggity Hot Rod".
Other television shows
While not having his own starring series in the line-up, Mickey was featured in the opening and closing sequences of The Disney Afternoon block.
Mickey, along with Donald, appear as statues in the sculptor's cart at one point in the Adventures of the Gummi Bears episode "The Sinister Sculptor".
Mickey is mentioned in the Darkwing Duck episode "Comic Book Capers", where Launchpad talks about how Darkwing is starring in his own comic book like Mickey. (Ironically, Mickey's current comic book got canceled right around the time the episode aired.)
Mickey was given a guest spot on Bonkers in "I Oughta Be in Toons". Mickey was kidnapped and was rescued by Bonkers and Lucky Piquel. Throughout the episode, Mickey was never actually seen (except as a silhouette in the first scene of the episode) and only referred to as "The Mouse".
In 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Mickey makes numerous appearances. When the Pups are riding on top of a Subway Train in the first episode; "Home is Where the Bark Is", Mickey's silhouette can be seen as one of the passengers. In "Roll Out the Pork Barrel"; Rolly has a stuffed animal of Mickey Mouse, and in "On The Lamb", one of the trees in the Gruteley Nursery is in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head.
A Mickey Mouse plush can be seen in Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.
Printed material
Comics
Mickey in the very first panel of his newspaper comic strip.
From 1930 until 1950, though the numbers of the comic creators that worked on Mickey increased, the most popular version (considered the "classic" version today) was that of Floyd Gottfredson, who developed Mickey's character, adopted characters from the cartoons and created many others. Since 1950, the most popular version of Mickey has been that of Italian creator Romano Scarpa, who has further developed Gottfredson's characters and has added many of his own. With the inclusion of comic stories added to Mickey's career, a cast of new characters was created, including the Phantom Blot, Chief O'Hara, Eega Beeva, and Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse. Some of these additional characters would go on to make animated appearances in Mickey Mouse media, such as television and a few of the classic shorts.
Kingdom Keepers
Mickey has yet to make an appearance in the Kingdom Keepers books, but it's known he is the leader of the Disney characters and is mentioned by Minnie and Ariel in the fourth book, Power Play. Here, they say Mickey disappeared since an event called the night, when strange noises and some kind of struggle were heard from his house at Mickey's Toontown Fair (this is the "reason" why they closed the land). They also say, there's the possibility that he is in hiding, but the most possible thing is that he has been taken by The Overtakers .
Video games
- Main article: Mickey Mouse in video games
Mickey has starred in many video games, including Mickey Mousecapade on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse, and the Magical Quest trilogy on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse on the Sega Genesis, and many others. Mickey made his sixth generation era debut in Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse, a Nintendo GameCube title aimed at younger audiences.
Mickey is also a major character in the Kingdom Hearts series, taking the role of a king of his world, Disney Castle. However, he is not the protagonist, though does assist the protagonists, being his fellow Keyblade bearers, from time to time.
The first game in the Epic Mickey series, featuring a darker version of the Disney universe, was released in 2010 for the Wii. It centers around Mickey's adventures in Wasteland, a world where forgotten and rejected Disney elements and characters reside, including Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Mickey Mouse appears in his Sorcerer Mickey form at the beginning of Disney INFINITY in the introduction. He is also available as a playable character. He is available in his normal form in the third game, alongside Minnie.[35] The "classic" version has boxing abilities and throwing items, and can summon Goofy, Donald, Pluto, and Oswald. He also has a costume change to turn into King Mickey from Kingdom Hearts. In 2.0 a crystal version of his Sorcerers's apprentice character was made.
Disney Parks
Mickey, posing for a photo in Disneyland.
Ever since Disneyland first opened in 1955, Mickey and the gang have been an important part of the Disney theme park experience. Today, they can be seen everyday in shows, parades, and meet-and-greet opportunities at every Disney theme park, resort, and cruise ship worldwide. Usually dressed in a tuxedo jacket, a yellow bow, long red pants, and black shoes, Mickey is the most requested character in the parks.
Disneyland
At Disneyland Park, Mickey can often be found in Town Square on Main Street USA, as well as in his Movie Barn at Mickey's Toontown. For entertainment, Mickey is seen in almost all of the park's parades as well as in the popular nighttime spectacular Fantasmic!. Mickey often performs with the Disneyland Band as well. He is also the star of the live stage show Mickey and the Magical Map
Over at Disney California Adventure, Mickey can be found on Buena Vista Street for meet-and-greets. Mickey, in his sorcerer outfit, can be seen at the end of the nighttime spectacular World of Color. In the 2015 rendition of the show, as part of the Disneyland Resort: Diamond Celebration, Mickey serves as a co-host, alongside Neil Patrick Harris. An early segment of the show additionally centers the mouse and his career in animated shorts.
