Mickey Mouse
First appearanceSteamboat Willie(November 18, 1928)
[1]
Created byWalt Disney
Ub Iwerks
Voiced byWalt Disney (1928–1947; 1955–1962; 2013)
Carl W. Stalling (1929)
Clarence Nash (1934)
Jimmy MacDonald (1947–1977)
Wayne Allwine (1977–2009)[2]
Les Perkins (1986–1987)
Bret Iwan (2009–present)
Chris Diamantopoulos (2013–present)
(see voice actors)
Developed byLes Clark
Fred Moore
Floyd Gottfredson
Information
Alias
SpeciesMouse
GenderMale
OccupationDetective (MM - Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine)
FamilyMickey Mouse family
Significant otherMinnie Mouse
Pet dogPluto

Mickey Mouse is a funny animalcartooncharacter and the mascot of The Walt Disney Company. He was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at the Walt Disney Studios in 1928. An anthropomorphicmouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves, Mickey is one of the world's most recognizable characters.

Created as a replacement for a prior Disney character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey first appeared in the short Plane Crazy, debuting publicly in the short filmSteamboat Willie (1928), one of the first sound cartoons. He went on to appear in over 130 films, including The Band Concert (1935), Brave Little Tailor (1938), and Fantasia (1940). Mickey appeared primarily in short films, but also occasionally in feature-length films. Ten of Mickey's cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of which, Lend a Paw, won the award in 1942. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Beginning in 1930, Mickey has also been featured extensively as a comic strip character. His self-titled newspaper strip, drawn primarily by Floyd Gottfredson, ran for 45 years. Mickey has also appeared in comic books such as Disney Italy's Topolino, MM - Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine, and Wizards of Mickey, and in television series such as The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1996) and others. He also appears in other media such as video games as well as merchandising and is a meetable character at the Disney parks.

Mickey generally appears alongside his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, his pet dog Pluto, his friends Donald Duck and Goofy, and his nemesis Pete, among others (see Mickey Mouse universe). Though originally characterized as a cheeky lovable rogue, Mickey was rebranded over time as a nice guy, usually seen as an honest and bodacious hero. In 2009, Disney began to rebrand the character again by putting less emphasis on his friendly, well-meaning persona and reintroducing the more menacing and stubborn sides of his personality, beginning with the video game Epic Mickey.[3]

  • 1History
    • 1.1Film
  • 2Portrayal
  • 3Merchandising
  • 4Social impact
  • 5Legal issues
  • 6Filmography
  • 9References

History

Film

Origin

Concept art of Mickey from early 1928; the sketches are the earliest known drawings of the character, from the collection of The Walt Disney Family Museum.

I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.

— Walt Disney, Disneyland; October 27, 1954

Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier cartoon character created by the Disney studio for Charles Mintz, a film producer who distributed product through Universal Studios.[4] In the spring of 1928, with the series going strong, Disney asked Mintz for an increase in the budget. But Mintz instead demanded that Walt take a 20 percent budget cut, and as leverage, he reminded Disney that Universal owned the character, and revealed that he had already signed most of Disney's current employees to his new contract. Angrily, Disney refused the deal and returned to produce the final Oswald cartoons he contractually owed Mintz. Disney was dismayed at the betrayal by his staff but determined to restart from scratch. The new Disney Studio initially consisted of animator Ub Iwerks and a loyal apprentice artist, Les Clark, who together with Wilfred Jackson were among the few who remained loyal to Walt. One lesson Disney learned from the experience was to thereafter always make sure that he owned all rights to the characters produced by his company.

In the spring of 1928, Disney asked Ub Iwerks to start drawing up new character ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of various animals, such as dogs and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. A female cow and male horse were also rejected. They would later turn up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. A male frog was also rejected. It would later show up in Iwerks' own Flip the Frog series.[5] Walt Disney got the inspiration for Mickey Mouse from a tame mouse at his desk at Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri.[6] In 1925, Hugh Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. These inspired Ub Iwerks to create a new mouse character for Disney.[5] 'Mortimer Mouse' had been Disney's original name for the character before his wife, Lillian, convinced him to change it, and ultimately Mickey Mouse came to be.[7][8] The actor Mickey Rooney claimed that, during his Mickey McGuire days, he met cartoonist Walt Disney at the Warner Brothers studio, and that Disney was inspired to name Mickey Mouse after him.[9] This claim, however, has been debunked by Disney historian Jim Korkis, since at the time of Mickey Mouse's development, Disney Studios had been located on Hyperion Avenue for several years, and Walt Disney never kept an office or other working space at Warner Brothers, having no professional relationship with Warner Brothers, as the Alice Comedies and Oswald cartoons were distributed by Universal.[10][11]

Debut (1928)

Mickey's first appearance in Steamboat Willie (1928)

Disney had Ub Iwerks secretly begin animating a new cartoon while still under contract with Universal. The cartoon was co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks was the main animator for the short and reportedly spent six weeks working on it. In fact, Iwerks was the main animator for every Disney short released in 1928 and 1929. Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising also assisted Disney during those years. They 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.[1]

Mickey was first seen in a test screening of the cartoon short Plane Crazy, on May 15, 1928, but it failed to impress the audience 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, which was also not released for lack of a distributor.[1]

Steamboat Willie was first released on November 18, 1928, in New York. 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. Although it was the third Mickey cartoon produced, it was the first to find a distributor, and thus is considered by The Disney Company as Mickey's debut. Willie featured changes to Mickey's appearance (in particular, simplifying his eyes to large dots) that established his look for later cartoons and in numerous Walt Disney films.[12][13]

The cartoon was not the first cartoon to feature a soundtrack connected to the action. Fleischer Studios, headed by brothers Dave and Max Fleischer, had already released a number of sound cartoons using the DeForest system in the mid-1920s. However, these cartoons did not keep the sound synchronized throughout the film. For Willie, Disney had the sound recorded with a click track that kept the musicians on the beat. This precise timing is apparent during the 'Turkey in the Straw' sequence when Mickey's actions exactly match the accompanying instruments. 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 was voice actor for both Mickey and Minnie and would remain the source of Mickey's voice through 1946 for theatrical cartoons. Jimmy MacDonald took over the role in 1946, but Walt provided Mickey's voice again from 1955 to 1959 for The Mickey Mouse Club television series on ABC.

