Mickey Mouse is a comic animal cartoon character
who has become a symbol for The Walt Disney
Company. Created in the 1920s by Ub Iwerks, the
mouse has evolved from being simply a character in
animated cartoons and comic strips to become one
of the most recognizable symbols in the world.

Walt Disney himself voiced as Mickey Mouse in some
of the earlier cartoons.


The icon
 
Standard opening frame of Mickey Mouse
shortsMickey Mouse may be the most recognized
symbol of America, save for the flag. For some, he
symbolizes the country's cultural imperialism,
the spread of its culture to other places in the
world. For others, he represents happiness and
innocence. He is the symbol for The Walt Disney
Company and, in many ways, 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, 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 Mouse and Minnie in a Parade in HongKong
Disneyland.The Mickey icon, a three-circle
silhouette of Mickey's head, serves as the logo
for most of Disney's subsidiaries which contain
the name 'Disney'. Andy Warhol's portrait The
Art of Mickey Mouse used Warhol's famous pop art
techniques on the classic mouse.


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 hired others 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.

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 he
changed it to Mickey Mouse. The name Mortimer
would later be used for a character in a Mickey
cartoon.

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.

 
On November 14, 2002, this image was discovered
during restoration of a church's outside wall in
the town of Malta, Austria. It is part of a 14th
century fresco depicting Saint Christopher of the
Catholic Church, who is often shown accompanied by
fabulous creatures: Mickey Mouse bears a striking
resemblance to this imageMickey 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.

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 Clarabelle Cow making her debut.

Mickey as portrayed in Plane Crazy was
mischievous, amorous, and has often been described
as a rogue. Modern audiences have occasionally
commented on this version of Mickey as being
somewhat more complex and consequently more
interesting than his later self. At the time of
its first release, however, 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.


Early landmarks

First encounter with Black/Peg Leg Pete
The Gallopin' Gaucho was again co-directed by
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, with the latter serving
as the sole animator in this case. The short was
intended as a parody of Douglas Fairbanks' The
Gaucho, a film first released on November 21,
1927. Following the original film, the events of
the short take place in the Pampas of Argentina.
The gaucho of the title was Mickey himself. He is
first seen riding on a Rhea, instead of a horse as
would be expected (or an ostrich as often
reported). He soon encounters "Cantina
Argentina," apparently serving as the local bar
and restaurant. Mickey proceeds to enter the
establishment and take a seat. He apparently just
wants to relax with some drinking and tobacco
smoking. Also present at the establishment are
Black Pete (later renamed Peg Leg Pete, or just
Pete), a wanted outlaw and fellow customer for the
time being, and Minnie Mouse, the barmaid and
dancer of the establishment, at the time
performing a tango. Both customers soon begin to
flirt with Minnie and to rival one another. At
some point Pete proceeds in kidnapping Minnie and
attempts to escape on his horse. Mickey gives
chase on his rhea. He soon catches up to his rival
and they proceed to fight with swords. Mickey
emerges the victor of this joust. The finale of
the short has Mickey and Minnie riding the rhea
into the distance.

In later interviews, Iwerks would comment that
Mickey as featured in The Gallopin' Gaucho was
intended to be a swashbuckler, an adventurer
modeled after Fairbanks himself. This short marks
the first encounter between Mickey and Black Pete,
a character already established as an antagonist
in both the Alice Comedies and the Oswald series.
Based on Mickey and Minnie acting as strangers to
each other before the finale, it was presumably
intended to feature their original acquaintance to
each other as well. Modern audiences have
commented that all three characters seem to be
coming out of rough, lower class backgrounds that
little resemble their later versions. Consequently
the short is arguably of some historical
significance.

At the time of its original production though,
Walt again failed to find a distributor. It would
be first released on December 30, 1928, following
the release of another Mickey short. Reportedly
Mickey was at first thought to be much too similar
to Oswald and this resulted in the apparent lack
of interest in him. Walt would soon start to
contemplate ways to distinguish the Mickey Mouse
series from his previous work and that of his
rivals. The result of his contemplations would be
the third Mickey short to be produced, the second
to be released and the first to really draw the
attention of the audiences: Steamboat Willie.


