Minnie Mouse

Minnie Mouse is a character of the Mickey Mouse universe featured in animated cartoons, comic strips and comic books by The Walt Disney Company and is the sweet-natured, fun-loving girlfriend of Mickey Mouse. The comic strip story The Gleam by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson first gave her full name as Minerva Mouse. "Minerva" has since been a recurring alias for her.

In some appearances, Minnie is presented as a close friend of Daisy Duck. Her favorite hobbies are dancing, gardening, shopping, music and fashion.

Origins of the character
In 1928, Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse to act as a replacement for his previous star, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. But Mickey could not fill the void alone. Among the few consistent character traits Oswald had developed before moving on to Universal Studios was his near-constant pursuit of potential sweethearts. So, for Mickey to have a chance to emulate his predecessor at flirting, someone had to replace Oswald's many love interests. This replacement to Miss Rabbit, Miss Cottontail, Fanny and an uncertain number of unnamed nurses and dancers was to become Minnie Mouse.

Minnie, who at the time was not yet named, was designed in the fashion of a "flapper" girl. She was so probably intended to follow the trends of then-current youth culture in an effort to add to her audience appeal.

Mickey and Minnie debuted together in Plane Crazy, first released on May 15, 1928. Minnie is invited to join Mickey in the first flight of his aircraft. She accepts the invitation but not his request for a kiss in mid-flight. Mickey eventually forces Minnie into a kiss but this only results in her parachuting out of the plane. This first film depicted Minnie as somewhat resistant to the demanding affection of her potential boyfriend and capable of escaping his grasp.

The next film featuring the couple was The Gallopin' Gaucho. It was the second of their series to be produced but only the third to be released on December 30, 1928. In it, Minnie was employed as the barmaid and dancer of Cantina Argentina, a bar and restaurant established in the pampas of Argentina. She performs the tango for Mickey the gaucho and Black Pete the outlaw. Both flirt with her but the latter intends to abduct her while the former obliges in saving the "damsel in distress" from the villain. All three characters acted as strangers first being introduced to each other.

They appear together again in Steamboat Willie, the third short of the series to be produced but released second on November 18, 1928. Pete was featured as the captain of the steamboat, Mickey as a crew of one and Minnie as their single passenger.

A recurring co-star
The commercial success of Steamboat Willie helped introduce Mickey and Minnie into the audience. Twelve more films featuring Mickey were produced in 1929. But Minnie only co-starred in seven of them and was mentioned in an eighth.

The first of them was The Barn Dance, first released on March 14, 1929. Minnie stands at the center of attention as Mickey and Pete rival each other in order to win her favor. Both offer to pick her up for the dance but she chooses Pete's newly purchased automobile over Mickey's horse-cart. When the automobile breaks down she resorts to go with Mickey. The latter proves a clumsy dancing partner, repeatedly stepping on her feet, and so she turns to Pete again. She is surprised when Mickey asks for another dance and seems to be light on his feet. However she is disgusted when Pete points that his rival had placed a balloon in his shorts. She resumed dancing with Pete while Mickey is reduced to crying on the dance floor. Minnie proves to be rather demanding as a partner in a romantic relationship. Mickey obviously has yet to claim her as his girlfriend by this point.

The Opry House, first released on March 28, 1929, was the first short to feature Mickey but not Minnie. A poster, however, mentions Minnie as being a member of the "Yankee Doodle Girls." This later group of female performers remained as unseen characters and were apparently short-lived. Minnie appears again in When the Cat's Away, first released on April 11, 1929. 'She is attending a party with Mickey along with several other mice. The short was unusual in the depiction of Mickey and Minnie with the size and part of the behavior common in regular mice. The set standard both before and after this short was to depict them as having the size of a rather short human being.

Minnie was seen again in The Plow Boy, first released on May 9, 1929, where she is featured as a farm girl and gets Mickey to milk her cow Clarabelle for her. When Mickey presents her with a bucket full of milk and proceeds to kiss her, Minnie answers by knocking the bucket on his head. This in front of his horse Horace Horsecollar who is just making his debut. Minnie obviously was not very appreciative of Mickey's affection at the time.