Audiences at the time of Steamboat Willie's release were reportedly impressed by the use of sound for comedic purposes. Sound films or 'talkies' 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, The Barn Dance, was also put into production; however, Mickey does not actually speak until The Karnival Kid in 1929 when his first spoken words were 'Hot dogs, Hot dogs!' After Steamboat Willie was released, Mickey became a close competitor to Felix the Cat, and his popularity would grow as he was continuously featured in sound cartoons. By 1929, Felix would lose popularity among theater audiences, and Pat Sullivan decided to produce all future Felix cartoons in sound as a result.[14] Unfortunately, audiences did not respond well to Felix's transition to sound and by 1930, Felix had faded from the screen.[15]

Black and white films (1929–1935)

Mickey with Minnie Mouse in Building a Building (1933)

In Mickey's early films he was often characterized not as a hero, but as an ineffective young suitor to Minnie Mouse. The Barn Dance (March 14, 1929) is the first time in which Mickey is turned down by Minnie in favor of Pete.

The Opry House (March 28, 1929) was the first time in which Mickey wore his white gloves. Mickey wears them in almost all of his subsequent appearances and many other characters followed suit. The three lines on the back of Mickey's gloves represent darts in the gloves' fabric extending from between the digits of the hand, typical of glove design of the era.

When the Cat's Away (April 18, 1929), essentially a remake of the Alice Comedy, 'Alice Rattled by Rats', was an unusual appearance for Mickey. Although Mickey and Minnie still maintained their anthropomorphic characteristics, they were depicted as the size of regular mice and living with a community many other mice as pests in a home. Mickey and Minnie would later appear the size of regular humans in their own setting. In appearances with real humans, Mickey has been shown to be about two to three feet high.[16] The next Mickey short was also unusual. The Barnyard Battle (April 25, 1929) was the only film to depict Mickey as a soldier and also the first to place him in combat. The Karnival Kid (1929) was the first time Mickey spoke. Before this he had only whistled, laughed, and grunted. His first words were 'Hot dogs! Hot dogs!' said while trying to sell hot dogs at a carnival. Mickey's Follies (1929) introduced the song 'Minnie's Yoo-Hoo' which would become the theme song for Mickey Mouse films for the next several years. The 'Minnie's Yoo-Hoo' song sequence was also later reused with different background animation as its own special short shown only at the commencement of 1930s theater-based Mickey Mouse Clubs.[17][18] Mickey's dog Pluto first appeared as Mickey's pet in The Moose Hunt (1931) after previously appearing as Minnie's dog 'Rover' in The Picnic (1930).

The Cactus Kid (April 11, 1930) was the last film to be animated by Ub Iwerks at Disney. Shortly before the release of the film, Iwerks left to start his own studio, bankrolled by Disney's then-distributor Pat Powers. Powers and Disney had a falling out over money due Disney from the distribution deal. It was in response to losing the right to distribute Disney's cartoons that Powers made the deal with Iwerks, who had long harbored a desire to head his own studio. The departure is considered a turning point in Mickey's career, as well as that of Walt Disney. Walt lost the man who served as his closest colleague and confidant since 1919. Mickey lost the man responsible for his original design and for the direction or animation of several of the shorts released till this point. Advertising for the early Mickey Mouse cartoons credited them as 'A Walt Disney Comic, drawn by Ub Iwerks'. Later Disney Company reissues of the early cartoons tend to credit Walt Disney alone.

Disney and his remaining staff continued the production of the Mickey series, and he was able to eventually find a number of animators to replace Iwerks. As the Great Depression progressed and Felix the Cat faded from the movie screen, Mickey's popularity would rise, and by 1932 The Mickey Mouse Club would have one million members.[19] At the 5th Academy Awards in 1932, Mickey received his first Academy Award nomination, received for Mickey's Orphans (1931). Walt Disney also received an honorary Academy Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Despite being eclipsed by the Silly Symphonies short the Three Little Pigs in 1933, Mickey still maintained great popularity among theater audiences too, until 1935, when polls showed that Popeye was more popular than Mickey.[20][21][22] By 1934, Mickey merchandise had earned $600,000.00 a year.[23] In 1935, Disney began to phase out the Mickey Mouse Clubs, due to administration problems.[24]

About this time, story artists at Disney were finding it increasingly difficult to write material for Mickey. As he had developed into a role model for children, they were limited in the types of gags they could make. This led to Mickey taking more of a secondary role in some of his next films allowing for more emphasis on other characters. In Orphan's Benefit (August 11, 1934) Mickey first appeared with Donald Duck who had been introduced earlier that year in the Silly Symphonies series. The tempestuous duck would provide Disney with seemingly endless story ideas and would remain a recurring character in Mickey's cartoons.

Color films (1935–1953)

Mickey in The Band Concert (1935)
Mickey in Fantasia (1940)

Mickey first appeared animated in color in Parade of the Award Nominees in 1932, however, the film strip was created for the 5th Academy Awards ceremony and was not released to the public. Mickey's official first color film came in 1935 with The Band Concert. The Technicolor film process was used in the film production. Here Mickey conducted the William Tell Overture, but the band is swept up by a tornado. It is said that conductor Arturo Toscanini so loved this short that, upon first seeing it, he asked the projectionist to run it again. In 1994, The Band Concert was voted the third-greatest cartoon of all time in a poll of animation professionals. By colorizing and partially redesigning Mickey, Walt would put Mickey back on top once again, and Mickey would reach popularity he never reached before as audiences now gave him more appeal.[25] Also in 1935, Walt would receive a special award from the League of Nations for creating Mickey.