Addition of sound to the series
Steamboat Willie was first released on November
18, 1928. It was co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub
Iwerks. Iwerks again served as the head animator,
assisted by Johnny Cannon, Les Clark, Wilfred
Jackson and Dick Lundy. This short was intended as
a parody of Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill Jr.,
first released on May 12 of the same year. Despite
the fact this was not the first Mickey cartoon
made or released, it is still considered by some
as Mickey Mouse's true debut. The cartoon is
often listed in history books as being the first
animated film ever to feature a synchronized
sound, music, and dialogue track, but Fleischer
Studios, headed by brothers Dave and Max Fleischer
had already released some sound cartoons using the
DeForest system in the mid-1920s. Steamboat Willie
was, however, the first sound cartoon to achieve
wide commercial success. Animation historians have
long debated who had served as the composer for
the film's original music. This role has been
variously attributed to Wilfred Jackson, Carl
Stalling and Bert Lewis, but identification
remains uncertain. Walt Disney himself acted as
voice actor for both Mickey and Minnie.

The script had Mickey serving aboard Steamboat
Willie under Captain Pete. At first he is seen
piloting the steamboat while whistling. Then Pete
arrives to take over piloting and angrily throws
him out of the boat's bridge. They soon have to
stop for cargo to be transferred on board. Almost
as soon as they leave, Minnie arrives. She was
apparently supposed to be their only passenger but
was late to board. Mickey manages to pick her up
from the river shore. Minnie accidentally drops
her sheet music for the popular folk song "Turkey
in the Straw" (alternate versions include
"Natchez Under the Hill" and "Old Zip Coon".)
The lyrics are thought to have been added to an
earlier tune by Bob Farrell who first performed
them in a minstrel show on August 11, 1834). A
goat which was among the animals transported on
the steamboat proceeds to eat the sheet music.
Consequently Mickey and Minnie use its tail to
turn it into a phonograph which is playing the
tune. Through the rest of the short, Mickey uses
various other animals as musical instruments.
Later audiences have often described those scenes
as humorously exaggerated examples of animal
cruelty. Captain Pete is eventually disturbed by
all this noise and places Mickey back to work.
Mickey is reduced to peeling potatoes for the rest
of the trip. A parrot attempts to make fun of him
but is then thrown to the river by Mickey. This
served as the final scene of this short.

Audiences at the time of Steamboat Willie's
release were reportedly impressed by its use of
sound for comedic purposes. Sound films were still
considered innovative. The first feature-length
movie with dialogue sequences, The Jazz Singer
starring Al Jolson, was released on October 6,
1927. Within a year of its success, most United
States movie theaters had installed sound film
equipment. Walt Disney apparently intended to take
advantage of this new trend and, arguably, managed
to succeed. Most other cartoon studios were still
producing silent products and so were unable to
effectively act as competition to Disney. As a
result Mickey would soon become the most prominent
animated character of the time. Walt Disney soon
worked on adding sound to both Plane Crazy and The
Gallopin' Gaucho (which had originally been
silent releases) and their new release added to
Mickey's success and popularity. A fourth Mickey
short was also put into production. It was The
Barn Dance.


Roles

Mickey as a suitor
The Barn Dance, first released on March 14, 1929,
would be the first of twelve Mickey shorts
released during that year. It was directed by Walt
Disney with Ub Iwerks as the head animator. The
barn dance of the title is the occasion which
brings together Minnie and her two suitors: Mickey
and Pete. The latter two and their vehicles are
first seen arriving at Minnie's house in an
attempt to pick her up for the dance. Mickey turns
up in his horse-cart while Pete in a newly
purchased automobile. Minnie initially chooses
Pete to drive her to the dance but the automobile
unexpectedly breaks down. She resorts to accepting
Mickey's invitation. They are later seen dancing
together, but Mickey proves to be a rather clumsy
dancer as he repeatedly steps on Minnie's feet.
She consequently turns down his invitation for a
second dance. She instead accepts that of Pete,
who proves to be a better dancing partner. Mickey
then attempts to solve his problem by placing a
balloon in his shorts. That apparently helps him
to be "light on his feet" and he proceeds to ask
Minnie for another dance. She accepts and is
surprised to find his dancing skills to have
apparently improved. Pete soon discovers Mickey's
trick and points it out to Minnie. Minnie is
visibly disgusted by this attempt at deception. As
a result, she leaves Mickey and resumes dancing
with Pete. In the finale Mickey is reduced to
crying on the floor.

