Mickey Mouse Turns 80!
Categories: Life & style, In the news, Media, Birthdays
Mickey Celebrates His 80th Birthday
Disney's most popular character is celebrating a birthday today. No, its not Miley Cyrus. It's Mickey Mouse himself!
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Mickey got his start in life after his creator, Walt Disney, got screwed over by Universal Pictures. In 1928, Disney was heading up Disney Brothers Studio for Universal and riding high with his wildly popular character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Rather than reward Disney for his success, Universal stole his character, hired away his employees and offered to let him stick around at a reduced salary. That was an offer Disney could - and did - refuse.
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Walt Disney and his loyal animator Ub Iwerks went back to the drawing board, transforming Oswald the Rabbit into a mouse. Mickey, briefly known as Mortimer, struggled through a few animated bombs before finally getting his big break on November 18, 1928. On that date in New York City, Steamboat Willie premiered to rave reviews. The first animation to feature synchronized music and sound effects, the film made Mickey Mouse a star.
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With Mickey's popularity spreading across the country, Walt Disney kicked the marketing into high gear. Mickey Mouse merchandise was created and within two years, the lovable rodent had his own fan club - The Mickey Mouse Club. Take that, Universal Pictures!
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Over the years, Mickey has undergone numerous makeovers but his appeal remains constant. He has transcended his humble beginnings to become a cultural icon recognized and loved around the world.
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And unlike many other Disney stars, Mickey never succumbed to the temptations of fame and remains to this day an appropriate object of affection for children everywhere. Happy Birthday, Mickey!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
R 11-19-2008 @ 8:43AM
For someone whose career is as well-documented as Mickey's (or Walt's), this brief article has a surprising number of factual errors, but that seems to be typical of AOL. First, Disney was not working for Universal; they were merely distributing the cartoons Disney Studio produced. Next, Mickey was never known as Mortimer. And there were no "animated bombs" with Mickey before "Steamboat Willie;" it was the first Mickey cartoon released, and was an instant sensation.
(One also has to question the writers judgement in using the phrase "screwed over" in an article about a character that is later refered to as "an appropriate object of affection for children everywhere."
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LS 11-19-2008 @ 9:05AM
Um... yeah, Walt WAS working for Universal, in that his studio, Disney Brothers, fell under the "umbrella", if you will, of Universal. They had exclusive rights to all that the brothers did, and did, indeed, "screw over" Walt by hiring all of his animators (except one) away without his knowledge. What would YOU call that? (and the writer was referring to the actions of Universal, not Disney or Mickey when she used the phrase "screwed over"... which again, is exactly what happened)
Mickey WAS first known as "Mortimer"... that name was changed when Walt's wife suggested that "Mickey" had a happier ring to it. He never appeared in any films under the name "Mortimer".
Mickey starred in two short films before "Steamboat"... "Plane Crazy", released May 15, 1928, and "The Galloping Gaucho", produced before "Steamboat" but released after, in December of 1928. Neither film enjoyed wide audience, and "Steamboat" (released Nov. 18, 1928, hence Mickey's "Birthday") is considered Mickey's 'breakout' film. But he did appear in others before that.
If you need further information about these facts, you can find it in several places: read the Time Magazine article referenced by Ms. Maple, look up "Mickey Mouse" on Wikipedia (where I found most of my information), check out the Disney Archives (http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/characterstandard/mickey/debut/debut.html), which has a surprisingly limited amount of information, or you can simply Google "Mickey Mouse", and it's all there for you to read.
R 11-19-2008 @ 9:28AM
Indeed, "Plane Crazy" was given a one-time preview at one theater on May 15th, but not distributed until after "Steamboat," and as LS writes, "Galloping" was not ever shown publicly until after "Steamboat," so my contention with the original author's article stating that Mickey "struggled through a few animated bombs" as being inaccurate still stands.
As for the Mickey/Mortimer debate, no less an authority than Dave Smith, head of the Walt Disney Archives writes that the Mortimer story is a "legend." It first appeared in an interview with Lillian Disney that appeared in McCalls magazine in the mid 'thirties. (There are several versions and variants of the creation of Mickey.)
To say that Mickey WAS known as Mortimer is to say that a child WAS known as one of the numerous names their parents thought of before they were born.
I will be happy to cite my sources, if required. I must also say that in my experience, Wikipedia is almost never definitive and often innacurate or incomplete, so should always be verified elsewhere.
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LS 11-19-2008 @ 10:12AM
From “Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Animated Characters”, by John Grant (forward by Dave Smith): “The story of the genesis of Mickey Mouse is a fairly tangled one – and Walt himself did not help matters by cheerfully telling several different versions of it. One of these was that he and his wife Lillian dreamt up the character on their way home from New York after having lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is, according to this version, thanks to Lillian Disney that the great cartoon creation was not called Mortimer Mouse… She said that a character called Mortimer Mouse would never get anywhere… in 1936, a Disney short did indeed feature a Mortimer Mouse and his career was notably short.”
From “Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia” by Dave Smith. “Plane Crazy: the first Mickey Mouse cartoon made but the third one released, after sound was added, in 1928.” … “Gallopin’ Gaucho” (paraphrased): second MM cartoon produced. Made as silent, but released after sound was added.
According to IMDB, Plane Crazy was released as a silent film, in Hollywood, before Steamboat Willie. Steamboat is considered Mickey’s “first”, because it was 1) more popular, 2) enjoyed a wider release, and 3) was groundbreaking in that it had sound. “Plane Crazy” then had sound added and was re-released.
All nitpicking aside… Ms. Maple did a fine job writing her article, basing it on the information she had, the Time article, which she cited.
The original point stands… Mickey is timeless, and, as Ms. Maple states, “never succumbed to the temptations of fame and remains to this day an appropriate object of affection for children everywhere.”
So I agree with her: Happy Birthday, Mickey!
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Helena 11-21-2008 @ 2:37AM
WOW!!!Happy birthday Mickey!!! Now this is a character that is scandal-free and has brought nothing but joy, laughter and clean entertainment to children for over 80 years!!I sincerely think that Mickey Mouse (and the whole gang) epitomize what the late Walt Disney truly envisioned for Disney Corporation from the very beginning!! I'd rather have a collection of Disney classics to show my kids than many of the stupid cartoons on offer now!! I hope Mickey "lives" on for the next 100 years!!!
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J Beals 11-22-2008 @ 9:32AM
One of my kids commented that Mickey's silhouette, with the large round ears, brings to mind an old style movie projector with the two large reels on top. I thought that was pretty nifty.
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laura 11-22-2008 @ 10:32AM
Happy Birthday Mickey!!
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Lou 11-22-2008 @ 11:31AM
yeah, mickey and I were born the same year. Im also 80.I have the first steamboat wille book ever published in 1928..sorry to say, over the years, ickey made a lot more mney than me...LOL
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Elizabeth 11-22-2008 @ 1:19PM
We could have well done with Mickey Mouse for the past 80 years.
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Dennis 11-22-2008 @ 2:24PM
Why do people call small business or ilequipt business as Micky mouse operations?
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Lisa 11-22-2008 @ 3:29PM
Happy Birthday Mickey!!! WOW 80!!!
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