However, by 1938, the more manic Donald Duck would surpass the passive Mickey, resulting in a redesign of the mouse between 1938 and 1940 that put Mickey at the peak of his popularity.[25] The second half of the 1930s saw the character Goofy reintroduced as a series regular. Together, Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy would go on several adventures together. Several of the films by the comic trio are some of Mickey's most critically acclaimed films, including Mickey's Fire Brigade (1935), Moose Hunters (1937), Clock Cleaners (1937), Lonesome Ghosts (1937), Boat Builders (1938), and Mickey's Trailer (1938). Also during this era, Mickey would star in Brave Little Tailor (1938), an adaptation of The Valiant Little Tailor, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Mickey was redesigned by animator Fred Moore which was first seen in The Pointer (1939). Instead of having solid black eyes, Mickey was given white eyes with pupils, a Caucasian skin colored face, and a pear-shaped body. In the 40's, he changed once more in The Little Whirlwind, where he used his trademark pants for the last time in decades, lost his tail, got more realistic ears that changed with perspective and a different body anatomy. But this change would only last for a short period of time before returning to the one in 'The Pointer', with the exception of his pants. In his final theatrical cartoons in the 1950s, he was given eyebrows, which were removed in the more recent cartoons.

In 1940, Mickey appeared in his first feature-length film, Fantasia. His screen role as The Sorcerer's Apprentice, set to the symphonic poem of the same name by Paul Dukas, is perhaps the most famous segment of the film and one of Mickey's most iconic roles. The segment features no dialogue at all, only the music. The apprentice (Mickey), not willing to do his chores, puts on the sorcerer's magic hat after the sorcerer goes to bed and casts a spell on a broom, which causes the broom to come to life and perform the most tiring chore—filling up a deep well using two buckets of water. When the well eventually overflows, Mickey finds himself unable to control the broom, leading to a near-flood. After the segment ends, Mickey is seen in silhouette shaking hands with Leopold Stokowski, who conducts all the music heard in Fantasia. Mickey has often been pictured in the red robe and blue sorcerer's hat in merchandising. It was also featured into the climax of Fantasmic!, an attraction at the Disney theme parks.

After 1940, Mickey's popularity would decline until his 1955 re-emergence as a daily children's television personality.[26] Despite this, the character continued to appear regularly in animated shorts until 1943 (winning his only competitive Academy Award—with canine companion Pluto—for a short subject, Lend a Paw) and again from 1946 to 1952.

The last regular installment of the Mickey Mouse film series came in 1953 with The Simple Things in which Mickey and Pluto go fishing and are pestered by a flock of seagulls.

Television and later films

Mickey in Disney's House of Mouse (2001–2003)

In the 1950s, Mickey became more known for his appearances on television, particularly with The Mickey Mouse Club. Many of his theatrical cartoon shorts were rereleased on television series such as Ink & Paint Club, various forms of the Walt Disney anthology television series, and on home video. Mickey returned to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in which Mickey played Bob Cratchit. This was followed up in 1990 with The Prince and the Pauper.

Throughout the decades, Mickey Mouse competed with Warner Bros.' Bugs Bunny for animated popularity. But in 1988, the two rivals finally shared screen time in the Robert ZemeckisDisney/Amblin film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Disney and Warner signed an agreement stating that each character had the same amount of screen time in the scene.

Similar to his animated inclusion into a live-action film on Roger Rabbit, Mickey made a featured cameo appearance in the 1990 television special The Muppets at Walt Disney World where he met Kermit the Frog. The two are established in the story as having been old friends. The Muppets have otherwise spoofed and referenced Mickey over a dozen times since the 1970s. Eventually, The Muppets were purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2004.

His most recent theatrical cartoon short was 2013's Get a Horse! which was preceded by 1995's Runaway Brain, while from 1999 to 2004, he appeared in direct-to-video features like Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers and the computer-animated Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas.

Many television series have centered on Mickey, such as the ABC shows Mickey Mouse Works (1999–2000), Disney's House of Mouse (2001–2003), Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2016), and Mickey and the Roadster Racers (2017–). Prior to all these, Mickey was also featured as an unseen character in the Bonkers episode 'You Oughta Be In Toons'.

Mickey has recently been announced to star in two films. One is being based on the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort, while the other is a film idea pitched by Walt Disney Animation Studios veteran Burny Mattinson centering on Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.[27]

Since June 28, 2013, Disney Channel has been airing new 3-minute Mickey Mouse shorts, with animator Paul Rudish at the helm, incorporating elements of Mickey's late twenties-early thirties look with a contemporary twist.[28] The creative team behind the 2017 DuckTales reboot had hoped to have Mickey Mouse in the series, but this idea was rejected by Disney executives.[29]

In August 2018, ABC television announced a two-hour prime time special, Mickey's 90th Spectacular, in honor of Mickey's 90th birthday. The program featured never-before-seen short videos and several other celebrities who wanted to share their memories about Mickey Mouse and performed some of the Disney songs to impress Mickey. The show took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and was produced and directed by Don Mischer on November 4, 2018.[30][31] On November 18, 2018, a 90th anniversary event for the character was celebrated around the world.[32]

Comics

Mickey Mouse
Mickey and Horace Horsecollar from the Mickey Mouse daily strip; created by Floyd Gottfredson and published December 1932
Author(s)
  • Walt Disney (1930)
  • Win Smith (1930)
  • Floyd Gottfredson (1930–1932)
  • Ted Osborne (1932–1937)
  • Merrill De Maris (1937–1944)
  • Bill Walsh (1944–1964)
  • Dick Shaw (1964–1969)
  • Del Connell (1969–1988)[33]
  • Floyd Norman (1984–1990)[34]
  • Daan Jippes (Sundays only, 1986–1989)[35]
Illustrator(s)
  • Ub Iwerks (1930)
  • Win Smith (1930)
  • Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1930 – November 15, 1975)
  • Manuel Gonzales (Sundays only, 1939–1981)[36]
  • Bill Wright (Sundays only, 1942–1946, 1956, 1979–1983)[37]
  • Carson Van Osten (1974–1975)[38]
  • Roman Arambula (1975–1989)[39]
  • Daan Jippes (Sundays only, 1981–1982)[35]
  • Rick Hoover (Sundays only, 1989–1994)[40]
Websitemickey.disney.com/mickey
Current status/scheduleConcluded daily & Sunday; in reruns
Launch dateJanuary 13, 1930
End datec. 1994
Syndicate(s)King Features Syndicate (1930 – c. 1994)
Creators Syndicate (reruns)
Genre(s)humor, animals