This short was the first to feature its three main
characters as parts of a love-triangle. It is
notable for featuring Mickey turned down by Minnie
in favor of Pete. It is also an unusual appearance
of the Pete; previously depicted as a menacing
villain, he is portrayed here as a well-mannered
gentleman. In addition, Mickey was not depicted as
a hero but as a rather ineffective young suitor.
In his sadness and crying over his failure, Mickey
appears unusually emotional and vulnerable. It has
been commented, however, that this only serves to
add to the audiences' empathy for the character.


First gloved appearance
"Ever wonder why we always wear these white
gloves?" - Various characters (with minor
variations)

The Opry House, first released on March 28, 1929,
would be the second short released during the
year. It cast Mickey as the owner of a small
theater (or opera house according to the title).
Mickey performs a vaudeville show all by himself.
Acts include his impersonation of a snake charmer,
his dressing in drag and performing a belly dance,
his caricature of a Hasidic Jew and, for the
finale, a piano performance. Minnie did not appear
in person in this short. Instead, a poster of her
can be seen which introduces her as a member of
the Yankee Doodle Girls, apparently a group of
female performers. The only other recurring
character to appear in the short is known as Kat
Nipp (apparently a play on the word catnip). This
would be his debut; he would appear in two more
shorts during the year as a minor antagonist. This
short featured no dialogue and consequently its
humor relies in a long series of visual gags. The
musical pieces accompanying them notably included
"Yankee Doodle" and Georges Bizet's Carmen.
More notably this short introduced Mickey's
gloves. Mickey can be seen wearing them in most of
his subsequent appearances. Supposedly one reason
for adding the white gloves was to allow audiences
to distinguish the characters' hands when they
appeared against their bodies, as both were black
(Mickey did not appear in color until The Band
Concert in 1935).


Depiction as a regular mouse
When the Cat's Away, first released on April 11,
1929, would be the third Mickey short to be
released that year. It was essentially a remake of
one of the Alice Comedies, Alice Rattled by Rats,
which had been first released on January 15, 1926.
Kat Nipp makes his second appearance, though his
name is given as "Tom Cat" (this describes his
being a tom cat, and the character should not be
confused with the co-star of the Tom and Jerry
series). He is seen getting drunk on alcoholic
beverages. Then he leaves his house to go hunting.
In his absence an army of mice invade his house in
search of food. Among them are Mickey and Minnie,
who proceed to turn this gathering into a party.
This short is unusual in depicting Mickey and
Minnie as having the size and partly the behavior
of 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. On another
note, it has been commented that since this short
was released during the Prohibition era, the
alcoholic beverages would probably have been
products of bootlegging.


Mickey as a soldier
The next Mickey short to be released is also
considered unusual. It was The Barnyard Battle,
first released on April 25, 1929. As the title
implies it featured a battle between an invading
army of cats and an army of mice trying to defend
their homes and farms. Pete was depicted as a
leading soldier of the former army and Mickey as a
conscript of the latter one. Before joining the
army, Mickey has to pass a physical examination.
This scene depicts Mickey becoming the subject of
physical and emotional abuse. After passing the
examination, he is given a machine gun and is sent
to battle. Mickey's combat efforts are comical in
depiction but prove effective enough in forcing
the enemy to retreat. Mickey is hailed as a hero
by his fellow soldiers and then the short ends.

This short is notable as the first to depict
Mickey as a soldier and the first to place him in
combat. The physical examination scene has since
often been edited out as being somewhat
disturbing. However modern viewers have often
pointed to this scene as being the most memorable
of the short. The short did not clearly identify
the war it depicted; but it has been noted that
the cats are depicted as wearing military helmets
similar to those used by the German Empire during
World War I. On the other hand, the mice are
marching in battle to the tune of "Dixie's
Land", a song written in 1859 by Daniel Decatur
Emmett (October 29, 1815 – June 28, 1904). The
song is known to have been popular among the
forces of the Confederate States of America during
the American Civil War. The victory of the mice is
celebrated in the tune of "Battle Cry of
Freedom". Both the music and the lyrics to this
song were written in 1862 by George Frederick Root
(August 30, 1820 - August 6, 1895) and it is known
to have been popular among the forces of the
United States during the same conflict. In any
case both wars were still within living memory of
the audiences at the time of release and so it is
possible that the details mentioned were intended
as recognizable references to both of them.