Walt Disney World
At the Magic Kingdom, Mickey greets guests inside the Town Square Theater on Main Street, U.S.A. Mickey can also be seen in Mickey's PhilharMagic, Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire, the Festival of Fantasy Parade, and other entertainment offerings. In Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Mickey has two spell cards--"Apprentice Mickey's Broomsticks" and "Mickey's Magic Beans".
Over at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Mickey stars in that park's version of Fantasmic! Rizzo the Rat and Waldo C. Graphic impersonate Mickey in Muppet*Vision 3D. Mickey also greets guests in his sorcerer outfit at Streets of America. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, the first ever ride-through attraction based around Mickey Mouse, is set to open in 2019. The family-friendly dark ride is inspired by the Emmy-Award winning shorts seen on Disney Channel.
At Disney's Animal Kingdom, Mickey hosts meet-and-greets alongside Minnie inside the Adventurers' Outpost on Discovery Island.
At Epcot, Mickey greets guests alongside Minnie, Goofy, and Baymax inside Epcot Character Spot at Innoventions.
Mickey also appears at several character dining experiences throughout the property, including Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort, Ohana at Disney's Polynesian Resort, Garden Grill in The Land pavilion at Epcot, Mickey's Backyard Barbecue at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, and Tusker House Restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Disneyland Paris
In Disneyland Park (Paris) for meet-and-greets, Mickey can be found on Main Street or at the "Meet Mickey Mouse" greeting spot in Fantasyland. A silhouette of Mickey can be seen in the nighttime spectacular Disney Dreams!. Mickey also stars in the Disney Illuminations fireworks show, which showcases Mickey traversing through various Disney films.
Tokyo Disney Resort
In Tokyo Disneyland, Mickey can be found for meet-and-greets at World Bazaar, Toontown, and Westernland. Mickey also stars in this park's version of Mickey's PhilharMagic. For entertainment, Mickey is featured in Minnie Oh! Minnie!, One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!, and all the parades.
In Tokyo DisneySea, Mickey can be found for meet-and-greets at several locations, including Mediterranean Harbor, American Waterfront, and Lost River Delta. For entertainment, Mickey is featured in Fantasmic!, My Friend Duffy, The Legend of Mythica, and Big Band Beat.
Hong Kong Disneyland
In the park, Mickey appears at the Fantasy Gardens for meet-and-greets, as well as starring in Mickey's PhilharMagic. For entertainment, Mickey appears in the Flights of Fantasy Parade and The Golden Mickeys.
Shanghai Disneyland
The opening of Shanghai Disneyland in 2016 saw the unveiling of Mickey's new facial design, which has a more "animated" appearance. The costume was thusly incorporated into the Florida, Paris, and California parks, thereafter.
As far as appearances, Mickey can be seen in Mickey's Storybook Express, and also stars in the Ignite the Dream fireworks show, which showcases Mickey traversing through various Disney films.
Disney Cruise Line
Mickey frequently makes appearances for meet-and-greets onboard the Disney Cruise Line ships.
Mickey is also part of the Oceaneer Lab with the younger children on board. Mickey is also featured in many of the live stage shows performed on the ships, including The Golden Mickeys, Disney Dreams, and Believe. Mickey also joins in on the Sail Away Parties when the ships are sailing away from their ports.
Mickey also stars in the Pirates in the Caribbean nighttime show, where Mickey and friends host a pirate-themed party, only to be attacked by Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and his crew.
On the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, Mickey is featured in the interactive attraction Midship Detective Agency. Mickey, along with Donald and Goofy, team up with different Disney characters to help solve a case. In one of them based around The Muppets, Mickey is on a lunch break, so he allows Pepe the King Prawn to handle cases for him. He later makes a vocal cameo at the end, and his silhouette can be seen through the door. On the same two ships, Mickey can be seen flying Minnie around in their plane in the magical portholes in some of the guest staterooms.
Relationships with other characters
Filmography
Gallery
Trivia
- Mickey Mouse has received ten nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. These are Mickey's Orphans (1931), Building a Building (1933), Brave Little Tailor (1938), The Pointer (1939), Lend a Paw (1941), Squatter's Rights (1946), Mickey and the Seal (1948), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), Runaway Brain (1995), and Get a Horse! (2013). Among these, Lend a Paw was the only film to actually win the award. Additionally, in 1932, Walt Disney received an honorary Academy Award in recognition of Mickey's creation and popularity.