Mickey first appeared in comics after he had appeared in 15 commercially successful animated shorts and was easily recognized by the public. Walt Disney was approached by King Features Syndicate with the offer to license Mickey and his supporting characters for use in a comic strip. Disney accepted and Mickey made his first comic strip appearance on January 13, 1930. The comical plot was credited to 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, 1930, and March 31, 1930, has been occasionally reprinted in comic book form under the collective title 'Lost on a Desert Island'. Animation historian Jim Korkis notes 'After the eighteenth strip, Iwerks left and his inker, Win Smith, continued drawing the gag-a-day format...'[41]

In early 1930, after Iwerks' departure, Disney was at first content to continue scripting the Mickey Mouse comic strip, assigning the art to Win Smith. However, Disney's focus had always been in animation and Smith was soon assigned with the scripting as well. Smith was apparently discontent at the prospect of having to script, draw, and ink a series by himself as evidenced by his sudden resignation.

Disney then searched for a replacement among the remaining staff of the Studio. He selected Floyd Gottfredson, a recently hired employee. At the time Gottfredson was reportedly eager to work in animation and somewhat reluctant to accept his new assignment. Disney had to assure him the assignment was only temporary and that he would eventually return to animation. Gottfredson accepted and ended up holding this 'temporary' assignment from May 5, 1930, to November 15, 1975.

Walt Disney's last script for the strip appeared May 17, 1930.[41] Gottfredson's first task was to finish the storyline Disney had started on April 1, 1930. The storyline was completed on September 20, 1930, and later reprinted in comic book form as Mickey Mouse in Death Valley. This early adventure expanded the cast of the strip which to this point only included Mickey and Minnie. Among the characters who had their first comic strip appearances in this story were Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, and Black Pete as well as the debuts of corrupted lawyerSylvester Shyster and Minnie's uncle Mortimer Mouse. The Death Valley narrative 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 these 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.

Floyd Gottfredson left his mark with stories such as Mickey Mouse Joins the Foreign Legion (1936) and The Gleam (1942). He also created the Phantom Blot, Eega Beeva, Morty and Ferdie, Captain Churchmouse, and Butch. Besides Gottfredson artists for the strip over the years included Roman Arambula, Rick Hoover, Manuel Gonzales, Carson Van Osten, Jim Engel, Bill Wright, Ted Thwailes and Daan Jippes; writers included Ted Osborne, Merrill De Maris, Bill Walsh, Dick Shaw, Roy Williams, Del Connell, and Floyd Norman.

The next artist to leave his mark on the character was Paul Murry in Dell Comics. His first Mickey tale appeared in 1950 but Mickey did not become a specialty until Murry's first serial for Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in 1953 ('The Last Resort'). In the same period, Romano Scarpa in Italy for the magazine Topolino began to revitalize Mickey in stories that brought back the Phantom Blot and Eega Beeva along with new creations such as the Atomo Bleep-Bleep. While the stories at Western Publishing during the Silver Age emphasized Mickey as a detective in the style of Sherlock Holmes, in the modern era several editors and creators have consciously undertaken to depict a more vigorous Mickey in the mold of the classic Gottfredson adventures. This renaissance has been spearheaded by Byron Erickson, David Gerstein, Noel Van Horn, Michael T. Gilbert and César Ferioli.

In Europe, Mickey Mouse became the main attraction of a number of comics magazines, the most famous being Topolino in Italy from 1932 onward, Le Journal de Mickey in France from 1934 onward, Don Miki in Spain and the Greek Miky Maous.

Mickey was the main character for the seriesMM Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine, published in Italy from 1999 to 2001.

In 2006, he appeared in the Italian fantasy comic saga Wizards of Mickey.

In 1958, Mickey Mouse was introduced to the Arab world through another comic book called “Sameer”. He became very popular in Egypt and got a comic book with his name. Mickey’s comics in Egypt are licensed by Disney and were published since 1959 by “Dar Al-Hilal” and they were success, however Dar Al-Hilal stopped the publication in 2003 because of problems with Disney. The comics were re-released by 'Nahdat Masr' in 2004 and the first issues were sold out in less than 8 hours.[42]

Portrayal

Design

The silhouette of Mickey Mouse's head has become an iconic image.

Throughout the earlier years, Mickey's design bore heavy resemblance to Oswald, save for the ears, nose, and tail.[43][44][45] Ub Iwerks designed Mickey's body out of circles in order to make the character simple to animate. Disney employees John Hench and Marc Davis believed that this design was part of Mickey's success as it made him more dynamic and appealing to audiences.

Mickey's circular design is most noticeable in his ears. In animation in the 1940s, Mickey's ears were animated in a more realistic perspective. Later, they were drawn to always appear circular no matter which way Mickey was facing. This made Mickey easily recognizable to audiences and made his ears an unofficial personal trademark. The circular rule later created a dilemma for toy creators who had to recreate a three-dimensional Mickey.

In 1938, animator Fred Moore redesigned Mickey's body away from its circular design to a pear-shaped design. Colleague Ward Kimball praised Moore for being the first animator to break from Mickey's 'rubber hose, round circle' design. Although Moore himself was nervous at first about changing Mickey, Walt Disney liked the new design and told Moore 'that's the way I want Mickey to be drawn from now on.'

Each of Mickey's hands has only three fingers and a thumb. Disney said that this was both an artistic and financial decision, explaining 'Artistically five digits are too many for a mouse. His hand would look like a bunch of bananas. Financially, not having an extra finger in each of 45,000 drawings that make up a six and one-half minute short has saved the Studio millions.' In the film The Opry House (1929), Mickey was first given white gloves as a way of contrasting his naturally black hands against his black body. The use of white gloves would prove to be an influential design for cartoon characters, particularly with later Disney characters, but also with non-Disney characters such as Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Mighty Mouse, and Mario.