Firsts

First encounter with Horace Horsecollar
Mickey returned to civilian life with The Plow
Boy, first released on May 9, 1929. As the title
implies he was depicted as a farmer alongside
Minnie. He is first seen with his horse while
ploughing a field. Then Minnie comes along with
her cow. She has Mickey milk the cow for her. As
he does, the cow starts licking him in an apparent
sign of affection. Mickey does not seem pleased
and replies by rolling up its muzzle with its own
tongue. Mickey eventually manages to present
Minnie with a full be short is considered mainly
notable for the livestock it featured. Minnie's
cow is considered to be Clarabelle Cow making her
second appearance, and Mickey's plow horse is
considered to be Horace Horsecollar making his
debut. Though depicted as non-anthropomorphic
animals during this short, later that same year
both would become as anthropomorphic as their
former owners.


First speaking appearance
 
Mickey spanks a hot dog in "The Karnival Kid"
(1929)During his first eight appearances Mickey
would whistle, laugh, cry and otherwise vocally
express himself. But he would not actually speak
until his ninth appearance. This short was The
Karnival Kid, first released on May 23, 1929.
Mickey's first spoken words were "Hot Dogs!".
The short featured Mickey selling hot dogs at a
carnival. Much of the humor in this short came
from the interaction between Mickey and his hot
dogs, with the latter tending to act like actual
dogs in relation to their owner/trainer. Three
other recurring characters of the series also
appear. The first of them was Clarabelle Cow in a
cameo. The second was Kat Nipp, making his third
and last appearance. A barker at the carnival, he
briefly gets into an argument with Mickey. The
third was Mickey's recurring love interest:
Minnie Mouse "the Shimmy Dancer" of the
carnival. Having purchased one of Mickey's hot
dogs, she is surprised to see it run away. The
short ends at night time. Mickey apparently
attempts to draw Minnie's attention by playing
guitar singing outside her window. He only manages
to draw the attention of two alley cats who decide
to join him and then that of an irate neighbour of
Minnie's who starts throwing things at these
three annoyances in an attempt to silence them.
This marks the finale of the short.


First singing appearance
This following Mickey short to be released was
Mickey's Choo Choo, first released on June 20,
1929. As the title implies, Mickey is depicted as
the engineer in charge of an unusually
anthropomorphic locomotive. His only passenger
seems to be Minnie, cast as a fiddle player for
this short. At some point Mickey loses control of
the locomotive. Clarabelle has another brief
appearance as a cow running out of its way. It was
soon followed by Mickey's Follies, first released
on June 26, 1929. The short featured a barnyard
show including various numbers. A female pig
singing opera is considered to be Patricia Pig
making her only animated appearance. She would be
a recurring character early in Mickey's comic
strip series. But the short is more notable for
Mickey's main act. It has Mickey singing
Minnie's Yoo Hoo for the first time. This
humorous little song is considered to have a
historical importance of its own. For one thing
"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". For another this would
serve as the new theme song for the series. The
music to the song was written by Carl Stalling and
the lyrics by Walt Disney. Finally, animation
historians have pointed that it seems to be the
first song with original lyrics created by Walt's
studio.


From comedy to musical
The ninth Mickey short to be released that year
was The Jazz Fool, first released on July 5, 1929.
The title was probably intended to be reminiscent
of both The Jazz Singer, and also The Singing
Fool, first released on September 19, 1928. Both
musical films featured Al Jolson as their star and
had proved commercially successful. This film
followed the originals in having minimal plot and
focusing on musical performances. Mickey and his
friend Horace Horsecollar, the later in his first
anthropomorphic appearance, are cast as the sole
two performers of "Mickey's Big Road Show". The
former plays the piano and the later the
xylophone. The soundtrack of the film reportedly
contained elements of both ragtime and Dixieland
jazz. This short is considered to be
representative of a change of focus early in the
series. The preceding shorts already featured
their share of song and dance numbers as part of
their comedic plots. Many of the following ones
can better be described as animated song and dance
shows with little to no plot.


First encounter with ghosts
This was not the case however with the next Mickey
short to be released: Haunted House, first
released on August 1, 1929. The short begins at
night time. Mickey is seen caught up in a storm
with an umbrella serving as his only protection
from the rain. Mickey is naturally seeking a
refuge for himself. He soon discovers an
apparently deserted house and proceeds to enter
it. The door suddenly shuts behind him and seems
to be locked. Mickey is somewhat unnerved and his
encounters with bats and large spiders only
increase his growing fear. At this point, Mickey
finds out that the house is indeed inhabited ...
by ghosts in skeleton form. Mickey has entered a
haunted house. The figure of the Grim Reaper
orders him to play music to entertain them. Mickey
is surprised but clearly too scared to argue with
it. Skeletons are seen dancing to Mickey's tune.
At some point, Mickey attempts to escape but any
room he attempts to enter contains more skeletons.
The finale has a terrified Mickey crashing through
a window to escape.

