Mickey Mouse

"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

Mickey Mouse is an animated anthropomorphic mouse created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928. Arguably by far its most popular character, Mickey serves as the mascot for The Walt Disney Company.

Fancifully estimated as standing 2 ft 3 in (69 cm) and weighing 23 pounds (10 kg), Mickey rapidly rose to the pinnacle of American culture, being more widely recognized overseas than any other American icon but the U.S. flag. For over eighty 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 also shares the same birthday with Minnie Mouse, his girlfriend.

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 The Art of Mickey Mouse used Warhol's famous pop art techniques on the classic mouse. Mickey is often cited as the world's most beloved cartoon character.

Personality
Mickey is easily recognized by his red shorts with white polka dots, white gloves and large yellow shoes as well as his round mouse ears. He often gets himself into trouble as a result of his mischief and the fact that he can be forgetful and procrastinates.

He choses fun and adventure over working hard or work in general, a trait disliked by Minnie Mouse. While usually always having the better amount of luck, when teamed with his pals Donald and Goofy, he and his friends often end their day in failure and all three are the faults.

Mickey stands as a father figure for Pluto and has grounded him on many occasions as if he is a young boy. Mickey describes himself as a good sport but on occasion has lost his temper on both enemies and friends. He is usually dumbstruck by the mere sight of Minnie Mouse giving her many titles such as "his treasure" and constantly goes out of his way to impress her. He has a bad habit of becoming addicted to video games as he can be seen playing one non stop, day and night.

Mickey performs his hero side by force. Many cartoons begin with Mickey and Minnie enjoying each other's company until a villain (almost always Pete) kidnaps her and the takes her away, resulting to Mickey battling the villain and proclaiming his love. Mickey can be competitive and never backs down even when his opponent is twice his size. In many situations, Mickey has shown to be a trickster and enjoys pranking his enemies to get the better of them. Despite being very heroic, Mickey can be very lazy and prefers to laid back and rather optimistic during harsh times but on rare events has given up hope even doubting himself.

Creation and Debut
Mickey was originally created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier star 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 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 pretentious, so she suggested he change it to Mickey Mouse which he did. The name Mortimer would later be used for a character in a Mickey cartoon, that oddly enough, became a new rival for Mickey. It has been suggested 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 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. 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. In fact, Steamboat Willie was so popular that Walt made it's release date, November 18, 1928, Mickey's birthday.

Mickey Mouse entering Depression Era
The twelfth and last 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 later 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 `Oe - 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 representative of a function often credited to him. To provide relatively cheap but much needed entertainment to the audiences of the period of Jimmy Durante.

Mickey's World of Color
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 feedback and profits rocketed so Walt never used Black and White again, not even for his television series (which were 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).There were 56 more color cartoons in the original Mickey Mouse Theatrical Series

Mickey and the War
During this time period, World War II was taking place and the Disney characters were off to war. All of the main characters were given their own war-related cartoons at least once, except for one: Mickey. While all of the other characters were off to war, Walt refused to draft Mickey. (Goofy also lacks wartime shorts. This must be because he was discharged for being so "goofy".)

Mickey's Postwar Years
After the war was over, Mickey made a comeback. He began to star in his own cartoons again and paired up with Donald and Goofy for the first time in years. (This era also shows a great advance 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 in the mid fifties to late sixties.)

Later Mickey Mouse History
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.

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.

Mickey's most well known supporting characters are his girlfriend, Minnie Mouse; his dog, Pluto; and his best friends, Goofy and Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy Duck. By his older sister Amelia Fieldmouse Mickey has two nephews, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse.

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 in the 1977 and 1989).

Mickey has starred in the theatrical feature film: the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of Fun and Fancy Free (1947). He has also starred in two half-hour theatrical featurettes, Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983, screened in front of a re-issue of The Rescuers) (1990, screened in front of The Rescuers Down Under).

Many television programs have centered around Mickey, such as the recent shows Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse. For many years, Mickey Mouse has served as the mascot for The Walt Disney Company, alongside Jiminy Cricket and Tinker Bell.

Fantasia
Mickey's most famous role is in the 1940 film Fantasia. In the film Mickey appears in a segment called The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

In the film's sequel, 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.