Mickey's eyes, as drawn in Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho, were large and white with black outlines. In Steamboat Willie, the bottom portion of the black outlines was removed, although the upper edges still contrasted with his head. Mickey's eyes were later re-imagined as only consisting of the small black dots which were originally his pupils, while what were the upper edges of his eyes became a hairline. This is evident only when Mickey blinks. Fred Moore later redesigned the eyes to be small white eyes with pupils and gave his face a Caucasian skin tone instead of plain white. This new Mickey first appeared in 1938 on the cover of a party program, and in animation the following year with the release of The Pointer.[46] Mickey is sometimes given eyebrows as seen in The Simple Things (1953) and in the comic strip, although he does not have eyebrows in his most recent appearances.

Some of Mickey's early appearance, particularly the gloves, and facial characteristics, evolved from blackface caricatures used in minstrel shows.[47][48][49][50][51]

Besides Mickey's gloves and shoes, he typically wears only a pair of shorts with two large buttons in the front. Before Mickey was seen regularly in color animation, Mickey's shorts were either red or a dull blue-green. With the advent of Mickey's color films, the shorts were always red. When Mickey is not wearing his red shorts, he is often still wearing red clothing such as a red bandmaster coat (The Band Concert, The Mickey Mouse Club), red overalls (Clock Cleaners, Boat Builders), a red cloak (Fantasia, Fun and Fancy Free), a red coat (Squatter's Rights, Mickey's Christmas Carol), or a red shirt (Mickey Down Under, The Simple Things).

Voice actors

Walt Disney (1901–1966), the co-creator of Mickey Mouse and founder of The Walt Disney Company, was the original voice of Mickey.

A large part of Mickey's screen persona is his famously shy, falsetto voice. From 1928 onward, Mickey was voiced by Walt Disney himself, a task in which Disney took great personal pride. However, by 1946, Disney was becoming too busy with running the studio to do regular voice work which meant he could not do Mickey's voice on a regular basis anymore. It is also speculated that his cigarette habit had damaged his voice over the years. After recording the Mickey and the Beanstalk section of Fun and Fancy Free, Mickey's voice was handed over to veteran Disney musician and actor Jimmy MacDonald. MacDonald voiced Mickey in the remainder of the theatrical shorts and for various television and publicity projects up until his retirement in 1977, although Walt would reprise Mickey's voice occasionally until his passing in 1966, such as in the introductions to the original 1955–1959 run of The Mickey Mouse Club TV series, the 'Fourth Anniversary Show' episode of the Walt Disney's Disneyland TV series that aired on September 11, 1957 and the Disneyland USA at Radio City Music Hall show from 1962.[52]

Composer Carl W. Stalling was the very first person to provide lines for Mickey in the 1929 short The Karnival Kid. Clarence Nash voiced Mickey in the 1934 short The Dognapper since Walt was traveling in Europe at the time and was unavailable to record his lines for Mickey for that short. Along with Disney, J. Donald Wilson and Joe Twerp provided the voice in 1938 broadcasts of The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air.[53]Stan Freberg voiced Mickey in the Freberg-produced record Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party. Alan Young voiced Mickey in the Disneyland record album An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players in 1974, which would be the first and only time that Alan Young voiced him.[54][55]

The 1983 short film Mickey's Christmas Carol marked the theatrical debut of Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse, who was the official voice of Mickey from 1977 until his death in 2009.[56] Allwine once recounted something MacDonald had told him about voicing Mickey: 'The main piece of advice that Jim gave me about Mickey helped me keep things in perspective. He said, 'Just remember kid, you're only filling in for the boss.' And that's the way he treated doing Mickey for years and years. From Walt, and now from Jimmy.'[57] In 1991, Allwine married Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse since 1986.

Les Perkins did the voice of Mickey in two TV specials, 'Down and Out with Donald Duck' and 'DTV Valentine', in the mid-1980s. Peter Renaday voiced Mickey in the 1980s Disney albums Yankee Doodle Mickey and Mickey Mouse Splashdance.[58][59] He also provided his voice for The Talking Mickey Mouse toy in 1986.[60][61]Quinton Flynn briefly filled in for Allwine as the voice of Mickey in a few episodes of the first season of Mickey Mouse Works whenever Allwine was unavailable to record.[62]

Bret Iwan, a former Hallmark greeting card artist, is the current voice of Mickey. Iwan was originally cast as an understudy for Allwine due to the latter’s declining health; however, Allwine died before Iwan could meet him and Iwan became the new official voice of the character. Iwan’s early recordings in 2009 included work for the Disney Cruise Line, Mickey toys, the Disney theme parks and the Disney on Ice: Celebrations! ice show.[63] He directly replaced Allwine as Mickey for the Kingdom Hearts video game series and the TV series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. His first video game voice-over of Mickey Mouse can be heard in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Iwan also became the first voice actor to portray Mickey during Disney’s rebranding of the character, providing the vocal effects of Mickey in Epic Mickey as well as his voice in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and the remake of Castle of Illusion.

Despite Iwan being Mickey's primary voice actor, the character's voice is provided by Chris Diamantopoulos in the 2013 animated series,[64] as the producers were looking for a voice closer to Walt Disney’s portrayal of the character in order to match the vintage look of that series.[65]

Merchandising

Since his early years, Mickey Mouse has been licensed by Disney to appear on many different kinds of merchandise. Mickey was produced as plush toys and figurines, and Mickey's image has graced almost everything from T-shirts to lunchboxes. Largely responsible for Disney merchandising in the 1930s was Kay Kamen (1892–1949) who was called a 'stickler for quality.' Kamen was recognized by The Walt Disney Company as having a significant part in Mickey's rise to stardom and was named a Disney Legend in 1998.[66] At the time of his 80th-anniversary celebration in 2008, Time declared Mickey Mouse one of the world's most recognized characters, even when compared against Santa Claus.[67] Disney officials have stated that 98% of children aged 3–11 around the world are at least aware of the character.[67]

Disney parks

Minnie and Mickey at Hong Kong Disneyland (top) and Mickey's house at Mickey's Toontown (bottom)

As the official Walt Disney mascot, Mickey has played a central role in the Disney parks since the opening of Disneyland in 1955. As with other characters, Mickey is often portrayed by a non-speaking costumed actor. In this form, he has participated in ceremonies and countless parades. A popular activity with guests is getting to meet and pose for photographs with the mouse. As of the presidency of Barack Obama (who jokingly referred to him as 'a world leader who has bigger ears than me')[68] Mickey has met every U.S. President since Harry Truman, with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson.[45]