The short is clearly similar to The Skeleton
Dance, first released on August 22, 1929, which
was the first short of the Silly Symphonies
series. Both feature elements generally found in
horror fiction and particularly in horror films
effectively combined with music and dance. A
series of creative and rather morbid gags provide
comedic elements. The result is often described as
surreal and at points impressive. Consequently
both shorts have been considered among the
highlights of their respective series and animated
classics.


Earliest adventure at sea
Another Mickey short was released in between them:
Wild Waves, first released on August 15, 1929.
Mickey and Minnie are featured spending a day at
the beach. They are at first singing and dancing
at the shore but at some point Minnie is swept by
a wave into the sea. She panicks and seems to
start drowning. Mickey discovers a rowboat placed
upside-down on the beach. He lifts it to discover
an amorous couple who were using the boat as their
cover from prying eyes. Mickey proceeds to place
it into the water and then rows the boat forward
until he reaches Minnie. He manages 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 written in 1832 by Emma
Hart Willard (February 23, 1787 - April 15, 1870),
in an apparent effort to cheer her up. Soon seals,
walruses, penguins, pelicans, and other water
birds start dancing to Mickey's tune. Minnie
cheers up and the short ends. Mickey was depicted
acting much like a lifeguard during the short.
Otherwise it is only notable as the first of
Mickey's adventures at sea.


Mouse in transition

Mickey entering the 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.


First comic strip appearance
By this point Mickey had appeared in fifteen
commercially successful animated shorts and was
easily recognized by the public. So Walt Disney
was approached by King Features Syndicate with the
offer to licence Mickey and his supporting
characters for use in a comic strip. Walt accepted
and Mickey made his first comic strip appearance
on January 13, 1930. The comical plot was credited
to Walt Disney himself, art to Ub Iwerks and
inking to Win Smith. The first week or so of the
strip featured a loose adaptation of Plane Crazy.
Minnie soon became the first addition to the cast.
The strips first released between January 13 and
March 31, 1930 have been occasionally reprinted in
comic book form under the collective title "Lost
on a Desert Island".


Classical music performances
Meanwhile in animation, two more Mickey shorts had
been released. The first of them was The Barnyard
Concert, first released on March 3, 1930. It
featured Mickey conducting an orchestra. The only
recurring characters among its members were
Clarabelle as a flutist and Horace as a drummer.
Their rendition of the Poet and Peasant (Dichter
und Bauer), an overture written in 1846 by Franz
von Suppé (April 18, 1819 - May 21, 1885), is
humorous enough; but it has been noted that
several of the gags featured were repeated from
previous shorts. The second was originally
released on March 14, 1930 under the title
Fiddlin' Around but has since been renamed to
Just Mickey. Both titles give an accurate enough
description of the short which has Mickey
performing a violin solo. It is only notable for
Mickey's emotional renditions of the finale to
Gioacchino Rossini's William Tell Overture -
1829, Robert Schumann's Träumerei (Reverie),
which is a notable extract from Kinderszenen
(Scenes from Childhood - 1838), and Franz Liszt's
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, written after 1839.


Departure of a co-creator and consequences
They were followed by Cactus Kid, first released
on 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. Mickey was again cast as a lonely
traveler who walks into the local tavern and
starts flirting with its dancer. The latter is
again Minnie. The rival suitor to Mickey is again
Pete though using the alias Peg-Leg Pedro. For the
first time in a Mickey short, Pete was depicted as
having a peg-leg. This would become a recurring
feature of the character. The rhea of the original
short was replaced by Horace Horsecollar. This is
considered to be his last non-anthropomorphic
appearance. The short is considered significant
for being the last Mickey short to be animated by
Ub Iwerks.

