Birth and Significance of Mickey Mouse
“Mickey Mouse is, to me, a logo of independence. He was a way to an end of all the miseries.” — Walt Disney when asked what Mickey meant to him.
Disney’s mouse has remained a worldwide icon and a master symbol within the Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse may be a funny animal cartoon character and, therefore, the mascot of The Disney Company. Disney and Ub Iwerks created him at the Disney Studios in 1928, initially named Mortimer. His cheerful face remains one among the foremost recognizable images within the world, even beating out Santa Claus.
But what happened was, Disney began his first series of fully animated films in 1927, featuring the character Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit. Before Disney created Mickey Mouse, he made Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. But during a dispute together with his business partner at Universal, Disney lost the rights to Oswald. The loss of his first character inspired the birth of the Mouse, a replacement character that he named Mortimer Mouse; at the urging of his wife. They shortened the ears, added some extra padding around the middle, and turned the rabbit into a mouse. If you check out the two characters, you’ll see the resemblance: red shorts, big ears, and wide eyes. Disney rechristened him as Mickey Mouse.
The primary Mickey Mouse cartoon that was actually completed was “Plane Crazy.” Inspired by Lindbergh’s heroic first solo flight across the Atlantic, its plot entailed Mickey and a few animal friends attempting to assemble their airplane. The cartoon premiered in Hollywood on May 15, 1928, in the form of a test screening. It did not obtain distribution. The second Mickey Mouse cartoon, “The Gallopin’ Gaucho,” met with a similar fate. One unpleasant distributor even told Walt, “They don’t know you and that they don’t know your mouse.” After that, Steamboat Willie, the primary animation to feature synchronized music and sound effects, hit the screen. The film premiered in New York on November 18, 1928, and was a gigantic hit.
A series of Mickey Mouse shorts appeared within a matter of months — including “Plane Crazy,” a brief that predated “Steamboat Willie,” during which Mickey plays a rodent, Charles Lindbergh. The mouse was a national fad by the top of the year, and it wasn’t long before Marketing kicked in. Walt quickly started up a line of Mickey merchandise, and within two years, the Mickey Mouse Club, a lover club for youngsters, was up and running.
During the first years, Mickey was drawn by noted animator Ub Iwerks, and Disney himself provided Mickey’s voice until 1947. Mickey was often joined by his girlfriend, Minnie Mouse, along with an animated gang of friends that included Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Mickey was a cheerful and mischievous anthropomorphic rodent who starred in more than 100 cartoon shorts and has become a worldwide cult figure. The Mickey Mouse Club was one of the first popular television shows for youngsters within the 1950s. Therefore the signature black cap with mouse ears worn by the show’s stars has become one among the foremost cosmopolitan items in merchandising history.
One of the less known facts about Mickey and Minnie Mouse is that they are married. While there was never a marriage in any film, Disney decided within the studio that the two mice were already happily hitched. Like all loving couples would want, Mickey and Minnie shared their big-screen debut in “Steamboat Willie” in 1928. This, of course, makes November 18, 1928, Minnie Mouse’s birthday too, as she was hurrying along the banks of the river trying to catch Pegleg Pete’s steamboat. Ever resourceful, Mickey found how to urge her aboard even after the boat had departed. The two realized a moment connection, and therefore the rest, as they assert, is history.
In 1935, a young animator named Fred Moore gave Mickey his first makeover. Throughout the sooner years, Mickey’s design bore an important resemblance to Oswald, but the ears, nose, and tail. Ub Iwerks designed Mickey’s body out of circles to form the character simple to animate. Although Disney employees John Hench and Marc Davis believed that this design was a part of Mickey’s success because it made him more dynamic and appealing to audiences. Earlier animators had drawn the mouse as a series of circles, which limited his movement. Moore — who later animated Fantasia’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice segment — gave him a pear-shaped body, pupils, white gloves, and a shortened nose, to make him even more appealing to the masses.
Mickey also appeared in color for the primary time that year. It was such a success since the Band Concert’s use of Technicolor was so very innovative, that critics still consider it to be a masterpiece. Mickey has undergone a couple of cosmetic changes throughout the years, including the addition of his famous white gloves. Mickey’s white gloves help distinguish his hands from the remainder of his body. The first time we see him within the famous accessory is within the cartoon, “The Opry House,” in 1929.
Mickey Mouse is clearly an enormous fan of hot dogs. He chose to reveal that to the planet in 1929 in his ninth film, “The Karnival Kid,” and even did a hot dog dance. Sure, he had laughed and squealed before, but he didn’t show us he could utter words until this film. Additionally, due to this, Mickey Mouse was the primary cartoon character to ever speak on screen. An outsized part of Mickey’s screen persona is his famously shy, falsetto voice. From 1928 onward, Mickey was voiced by Disney himself, a task during which Disney took great personal pride. Disney provided the high-pitched, enthusiastic tones of Mickey Mouse for a minimum of 100 shorts, maybe more.
In 1932 Disney was given a special award by the Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse has received ten nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In 1994, four of Mickey’s cartoons were included within the book “The 50 Greatest”. Mickey Mouse was the primary cartoon character to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Within the 1970s, Mickey released a disco album that went double platinum.
By the 1950s, Mickey had a theme park, a newspaper comic strip, and, therefore, the Mickey Mouse Club, the hit television variety that has launched the careers of teenage stars from Annette Funicello to Justin Timberlake. Of course, the magic of the Mouse had something to do with their success. The kid sensations starred within the revival of the 1950’s “ Mickey Mouse Club.” Yet despite Mickey’s semi-retirement, his ears are still one among the foremost famous cultural icons of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has posed for photographs with every U.S. President since Truman, save one.
Mickey Mouse represents everything that Walt Disney wanted to portray- happiness, fun, dreams, and the ability to bring families together. The Mickey symbol has the power to evoke positive emotions and make memorable experiences, thus forming a strong and consistent meaning round the world. The cartoons’ vaudevillian overtones made liberal use of slapstick and puns, and Mickey’s close association with children required that he always remain upstanding and moral. Through the years, Mickey Mouse has transformed from a cartoon to an emotion and an irreplaceable part of everyone’s childhood.