Mickey also features in several specific attractions at the Disney parks. Mickey's Toontown (Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland) is a themed land which is a recreation of Mickey's neighborhood. Buildings are built in a cartoon style and guests can visit Mickey or Minnie's houses, Donald Duck's boat, or Goofy's garage. This is a common place to meet the characters.[69]

Mickey's PhilharMagic (Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland) is a 4D film which features Mickey in the familiar role of symphony conductor. At Main Street Cinema several of Mickey's short films are shown on a rotating basis; the sixth film is always Steamboat Willie. Mickey plays a central role in Fantasmic! (Disneyland Resort, Disney's Hollywood Studios) a live nighttime show which famously features Mickey in his role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. Mickey was also a central character in the now-defunct Mickey Mouse Revue (Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland) which was an indoor show featuring animatronic characters. Mickey's face currently graces the Mickey's Fun Wheel at Disney California Adventure Park, where a figure of him also stands on top of Silly Symphony Swings.

In addition to Mickey's overt presence in the parks, numerous images of him are also subtly included in sometimes unexpected places. This phenomenon is known as 'Hidden Mickey', involving hidden images in Disney films, theme parks, and merchandise.

Video games

Like many popular characters, Mickey has starred in many video games, including Mickey Mousecapade on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse, Mickey's Ultimate Challenge, and Disney's Magical Quest on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse on the Mega Drive/Genesis, Mickey Mouse: Magic Wands! on the Game Boy, and many others. In the 2000s, the Disney's Magical Quest series were ported to the Game Boy Advance, while Mickey made his sixth generation era debut in Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse, a Nintendo GameCube title aimed at younger audiences. Mickey plays a major role in the Kingdom Hearts series, as the king of Disney Castle and aide to the protagonist, Sora. King Mickey wields the Keyblade, a weapon in the form of a key that has the power to open any lock and combat darkness. Epic Mickey, featuring a darker version of the Disney universe, was released in 2010 for the Wii. The game is part of an effort by The Walt Disney Company to re-brand the Mickey Mouse character by moving away from his current squeaky clean image and reintroducing the mischievous side of his personality.[3]

Watches and clocks

A 1933 Ingersoll Mickey Mouse wristwatch

Mickey was most famously featured on wristwatches and alarm clocks, typically utilizing his hands as the actual hands on the face of the clock. The first Mickey Mouse watches were manufactured in 1933 by the Ingersoll Watch Company. The seconds were indicated by a turning disk below Mickey. The first Mickey watch was sold at the Century of Progress in Chicago, 1933 for $3.75 (equivalent to $73 in 2018). Mickey Mouse watches have been sold by other companies and designers throughout the years, including Timex, Elgin, Helbros, Bradley, Lorus, and Gérald Genta[70] The fictional character Robert Langdon from Dan Brown's novels was said to wear a Mickey Mouse watch as a reminder 'to stay young at heart.'[71]

Other products

In 1989, Milton Bradley released the electronic talking game titled Mickey Says, with three modes featuring Mickey Mouse as its host. Mickey also appeared in other toys and games, including the Worlds of Wonder released The Talking Mickey Mouse.

Fisher-Price has recently produced a line of talking animatronic Mickey dolls including 'Dance Star Mickey' (2010)[72] and 'Rock Star Mickey' (2011).[73]

In total, approximately 40% of Disney's revenues for consumer products are derived from Mickey Mouse merchandise, with revenues peaking in 1997.[67]

Social impact

Use in politics

In the United States, protest votes are often made in order to indicate dissatisfaction with the slate of candidates 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. Mickey Mouse is often selected for this purpose.[74][75] As an election supervisor in Georgia observed, 'If [Mickey Mouse] doesn’t get votes in our election, it’s a bad election.'[76] The earliest known mention of Mickey Mouse as a write-in candidate dates back to the 1932 New York City mayoral elections.[77]

Mickey Mouse's name has also been known to appear fraudulently on voter registration lists, such as in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election.[78][79]

Pejorative use of Mickey's name

'Mickey Mouse' is a slang expression meaning small-time, amateurish or trivial. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it also means poor quality or counterfeit. However, in parts of Australia it can mean excellent or very good (rhyming slang for 'grouse').[80] Examples of the former two of the three usages include the following:

  • In The Godfather Part II, Fredo's justification of betraying Michael is that his orders in the family usually were 'Send Fredo off to do this, send Fredo off to do that! Let Fredo take care of some Mickey Mouse nightclub somewhere!' as opposed to more meaningful tasks.
  • In an early episode of the 1978–82 sitcomMork & Mindy, Mork stated that Pluto was 'a Mickey Mouse planet', referring to the future dwarf planet having the same name as Mickey's pet dog Pluto. Actually, the planet was named about 20 years before the dog was.
  • In 1984, just after an ice hockey game in which Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers beat the New Jersey Devils 13–4, Gretzky was quoted as saying to a reporter, 'Well, it's time they got their act together, they're ruining the whole league. They had better stop running a Mickey Mouse organization and put somebody on the ice'. Reacting to Gretzky's comment, Devils fans wore Mickey Mouse apparel when the Oilers returned to New Jersey.[81]
  • In the 1993 Warner Bros. film Demolition Man, as Sylvester Stallone's character is fighting the malfunctioning AI of his out-of-control police car, he shouts for the system to 'Brake! Brake! Brake now, you Mickey Mouse piece of shit!'[82]
  • In the 1996 Warner Bros. film Space Jam, Bugs Bunny derogatorily comments on Daffy Duck's idea for the name of their basketball team, asking: 'What kind of Mickey Mouse organization would name a team 'The Ducks?' (This also referenced the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, an NHL team that was then owned by Disney, as well as the Disney-made The Mighty Ducks movie franchise. This was referencing the Disney/Warner Brothers rivalry.)
  • In the United States armed forces, actions that look good but have little or no practical use (such as the specific manner of making beds in basic training or the polishing of brass fittings on board ship) are commonly referred to as 'Mickey Mouse work.'[citation needed]
  • In schools a 'Mickey Mouse course', 'Mickey Mouse major', or 'Mickey Mouse degree' is a class, college major, or degree where very little effort is necessary in order to attain a good grade (especially an A) or one where the subject matter of such a class is not of any importance in the labor market.[83]
  • Musicians often refer to a film score that directly follows each action on screen, sometimes pejoratively, as Mickey Mousing (also mickey-mousing and mickeymousing).[84]
  • Software company Microsoft has been derogatorily called 'Mickeysoft'.[85]
  • In the beginning of the 1980s, then-British Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher once called the European Parliament a 'Mickey Mouse parliament', meaning a discussion club without influence.[86]
  • In the British sitcom Red Dwarf, in the episode 'Quarantine', after the team's substandard equipment nearly cost them their lives, Lister pointed out, 'We're a real Mickey Mouse operation, aren't we?' The Cat replied, 'Mickey Mouse? We ain't even Betty Boop!'
  • The combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway used for the F1U.S. Grand Prix has been described by Jacques Villeneuve and other competitors as 'Mickey Mouse'[87] due to its slow uninteresting corners, and lack of challenging corners.