Shortly before its release, Iwerks had left the
Studio in an attempt to create his own. The result
of his early efforts was the Flip the Frog series.
His departure is considered to mark a turning
point to the careers of both Walt Disney and
Mickey Mouse. The former lost the man who served
as his closest colleague and confidant since 1919.
The latter lost the man responsible for his
original design and for the direction and/or
animation of several of the shorts released till
this point, and some would argue Mickey's
creator. Walt Disney has been credited for the
inspiration to create Mickey, but Iwerks was the
one to design the character and the first few
Mickey Mouse cartoons were mostly or entirely
drawn by Iwerks. Consequently some animation
historians have suggested that Iwerks should be
considered the actual creator of Mickey Mouse. It
has been pointed that advertising for the early
Mickey Mouse cartoons credit them as "A Walt
Disney Comic, drawn by Ub Iwerks". Later Disney
Company reissues of the early cartoons tend to
credit Walt Disney alone.

In any case, Walt and his remaining staff
continued the production of the Mickey series.
Mickey continued to appear regularly in animated
shorts until 1943 and again from 1946 to 1953. But
back in early 1930, Walt had another matter to
attend to: the creation of the comic strip after
Iwerks' departure. At first Walt was content to
continue scripting it and assigning the art to Win
Smith. However, Walt's focus had always been in
animation and Smith was soon assigned with the
scripting as well. Win Smith was apparently
discontent at having to script, draw, and ink a
series by himself. This became evident by his
sudden resignation. Another reason might be that
Walt Disney was a very impossible man, and Win
Smith got sick of this lack of freedom to create
in.

Walt proceeded to search for a replacement to
Smith among the remaining staff of the Studio. For
uncertain reasons he chose Floyd Gottfredson, a
recently hired employee. At the time Floyd was
reportedly eager to work in animation and somewhat
reluctant to accept his new assignment. Walt had
to assure Floyd that the assignment was only
temporary and that he would eventually return to
animation. Floyd accepted and ended up holding
this "temporary" assignment from May 5, 1930 to
November 15, 1975.


Appearances in comics
Floyd at first had to work on the continuation of
a storyline which his predecessors had started on
April 1, 1930. The storyline was completed on
September 20, 1930 and was later reprinted in
comic book form as Mickey Mouse in Death Valley.
This early adventure contributed to the extension
of the comic strip cast which by this point only
included Mickey and Minnie. This story would bring
the first comic strip appearances of Clarabelle
Cow, Horace Horsecollar and Black Pete as well as
the debuts of corrupted lawyer Sylvester Shyster
and Minnie's uncle Mortimer Mouse. The story was
followed by Mr. Slicker and the Egg Robbers, first
printed between September 22 and December 26,
1930, which introduced Marcus Mouse and his wife
as Minnie's parents.

Starting with this two early comic strip stories,
Mickey's versions in animation and comics are
considered to have diverged from each other. While
Disney and his cartoon shorts would continue to
focus on comedy, the comic strip effectively
combined comedy and adventure. This adventurous
version of Mickey would continue to appear in
comic strips and later comic books throughout the
20th and into the 21st century.


Later Mickey history

1930-1950
 
A typical style of sign in Walt Disney World,
showing one of many uses by Disney of the Mickey
ears logo.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.

By his sister Amelia Fieldmouse, Mickey Mouse has
two nephews, the lesser-known Morty and Ferdie
Fieldmouse (in contrast to Donald Duck's famous
nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie).

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 1977 and 1989).

Mickey has only starred in one 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) and The Prince and the
Pauper (1990, screened in front of The Rescuers
Down Under).

For many years, Mickey Mouse has served as the
mascot for The Walt Disney Company, alongside
Jiminy Cricket and Tinkerbell.


Recent history
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. Warner and Disney signed an
agreement stating that each character had exactly
the same amount of screen time, right down to the
semi-second.

Only three 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
currently, Wayne Allwine, who first voiced the
Mouse in Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983. His
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. He has yet to appear in an original
Disney film that wasn't based on classical
works.

 
Mickey and friends run a nightclub together in
Disney's House of Mouse.Many television programs
have centered around Mickey, such as the recent
shows Mickey Mouse Works and Disney's House of
Mouse.

Mickey was the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of
Roses Parade on New Year's Day 2005.

In Disney Interactive and Square Enix's Kingdom
Hearts video game series, King Mickey Mouse
presides over Disney Castle alongside Queen Minnie
Mouse. Donald Duck is his Court Wizard, while
Goofy Goof is the head of the King's royal guard.
Mickey only appears briefly in the first game, but
is expected to play a much larger role in the
sequel, Kingdom Hearts II. He also appears in the
Game Boy Advance "semi-sequel", Kingdom Hearts:
Chain of Memories, in which he aids Riku in
finding his way through Castle Oblivion.