Their attempt at farming life would prove short-lived. Their next appearance in The Karnival Kid (May 23, 1929) cast Mickey as a hot dog vendor and Minnie as a carnival "shimmy" Dancer. Minnie then appears as a fiddle player in Mickey's Choo Choo (June 26, 1929).

"Minnie's Yoo Hoo"
Her next appearance was arguably more significant. Mickey's Follies (June 26, 1929), featured the first performance of the song, "Minnie's Yoo Hoo." "The guy they call little Mickey Mouse" for the first time addresses an audience to explain that he has "Got a sweetie" who is "Neither fat nor skinny" and proudly proclaims that "She's my little Minnie Mouse". Mickey then proceeds in explaining his reaction to Minnie's call.

The song firmly establishes Mickey and Minnie as a couple and expresses the importance Minnie holds for her partner. The song would go on to become the theme song to their series as well as the theme to a Disney prime-time television series, The Mouse Factory.

Damsel in distress
Her final appearance for the year was in Wild Waves in which a wave sweeps her into the sea. Minnie panics and starts drowning. Mickey uses a row boat to rescue her and return her to the shore but Minnie is still visibly shaken from the experience. Mickey starts singing the tune of Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep, a maritime ballad, in an apparent effort to cheer her up. Minnie cheers up and the short ends. This is arguably the first time Minnie is placed in danger and then saved by her new boyfriend. It would not be the last.

&nbsp In fact this was the case with her next appearance in The Cactus Kid (April 11, 1930). As the title implies the short was intended as a Western movie parody, but it is considered to be more or less a remake of The Gallopin' Gaucho set in Mexico instead of Argentina. Minnie was again cast as the local tavern dancer who is abducted by "Peg-Leg Pedro" (Black Pete in his first appearance with a peg-leg). Mickey again comes to the rescue. The short is considered significant for being the last short featuring Mickey and Minnie to be animated by Ub Iwerks.

The Shindig (July 11, 1930) featured Minnie joining Mickey, Horace and Clarabelle in a barn dance. Among them Clarabelle seems to be the actual star of the short. Director Burton Gillett turned in another enjoyable entry in the series, proved that production could go on without Iwerks. This was arguably the first time Minnie was upstaged by a female co-star.

In The Fire Fighters (August 6, 1930) Minnie is trapped in a hotel during a fire. She spends the duration of the short in mortal peril but is rescued by firefighters under chief Mickey Mouse. Horace Horshecollar is among the firefighters. An unnamed cow in the background is possibly Clarabelle making a cameo. The music of the short was, appropriately, the tune of "There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight."

The next entry in the series was The Gorilla Mystery (October 1, 1930). The short starts with Beppo the Gorilla escaping from a zoo. Mickey learns of it and panics. He phones Minnie to warn her about the dangerous gorilla wandering about. Minnie is unconcerned and plays tunes on her piano for Mickey to hear over the phone and know she is not afraid. Her tunes are interrupted by her scream and Mickey rushes to her house to save her. Meanwhile Beppo has wrapped up Minnie in rope and holds her hostage. Mickey confonts the gorilla and once again rescues the damsel in distress. The short ends with Minnie and Mickey jointly wrapping up the gorilla in rope. Note that the theme of kidnapping by a gorilla is present here three years prior to the King Kong film of 1933.

Contemporary appearances
Since then, Minnie has co-starred with Mickey Mouse, Pluto and Figaro, Minnie's own cat who debuted in Pinocchio.

She starred in a television special called Totally Minnie and she also appeared in a line of merchandise called "Minnie 'n Me".

Mickey Mouse Works
In Mickey Mouse Works, she finally appeared in her own segments. Occasionally, she starred in "Maestro Minnie" shorts, in which she conducts an orchestra of living instruments that she usually has to tame.