Fun and Fancy Free
Mickey, Donald and Goofy live in a once peaceful village that became a wasteland after the beautiful singing Golden Harp was kidnapped by a 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 and with the beans grew a beanstalk. The beanstalk led to the castle of Willie the Giant who is the kidnapper. The three battle the giant to save the harp and restore the peace in their village. They rushed down the beanstalk with the harp and escaped safely. Mickey, Donald and Goofy became heroes and peace is restored.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Mickey would make a cameo in the film alongside other cartoon characters as well. 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.

A Goofy Movie
Mickey made a cameo appearance hiking with Donald Duck during the song On the Open Road. A Mickey Mouse phone was also seen in Max's room in the films opening. At the end of the film, Mickey was seen in the crowd at the Power Line concert.

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Mickey appears in both of the film Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. In the first film Mickey needs a present for Minnie and does a great job at work to get some. Mickey's plan succeeds but when he stops Pete from selling a over priced tree to a poor family his money is taken away and he is fired. Mickey then sells his harmonica in order to buy the gift, a chain for Minnie's watch. When it's time to open presents Minnie's gift was a case for Mickey's harmonica witch she used her watch to buy. The two realize their most prized possessions are each other and Christmas is saved. In the sequel Mickey is throwing a Christmas party but Pluto accidentally ruins the decorations and grounds Pluto and sends him to his dog-house. When Mickey returns it is shown that Pluto ran away. He spends the entire day and most the night searching for him with no luck. As Mickey's about to give, Pluto has been bought home and oblivious to Mickey, by Santa Claus. Minnie, Goofy and the rest of the family rushed in the front yard with a plow bought by Scrooge McDuck who is also there Mickey is thrilled to have everyone over and together they celebrate Christmas.

Teacher's Pet
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.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers
Mickey is one the main protagonist in the animated film based off the book by the same name. Mickey is a janitor and dreams of being a musketeer. When Pete, the captain of the musketeers grant Mickey, Donald and Goofy their wish as apart of his evil plans, Mickey falls in love with the princess Minnie Mouse. All in one day Mickey, Donald and Goofy prove that they are great musketeers and Pete kidnaps each one by one. While Clarabelle Cow takes care of Goofy, Donald is left with the Beagle Boys and Mickey is left with Pete. Pete takes Mickey to his dark castle and imprisons him inside a dungeon. Mickey is soon freed by Donald, Goofy and Pluto and they set off to rescue Minnie. Mickey, Donald and Goofy battle the Beagle Boys. The battle soon leads a one on one between Mickey and Pete. The two sword fight until Pete punches Mickey across the Opera Stage. Donald and Goofy reappear and assists Mickey in fighting Pete. After Pete is defeated, Mickey becomes a Royal Musketeer and presumably marries Minnie sometime afterward.

Planned feature film
A new Mickey Mouse movie is currently in development, and is rumored to be released around 2014 or 2015''. So far, there is no information about what the plot of this movie is, but it has been confirmed as a project being made by the Walt Disney Animation Studios. ''The film is said to have Donald Duck and Goofy as well. If it gets the greenlight, it will be the first film starring Mickey and his friends to be a part of the Disney Animated Features canon. The film is rumored to simply be titled "Mickey Mouse".

Mickey is also set to appear in the live-action film, "Magic Kingdom". Mickey's role in the film so far is unknown.

Cancelled Anchors Aweigh appearance
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. There were several theories why it never happened. 1. Walt was willing to accept this offer but his brother Roy declined saying that they were in debt after WW2. 2. Walt declined the offer. 3. Walt and Roy agreed with the offer but MGM recieved a counter offer from Will Hanna and Joe Barbera to use Jerry Mouse instead since Hanna and Barbera were still working at MGM studios at the time. Reguardless of which theory was correct, the role and dance number ended up going to Jerry Mouse of Tom & Jerry fame and was animated by Will Hanna and Joe Barbera, who were still making Tom & Jerry cartoons at the time.

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.

Bonkers
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".

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. Some episodes involved Mickey competing with his much hated rival Mortimer Mouse.

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. Mickey was able to trick the dim-witted Pete on many occasions.

House of Mouse
Mickey is the owner of the 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 worse 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 is the host of the CG 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.

Mickey was voiced by official voice actor Wayne Allwine for the first two seasons until his death. The role was then taken over by Bret Iwan.

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 grown after being trapped in a bubble.