Parodies and criticism

Mickey Mouse's global fame has made him both a symbol of The Walt Disney Company and of the United States itself. For this reason, Mickey has been used frequently in anti-Americansatire, such as the infamous underground cartoon 'Mickey Mouse in Vietnam' (1969). There have been numerous parodies of Mickey Mouse, such as the 2-page parody 'Mickey Rodent' by Will Elder (published in Mad #19, 1955) in which the mouse walks around unshaven and jails Donald Duck out of jealousy over the duck's larger popularity.[88] The grotesque Rat Fink character was created by Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth over his hatred of Mickey Mouse. In The Simpsons Movie, Bart Simpson puts a black bra on his head to mimic Mickey Mouse and says: 'I'm the mascot of an evil corporation!'[89] On the Comedy Central series South Park, Mickey is depicted as the sadistic, greedy, foul-mouthed boss of The Walt Disney Company, only interested in money. He also appears briefly with Donald Duck in the comic Squeak the Mouse by the Italian cartoonist Massimo Mattioli. Horst Rosenthal created a comic book, Mickey au Camp de Gurs (Mickey Mouse in the Gurs Internment Camp) while detained in the Gurs internment camp during the Second World War; he added 'Publié Sans Autorisation de Walt Disney' ('Published without Walt Disney's Permission') to the front cover.[90]

In the 1969 parody novel Bored of the Rings, Mickey Mouse is satirized as Dickey Dragon.

In the fifth episode of the Japanese anime, Pop Team Epic, Popuko, one of the main characters, attempts an impression of Mickey, but does so poorly.

Legal issues

Like all major Disney characters, Mickey Mouse is not only copyrighted but also trademarked, which lasts in perpetuity as long as it continues to be used commercially by its owner. So, whether or not a particular Disney cartoon goes into the public domain, the characters themselves may not be used as trademarks without authorization.

Because of the Copyright Term Extension Act of the United States (sometimes called the 'Mickey Mouse Protection Act' because of extensive lobbying by the Disney corporation) and similar legislation within the European Union and other jurisdictions where copyright terms have been extended, works such as the early Mickey Mouse cartoons will remain under copyright until at least 2023. However, some copyright scholars argue that Disney's copyright on the earliest version of the character may be invalid due to ambiguity in the copyright notice for Steamboat Willie.[91]

The Walt Disney Company has become well known for protecting its trademark on the Mickey Mouse character—whose likeness is closely associated with the company—with particular zeal. In 1989, Disney threatened legal action against three daycare centers in the Orlando, Florida region (where Walt Disney World is a dominant employer) for having Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters painted on their walls. The characters were removed, and the newly-opened rival Universal Studios Florida allowed the centers to use their own cartoon characters with their blessing, to build community goodwill.[92]

Walt Disney Productions v. Air Pirates

In 1971, a group of underground cartoonists calling themselves the Air Pirates, after a group of villains from early Mickey Mouse films, produced a comic called Air Pirates Funnies. In the first issue, cartoonist Dan O'Neill depicted Mickey and Minnie Mouse engaging in explicit sexual behavior and consuming drugs. As O'Neill explained, 'The air pirates were…some sort of bizarre concept to steal the air, pirate the air, steal the media….Since we were cartoonists, the logical thing was Disney.'[93] Rather than change the appearance or name of the character, which O'Neill felt would dilute the parody, the mouse depicted in Air Pirates Funnies looks like and is named 'Mickey Mouse'. Disney sued for copyright infringement, and after a series of appeals, O'Neill eventually lost and was ordered to pay Disney $1.9 million. The outcome of the case remains controversial among free-speech advocates. New York Law School professor Edward Samuels said, '[The Air Pirates] set parody back twenty years.'[94][better source needed]

Copyright status

There have been multiple attempts to argue that certain versions of Mickey Mouse are in fact in the public domain. In the 1980s, archivist George S. Brown attempted to recreate and sell cels from the 1933 short 'The Mad Doctor', on the theory that they were in the public domain because Disney had failed to renew the copyright as required by current law.[95] However, Disney successfully sued Brown to prevent such sale, arguing that the lapse in copyright for 'The Mad Doctor' did not put Mickey Mouse in the public domain because of the copyright in the earlier films.[95] Brown attempted to appeal, noting imperfections in the earlier copyright claims, but the court dismissed his argument as untimely.[95]

In 1999, Lauren Vanpelt, a law student at Arizona State University, wrote a paper making a similar argument.[95][96] Vanpelt points out that copyright law at the time required a copyright notice specify the year of the copyright and the copyright owner‘s name. The title cards to early Mickey Mouse films 'Steamboat Willie', 'Plane Crazy', and 'Gallopin' Gaucho' do not clearly identify the copyright owner, and also misidentify the copyright year.[96] However, Vanpelt notes that copyright cards in other early films may have been done correctly, which could make Mickey Mouse 'protected as a component part of the larger copyrighted films'.[96]

A 2003 article by Douglas A. Hedenkamp in the Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal analyzed Vanpelt's arguments, and concluded that she is likely correct.[95][97] Hedenkamp provided additional arguments, and identified some errors in Vanpelt's paper, but still found that due to imperfections in the copyright notice on the title cards, Walt Disney forfeited his copyright in Mickey Mouse. He concluded: 'The forfeiture occurred at the moment of publication, and the law of that time was clear: publication without proper notice irrevocably forfeited copyright protection.'[97]

Disney threatened to sue Hedenkamp for slander of title, but did not follow through.[95] The claims in Vanpelt and Hedenkamp's articles have not been tested in court.