Disney's House of Mouse
In House of Mouse Minnie is in charge of running the nightclub, while Mickey primarily serves as the host.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Minnie also appears in the children's television series, Disney's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers
In the 2004 direct-to-video movie Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, Minnie plays the role of the princess of France, who continually daydreams about her true love, Mickey. She's also the only monarch getting in the way of the plans of Pete, who can't take over the kingdom if he cannot get rid of her. Interestingly, for this particular film, Minnie is drawn with hair bangs, which do not appear in any later cartoons.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Queen Minnie is hosting the yearly Dream Festival in Disney Town. During Ventus's visit, they find themselves having trouble with the ice-cream machine that the trio received from their grand uncle, Scrooge McDuck, but Ven manages to make it work right again. Afterwards, Aqua arrives to defeat monsters attacking the Fruit Ball Area, after which Minnie approaches to thank her. During the Rumble Race, Terra attempts to chase a group of Unversed, but almost gets crushed by Pete, who is posing as Captain Dark. Minnie warns him just in time for him to dodge the car. Then, Minnie tells him to participate in the competition as a means to help them rid of the monsters without breaking the rules.

By the end of the Dream Festival, Minnie presents the Million Dream Award to the most-voted heroes in town: Aqua, Terra, and Ventus (separately yet at the same time) with the Cream Berry, Double Crunch, and Rock Crunch ice-creams. Pete angrily confronts her about this, and she is forced to banish him to another dimension to make him understand what trouble he has caused.

During the ending credits, she observes with her friends as Louie, Dewey, and Huey race.

Kingdom Hearts
Queen Minnie and Daisy Duck go over to the flowery courtyard, where they see Donald Duck fussing with Goofy about something top secret. They demand an explanation for that, so he hands over the letter he found in Pluto's mouth from King Mickey. After that, she has them follow the king's lead, worrying for all of them as well as Chip and Dale, who are the engineers for the Gummi Ship. From there on, she rules the kingdom on her own.

She is the one who sent Jiminy as their royal chronicler.

She is not really seen again until the ending credits of Kingdom Hearts, where she sees Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie return from Traverse Town.

Kingdom Hearts II
One year after the events of Kingdom Hearts, Queen Minnie is still ruling the world of Disney Castle on her own, with Lady Daisy as her advisor.

Prior to Sora, Donald, and Goofy's visit, black rose thorns suddenly appear in the Hall of the Cornerstone where the Cornerstone of Light is kept. Soon after Heartless begin appearing in the castle and that opens the pathway to Disney Castle.

When Sora and the others visit Disney Castle, they find out that it is in danger because of Maleficent and Pete, who are threatening the castle by changing the past. Sora escorts Minnie to the king's throne, where a secret entrance lie for the castle construction site in the past (Timeless River).

After the castle is safe again, Queen Minnie continues to protect it.

During the end credits, she is seen reunited with King Mickey, holding hands and noses touching each other.

Pluto cartoons

 * First Aiders (1944)
 * Pluto's Sweater (1949)
 * Pluto and the Gopher (1950)

Figaro cartoons

 * Bath Day (1946)
 * Figaro and Frankie (1947)

Donald Duck cartoons in cameo

 * The Fox Hunt (1938)
 * Crazy Over Daisy (1950)

Voice actors

 * Walt Disney (1928's early shorts)
 * Marcellite Garner (1928-1940)
 * Thelma Boardman (1940-1942)
 * Ruth Clifford (1942-1952)
 * Russi Taylor (1986-present)
 * Yūko Mizutani (Japan)

1920s

 * Plane Crazy (1928)
 * The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928)
 * Steamboat Willie (1928)
 * The Barn Dance (1928) First time Minnie says "Yoo-Hoo!"
 * The Opry House (1929) cameo; A poster of Minnie and a bunch of lookalikes can be seen at the beginning.
 * When the Cat's Away (1929)
 * The Plow Boy (1929) First time Minnie sings and first gloved appearance.
 * The Karnival Kid (1929)
 * Mickey's Follies (1929) Brief appearance.
 * Mickey's Choo Choo (1929)