Mickey's Voice
A large part of Mickey's screen persona is his
famously shy, falsetto voice. From his first
speaking role in The Karnival Kid onward, Mickey
was voiced by Walt Disney himself, a task Disney
took great personal pride in. (Carl Stalling
allegedly did some uncredited ADR for Mickey in a
few early shorts as well.) However, by 1947,
Disney was becoming too busy with running the
studio to do regular voicework (and it is
speculated his cigarette habit had damaged his
voice over the years), and after the Mickey and
the Beanstalk section of Fun and Fancy Free,
Mickey's voice was handed over to veteran Disney
musician and actor Jim MacDonald. MacDonald voiced
Mickey in the remainder of the theatrical shorts,
and for various television and publicity projects
up until his retirement in the mid-1970s. 1983's
Mickey's Christmas Carol marked the debut of
Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse, who is the current
voice actor. Allwine is, incidentally, married to
Russi Taylor, the current voice of Minnie Mouse.


Social impact
 
Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney
World
Electoral career
In the United States, protest votes are often made
in order to indicate dissatisfaction with the
slate of electors presented on a particular
ballot, or to highlight the inadequacies of a
particular voting procedure. Since most states'
electoral systems do not provide for blank
balloting or a choice of "None of the Above",
most protest votes take the form of a clearly
non-serious candidate's name entered as a
write-in vote. Cartoon characters are typically
chosen for this purpose; as Mickey Mouse is the
most well-known and well-recognized character in
America, his name is frequently selected for this
purpose. (Other popular selections include Donald
Duck and Bugs Bunny.) This phenomenon has the
humorous effect of causing Mickey Mouse to be a
minor but perennial contestor of nearly all U.S.
presidential elections.

A similar phenomenon occurs in the parliamentary
elections in Finland, although Finns usually write
Donald Duck as a protest vote because Donald is
more popular in Finland than Mickey.


Pejorative use of Mickey's name
"Mickey Mouse" is a slang expression used as a
diminutive adjective and adverb meaning
small-time, amateurish or of inferior quality. A
poorly executed construction project, for
instance, could be pejoratively described as a
"Mickey Mouse job". Presumably, this comes from
the insinuation that the object or action in
question was taken as seriously as a Mickey Mouse
cartoon (that is to say, not at all). The term
does not imply any actual connection to Mickey.

An alternative theory comes from the fact that
Mickey Mouse watches were notorious for breaking
down.

In Finland, the software company Microsoft is
often derogatorily called "Mikkisofta" ("Mickey
Software").

"Mickey Mouse money" is a derogatory term for
foreign currency, often used by Americans to
describe indigenous currency in a foreign country
in which they are traveling.

It is common for residents of the state of
Florida, home of Walt Disney World Resort, to
refer to him as "Mickey Rat".

In the 1996 Warner Brothers film Space Jam, Bugs
Bunny derogatorily referred to the antagonistic
"Monstarrs" alien basketball team as a "Mickey
Mouse organization."





Mickey Mouse bans
In 1935, Romanian authorities banned Mickey Mouse
films from cinemas after they feared that children
would be scared to see a ten-foot mouse in the
movie theatre.

In 1936, Adolf Hitler declared Mickey Mouse to be
an enemy of the state in Nazi Germany.


Copyright and trademark issues
Many people have believed erroneously that the
Mickey Mouse character is protected only by
copyright. In fact, the Mickey Mouse character,
like all major Disney characters, is protected as
a trademark, which like all trademarks lasts in
perpetuity as long as it continues to be used
commercially by its owner. Whether or not a
particular Disney cartoon goes into the public
domain, the characters themselves will remain
protected as trademarks from unauthorized use.

The Walt Disney Company has become well known for
protecting its trademark on the Mickey Mouse
character, whose likeness is so closely associated
with the company, with particular zeal. Disney
chose not to sue Paul Krassner for publishing
Wally Wood's illustration of The Disneyland
Memorial Orgy in the underground newspaper The
Realist in 1967, and didn't pursue legal redress
until a bootleg blacklight poster appeared. In a
protracted case in the 1970s, Disney sued
underground cartoonist Dan O'Neill for his comic
book Air Pirate Funnies, even going so far as to
request the court press criminal charges.