Recent popularity
On November 18, 1978, in honor of his 50th anniversary, he became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located on 6925 Hollywood Blvd.

Throughout the decades, Mickey Mouse competed with Warner Bros.' Bugs Bunny for animated popularity. But in 1988, in a historic moment in motion picture history, the two rivals finally shared screen time in the Robert Zemeckis film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Only four people have regularly provided the voice for Mickey (not including theme park attractions and parades), Walt Disney from 1928 to 1947, James MacDonald from 1948 to 1983, and Wayne Allwine, from 1977 until his death in 2009. Hallmark greeting card illustrator Bret Iwan was chosen to represent the new voice of Mickey, starting with a Mickey toy. He has also done Mickey for Disney Cruise Line promotions, and he is featured in the Disney On Ice: Let's Celebrate! ice show.

Mickey's most recent theatrical cartoon was 1995's short Runaway Brain, while in 2004 he appeared in the made-for-video features The Three Musketeers and the computer-animated Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. As of 2011, Mickey is the star of Disney Channel's Disney Junior series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Mickey served as the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day 2005, as part of the kickoff of the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth", celebrating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary. In 2009, Mickey has reappeared in balloon form in the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, dressed as the captain of the Disney Cruise Line. 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.

Mickey Mouse has received nine 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), and Runaway Brain (1995). 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.

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).

Disney Parks
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 all 11 Disney theme parks worldwide. Mickey is the most requested character in the parks. Classic cartoons staring the beloved characters are also screened in the Main Street Cinema at Disneyland and the Town Square Exposition Hall at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Back in Disneyland's old Adventure Thru Inner Space, most of the molecules were shaped around Mickey heads.

Fantasmic!
Mickey appears in the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic! In the show Mickey is the hero and must save the world of Disney from a group of Disney Villains led by The Queen. Mickey first appears at the very beginning as he is conducting water and expressing his powerful magic. Mickey is then taken into the cave of Wonders by Jafar, who turns into a snake in order to kill Mickey. Mickey then rubs the lamp (believing Genie will come and help) and it turns Jafar into a powerful Genie. Next Mickey must battle Maleficent as a dragon. Mickey uses the sword in the stone to defeat Maleficent and the villains. Mickey then transforms into a sorcerer and express fireworks and water. Mickey then says Some imagination huh?, and with Mickey's famous laugh he disappears and the show ends.

Mickey's PhilharMagic
In Mickey's Philharmagic, Mickey conducts an orchestra with the help of his sorcerer hat. Donald Duck accidentally loses the hat and goes through some of Disney's most famous films. Mickey retrieves the hat and puts an end to the trouble Donald started.

Dream Along With Mickey
In Dream Along with Mickey. Mickey and Friends celebrate the world of dreams and try to help Donald realize people do believe in dreams. In the end Donald helps Mickey defeat Maleficent along with her henchmen Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

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. Epic Mickey, featuring a darker version of the Disney universe, was released in 2010 for the Wii. A costume of Mickey is playable in the video game Disney Universe in 2011.

Mickey also plays a major recurring role in the Kingdom Hearts video game series, known as King Mickey. He is the king of Disney Castle and sets off to battle the forces of Darkness. He is an incredibly powerful character in the Kingdom Hearts universe, as shown when he defeated three Darkside Heartless in a single blow whilst inside the Realm of Darkness. First studying under Yen Sid, Mickey is possibly the inventor of Gummi Ships. He is the first to realize the threat of darkness spreading between worlds, and one of the characters most strongly affiliated with light, including Sora. His strength is not always readily apparent, as his character remains very simple spoken, colloquial, and lighthearted, but contrary to this appearance, King Mickey has played a major role in all Kingdom Hearts games.

Catchphrases
Mickey, like Donald and Goofy has many catchphrases. Some of Mickey's most famous catchphrases are Hey Everybody, See ya Real Soon and Hot Dog. Some of his other well known catchphrases are Golly and Oh my gosh!.

Trivia

 * 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.”
 * 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).
 * In the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Mickey is often referred to by the Cast Members as the boss or Mr. Mouse.
 * In Cars 2, two characters named Mama Topolino and Uncle Topolinp 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--more than any other star in Hollywood.
 * In Aladdin, Rajah's face turned into Mickey's for a split second when he transformed from a kitten to a tiger again.