1930s

 * The Cactus Kid (1930)
 * Wild Waves (1930)
 * The Fire Fighters (1930)
 * The Shindig (1930)
 * The Gorilla Mystery (1930)
 * The Picnic (1930)
 * Pioneer Days (1930)
 * The Birthday Party (1931)
 * Traffic Troubles (1931)
 * The Delivery Boy (1931)
 * Mickey Steps Out (1931)
 * Blue Rhythm (1931)
 * The Barnyard Broadcast (1931)
 * The Beach Party (1931)
 * Mickey Cuts Up (1931)
 * Mickey's Orphans (1931)
 * The Grocery Boy (1932)
 * Barnyard Olympics (1932)
 * Mickey's Revue (1932)
 * Musical Farmer (1932)
 * Mickey in Arabia (1932)
 * Mickey's Nightmare (1932) Appears only in a photo and in Mickey's dream.
 * The Whoopee Party (1932)
 * Touchdown Mickey (1932)
 * The Wayward Canary (1932)
 * The Klondike Kid (1932)
 * Parade of the Award Nominees (1932) Even though this wasn't a regular cartoon, this was Minnie's first appearance in color.
 * Building a Building (1933)
 * Mickey's Pal Pluto (1933)
 * Mickey's Mellerdrammer (1933)
 * Ye Olden Days (1933)
 * The Mail Pilot (1933)
 * Mickey's Mechanical Man (1933)
 * Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933)
 * Puppy Love (1933)
 * The Pet Store (1933)
 * The Steeple Chase (1933)
 * Shanghaied (1934)
 * Camping Out (1934)
 * Mickey's Steamroller (1934)
 * Orphans Benefit (1934) Cameo; Minnie is seen giving tickets at the ticket booth at the beginning.
 * The Dognapper (1934) Cameo; A picture of Minnie with her dog, Fifi, is shown at the beginning.
 * Two-Gun Mickey (1934) Minnie's final appearance in black and white.
 * On Ice (1935)
 * Mickey's Rival (1936)
 * Hawaiian Holiday (1937)
 * Boat Builders (1938)
 * The Brave Little Tailor (1938)
 * The Fox Hunt (1938) Cameo in a Donald and Goofy cartoon; Minnie is briefly seen among the other fox hunters; Minnie's last appearance with the dotted eye design.
 * Mickey's Surprise Party (1939) A 6-minute commercial promoting Nabisco snacks. First appearance of Minnie's modern design.
 * The Standard Parade (1939) A short promotional film for the 1939 Standard Oil "Travel Tykes Weekly" comic book tie-in.

1940s

 * The Little Whirlwind (1941)
 * The Nifty Nineties (1941)
 * Out of the Frying Pan Into the Firing Line (1942) A World War II propoganda short.
 * Mickey's Birthday Party (1942)
 * First Aiders (1944) A Pluto cartoon.
 * Bath Day (1946) A Figaro cartoon.
 * Figaro and Frankie (1947) A Figaro cartoon.
 * Mickey's Delayed Date (1947)
 * Pluto's Sweater (1949) A Pluto cartoon.

1950s

 * Pluto and the Gopher (1950) A Pluto cartoon.
 * Crazy Over Daisy (1950) Cameo in a Donald Duck cartoon; Mickey and Minnie are briefly shown waving at Donald while driving by.
 * Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952) Cameo; Minnie is briefly seen caroling with Donald and Goofy.
 * Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1959)TV series; Minnie can only be seen in the opening theme song.

1980s

 * Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
 * Totally Minnie (1988) TV special.
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Cameo; Minnie is among the cartoon characters shown at the end of the movie.
 * Mickey's 60th Birthday (1988) TV special Cameo; Minnie is seen crying after Mickey's disappearance.

1990s

 * Runaway Brain (1995)
 * Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) A Direct-to-Video film.
 * Mickey Mouse Works (1999-2000) TV series; New made-for-TV shorts featuring Mickey, Minnie and others.

2000s

 * House of Mouse (2001-2003) TV series; Mickey and friends host a nightclub and show cartoons old and new.
 * Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at a House of Mouse (2001) House of Mouse Direct-to-Video release.
 * Mickey's House of Villians (2002) House of Mouse Direct-to-Video release.
 * Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004) A Direct-to-Video film.
 * Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004) First Mickey Mouse film in CGI.
 * Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-present) TV series; A CGI series about Mickey and friends educating preschoolers while going on adventures.

Trivia

 * Minnie is the third most requested character at Disney theme parks, behind Mickey and Winnie the Pooh.


 * One can visit Minnie's "home" at three Disney theme parks: Disneyland in California, the Magic Kingdom in Florida and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan.