History Of Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is a popular and well-appreciated cartoon character, who has been serving children and adults since generations. Created in 1928, by Walt Disney, it is one of the most popular cartoon symbols in the world and is the icon for The Walt Disney Company. The character was initially big and round at the head, body and ears. Subsequently, he underwent many changes. The popularity of the character can be gauged from its representation on thousands of merchandise items across the world, especially those meant for kids. Read through the following lines to know more interesting and amazing information on the origin and background of Mickey Mouse.

 

 

The character of Mickey Mouse was created by Walt Disney as Mortimer Mouse. However, his wife, Lillian did not like the name and suggested him to go with Mickey Mouse instead. With this, yet another character was created by the famed Walt Disney and it came to be known as Mickey. Mickey Mouse first appeared in ‘Plane Crazy’, in May 1928, at a Hollywood movie house. The movie was pleasantly received, but the big houses did not show any interest in the cartoon character. Then, Walt Disney produced yet another silent Mickey Mouse movie, titled ‘Gallopin’ Gaucho’.

 

Mickey Mouse made his debut in a black and white cartoon titled ‘Steamboat Willie’ on November 18, 1928, at the Colony Theatre in New York City. This movie turned out to be a rousing success. Soon after, Walt added sound to his two previous movies and offered the distributors a package of three short talkie cartoons. The voice of all Mickey Mouse cartoons until World War II was provided by Walt Disney himself. In 1946, an experienced sound and vocal effects person, Jim McDonald was hired. McDonald continued to do the voice-over till his retirement in 1974 and Wayne Allwine started thereon.

 

After ‘Steamboat Willie’, Mickey Mouse rapidly became famous beyond all expectations. Even when the stock market in America crashed in 1929 and there was gloom all over, the mouse continued with its popularity. Theatre managers went ahead with putting up large signs proclaiming, “Mickey Mouse playing today”, to attract audiences. The character was as popular among the adults as the children. Walt Disney produced a total of 87 cartoons during the 1930s, where Mickey Mouse was seen playing various roles, including a giant killer, a cowboy, a detective and an inventor.

 

Not much time later, Walt created an entire family of characters with Mickey, such as Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck and not to forget the lesser known Clarabelle Cow and the gruff Peg-Leg Pete. The creation of Mickey Mouse won an Oscar for Walt Disney in 1932, four years after its introduction. In 1935, Mickey Mouse was given the first makeover by Fred Moore, which the viewers got to see in ‘The Pointer’. The movie titled ‘The Band Concert’ saw the character appearing in color for the very first time. Since then, he has appeared in more than 120 different cartoons.

 

With the invention of television, Walt introduced a children’s show titled “The Mickey Mouse Club” that premiered on October 3, 1955 and continued for several years. Mickey Mouse thus, became the prime Disney symbol with a typecast personality. He was moved to Disneyland in 1955, where he hosted his own theme park. Here, visitors got to meet a larger-than-life mouse who posed for pictures and led big parades on national holidays. The Walt Disney Resort was opened in 1971, Tokyo Disneyland in 1983 and Disneyland Paris in 1992, where Mickey Mouse wore a beret. Today, Mickey is the official greeter of Disneyland Walt Disney Resort.