- Mickey's ears always face the same way, no matter which direction he is facing.
- Mickey's size is somewhat inconsistent. The Walt Disney Company's official position is that he is roughly 2 feet and 3 inches tall, as mentioned in this article. However, he is also shown to be the same size as Donald Duck, who, per Carl Barks, is three feet tall.
- Hidden Mickeys are Mickey Mouse's head or full body that can be found in feature films or park attractions. One of the first Hidden Mickeys was three bubbles that made up Mickey's head in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- Mickey's full name was said to be Michael Mouse in the cartoon Symphony Hour, and again in the House of Mouse episode "Mickey and the Culture Clash".
- According to the comic La planète des cerveaux ("The Brain Planet"), published in Le Journal de Mickey #2829, Mickey's full name is Michael Theodore Mouse.
- Mickey Mouse was listed #50 in Empire Magazine's The 50 Best Animated Movie Characters; a list for characters from animated features. The low listing was due to Mickey's lack of critically acclaimed theatrical feature films with the exception of Fantasia. However, the list refers to Mickey as "the world's most famous cartoon character of all time" to make up.
- Being the company mascot and all, many variations of Mickey's silhouette logo have been made such as the Disney Channel, Toon Disney, and Playhouse Disney logos, and more.
- According to Walt Disney, Mickey and Minnie Mouse have never been married on screen. But, in 1933, during an interview with Film Pictorial, Walt said, “In private life, Mickey is married to Minnie... What it really amounts to is that Minnie is, for screen purposes, his leading lady.”
- Mickey's voice actor from 1977 to 2009, Wayne Allwine, was married to Minnie's voice actress, Russi Taylor.
- Mickey was used along with Minnie in a 1930 Aesop's Fables cartoon called "The Office Boy" as well as many others after Walt Disney admitted influence from this cartoon series which had been around even before Mickey was even created. But Walt sued its creator Paul Terry for "plagiarizing" his character which led to Aesop's Fables ending in 1933.
- Wayne Allwine's final performance of Mickey Mouse before his death was in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Because of this, there is a dedication to him in the credits of the English version of the game.
- Steamboat Willie's Mickey makes a cameo appearance as a transformation of Genie's in Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
- Although Mickey is usually shown to have magic powers with the Sorcerer Hat of Yen Sid, it is shown that Mickey can control magic without aid.
- Mickey's first-ever spoken line was "Hot dogs!" in The Karnival Kid (1929). This is a very similar line to one of his catchphrases, "Hot dog!"
- In the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Mickey is often referred to by the Cast Members as the boss or Mr. Mouse.
- In the 2011 Disney/Pixar film Cars 2, two characters named Mama Topolino and Uncle Topolino are tributes to Mickey, as Topolino (meaning "little mouse") is Mickey's name in Italian.
- In 1933, Mickey Mouse received 800,000 pieces of fan mail.
- In Aladdin, Rajah's face turned into Mickey's for one frame when he transformed from a kitten to a tiger again.
- In the anime series Stitch!, Hidden Mickeys are a common running gag being seen in many episodes.
- The original Epic Mickey game showcases Mickey having a certain degree of superhuman strength, being able to break out of metal restrictions.
- In the Pucca episode "Tame That Toon", the classic cartoon version of Garu strongly resembles Mickey Mouse.
- In the popular ABC television series Once Upon a Time, several figurines of Mickey and Minnie can be seen, most notably in Mr. Gold's pawn shop.
- Mickey is the only member of the Sensational Six whose parents have never made a visible appearance.
- Mickey's Social Security number is 746-55-2769.
- In 1945, the producers of the MGM musical Anchors Aweigh wanted Mickey to do a dance number with Gene Kelly and for Walt Disney to animate it. However, the role and dance number instead ended up going to Jerry Mouse of Tom & Jerry fame and was animated by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, who were still making Tom & Jerry cartoons at the time.
- There seems to be a dispute between fans of Mickey that he was named after the late actor Mickey Rooney himself by Walt Disney through his wife Lillian's suggestion. The only reason people say he wasn't is because Rooney didn't mention it until an interview 50 years or so later, seeming he wasn't telling the truth.[36][37]
- In The Wiggles: Live at Disneyland, Mickey as a mascot discovered Australia's children performers The Wiggles who were in a Toontown cable car.
- In the late 1960s, due to the increasing demand for color cartoons on the airwaves, the 1928-1935 black-and-white Mickey Mouse cartoons, much like many other black-and-white cartoons from other studios, were shipped over to South Korea where artists retraced them frame-by-frame in color, causing the degradation in their animation quality and timing. In the early 1990s, The Walt Disney Company created computer-colorized versions of these B&W Mickey Mouse cartoons, which helped preserved the original animation. These digitally-colorized Mickey shorts had aired on anthology shows such as Mickey's Mouse Tracks, Mickey Mouse & Friends, and Donald's Quack Attack on the Disney Channel (and later its sister channel Toon Disney).
- Mickey has over 290 outfits.
- Darkwing Duck comic book writer Aaron Sparrow has noted that he wanted to do a story for the comic that would've had Mickey teaming up with Darkwing to battle the Phantom Blot.[38]
- Co-producer of the 2017 series DuckTales, Frank Angones, campaigned to have Mickey make an appearance in the series, or at the very least be mentioned. However, the Disney executives forbade the team from using Mickey in the show, thus any ideas involving him were denied.[39]
- In 2018, a floral structure of Mickey was added to the Miracle Garden in Dubai in honor of his 90th birthday.[40]
References
- ↑ http://www.intanibase.com/shorts.aspx?shortID=214&studioID=1
- ↑ http://www.disneyshorts.org/shorts.aspx?shortID=214
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://www.mouseplanet.com/9360/A_New_Mouse_Voice_In_Town
- ↑ https://www.mouseplanet.com/8820/Mickey_Mouse_Theater_of_the_Air
- ↑ (2014) The Book of Mouse: A Celebration of Mickey Mouse. Theme Park Press. ISBN 0984341501.
- ↑ http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/spin-special-stan-freberg-records/
- ↑ http://www.mousevinyl.com/content/dickens-christmas-carol-disneyland-records
- ↑ http://disneylandrecords.com/disney-christmas-records/3811/index.html
- ↑ http://voicechasers.com/database/showprod.php?prodid=3382
- ↑ http://bjbear71.com/Disney/DR6b.html
- ↑ Confirmed in Symphony Hour and "Mickey and the Culture Clash"
- ↑ Mickey's Surprise Party
- ↑ "Mickey's Airplane Kit"
- ↑ Epic Mickey
- ↑ The Sorcerer's Apprentice, "Stayin' Cool"
- ↑ "Mickey's Piano Lesson"
- ↑ "Road Hogs"
- ↑ "Rent Day", Runaway Brain
- ↑ "Hickory Dickory Mickey", "Goofy's Grandma"
- ↑ Mickey's Good Deed, The Klondike Kid)
- ↑ "Mickey's Cabin"
- ↑ Get A Horse!
- ↑ "Daisy's Road Trip", "Third Wheel"
- ↑ The Band Concert, Symphony Hour
- ↑ Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas
- ↑ Magician Mickey, "Mickey's April Fools"
- ↑ (2014) The Book of Mouse: A Celebration of Mickey Mouse. Theme Park Press. ISBN 0984341501.
- ↑ http://www.mousevinyl.com/content/dickens-christmas-carol-disneyland-records
- ↑ http://disneylandrecords.com/disney-christmas-records/3811/index.html
- ↑ A Disney Discography
- ↑ Character Records by Steve Burns - StartedByAMouse.com Features Section
- ↑ http://childrensrecordsandmore.blogspot.com/2008/06/talking-mickey-mouse-readalong-books.html
- ↑ http://voicechasers.com/database/showprod.php?prodid=3382
- ↑ Korkis, Jim (June 5, 2013). "The REAL Lost Mickey Mouse Cartoons" (Article). Mouse Planet.
- ↑ Welcome Mickey and Minnie
- ↑ http://www.grandtimes.com/rooney.html
- ↑ http://www.mouseplanet.com/9587/The_Mickey_RooneyMickey_Mouse_Myth
- ↑ "Comic Q&A: Ask The Professionals", The Old Haunt: A Darkwing Duck forum
- ↑ Mickey Mouse in 2017's DuckTales
- ↑ "Dubai Miracle Garden unveils Mickey Mouse tribute display". Arabian Buisness (March 9, 2018).
External links
Mickey Mouse on Disney.com- Mickey Mouse at INDUCKS
- Mickey Mouse on Wikipedia
Mickey Mouse on Wookieepedia
- Mickey Mouse character page (Japanese 日本)
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