Censorship

In 1930, the German Board of Film Censors prohibited any presentations of the Mickey Mouse cartoon The Barnyard Battle (1929). The animated short, which features the mouse as a kepi-wearing soldier fighting cat enemies in German-style helmets, was viewed by censors as a negative portrayal of Germany.[98] It was claimed by the board that the film would 'reawaken the latest anti-German feeling existing abroad since the War'.[99] The Barnyard Battle incident did not incite wider anti-Mickey sentiment in Germany in 1930; however, after Adolf Hitler came to power several years later, the Nazi regime unambiguously propagandized against Disney. A mid-1930s German newspaper article read:

Mickey Mouse is the most miserable ideal ever revealed...Healthy emotions tell every independent young man and every honorable youth that the dirty and filth-covered vermin, the greatest bacteria carrier in the animal kingdom, cannot be the ideal type of animal...Away with Jewish brutalization of the people! Down with Mickey Mouse! Wear the Swastika Cross![100][101][102]

American cartoonist and writer Art Spiegelman would later use this quote on the opening page of the second volume of his graphic novel Maus.

In 1935 Romanian authorities also banned Mickey Mouse films from cinemas, purportedly fearing that children would be 'scared to see a ten-foot mouse in the movie theatre'.[103] In 1938, based on the Ministry of Popular Culture's recommendation that a reform was necessary 'to raise children in the firm and imperialist spirit of the Fascist revolution', the Italian Government banned foreign children's literature[104] except Mickey; Disney characters were exempted from the decree for the 'acknowledged artistic merit' of Disney's work.[105] Actually, Mussolini's children were fond of Mickey Mouse, so they managed to delay his ban as long as possible.[106] In 1942, after Italy declared war on the United States, fascism immediately forced Italian publishers to stop printing any Disney stories. Mickey's stories were replaced by the adventures of Tuffolino, a new human character created by Federico Pedrocchi (script) and Pier Lorenzo De Vita (art). After the downfall of Italy's fascist government in 1945, the ban was removed.

Filmography

Mickey has been announced to appear in two films. One is a live-action/CGI hybrid film based on the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort,[107] while the other is a film idea pitched by Walt Disney Animation Studios veteran Burny Mattinson centering on Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.[27]

Selected short films

  • Steamboat Willie (1928)
  • Plane Crazy (1928)
  • The Karnival Kid (1929)
  • Mickey's Orphans (1931)
  • Building a Building (1933)
  • The Mad Doctor (1933)
  • The Band Concert (1935)
  • Thru the Mirror (1936)
  • Moving Day (1936)
  • Clock Cleaners (1937)
  • Lonesome Ghosts (1937)
  • Brave Little Tailor (1938)
  • The Pointer (1939)
  • The Nifty Nineties (1941)
  • Lend a Paw (1941)
  • Symphony Hour (1942)
  • Squatter's Rights (1946)
  • Mickey and the Seal (1948)
  • The Simple Things (1953)
  • Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
  • Runaway Brain (1995)
  • Get a Horse! (2013)

Full-length films

  • Hollywood Party (cameo, 1934)
  • Fantasia (1940)
  • Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (cameo, 1988)
  • A Goofy Movie (cameo, 1995)
  • Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) (DTV)
  • Fantasia 2000 (1999)
  • Mickey's Magical Christmas (2001) (DTV)
  • Mickey's House of Villains (2002) (DTV)
  • Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004) (DTV)
  • Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004) (DTV)

(Note:DTV means Direct-to-video)

Television series

  • The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1959; 1977–1979; 1989–1994)
  • Mickey Mouse Works (1999–2000)
  • Disney's House of Mouse (2001–2003)
  • Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006–2016)
  • Mickey Mouse (2013–present)
  • Mickey and the Roadster Racers (2017–present)[108]

Awards and honors

Mickey's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Mickey Mouse has received ten 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), Runaway Brain (1995), and Get a Horse! (2013). 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).

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

Melbourne (Australia) runs the annual Moomba festival street procession and appointed Mickey Mouse as their King of Moomba (1977).[109]:17–22 Although immensely popular with children, there was controversy with the appointment: some Melburnians wanted a 'home-grown' choice, e.g. Blinky Bill; when it was revealed that Patricia O'Carroll (from Disneyland's Disney on Parade show) was performing the mouse, Australian newspapers reported 'Mickey Mouse is really a girl!'[109]:19–20

Mickey was the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day 2005. He was the first cartoon character to receive the honor and only the second fictional character after Kermit the Frog in 1996.

See also

  • Celebration Mickey, a 2-foot-tall (0.61 m), 100 lb (45 kg), 24-karat gold authentic Mickey Mouse sculpture
  • Mickey Mouse Adventures, a short-lived comic starring Mickey Mouse as the protagonist
  • Mouse Museum, a Russian museum featuring artifacts and memorabilia relating to Mickey Mouse

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  68. ^Auletta, Kate (January 19, 2012). 'Obama Disney World Visit: President Touts Tourism, Mickey's Big Ears During Speech'. The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  69. ^Mickey's House and Meet Mickey at disney.com
  70. ^'THE SYDNEY TARTS: Gérald Genta'. Thesydneytarts.blogspot.com. November 29, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  71. ^The Original Mickey Mouse Watch: 11,000 Sold in One Day & Robert Langdon's Choice at hodinkee.com Archived October 15, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  72. ^'Dance Star Mickey From Fisher-Price'. Fisher-price.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  73. ^'Rock Star Mickey From Fisher-Price'. Fisher-price.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  74. ^Friedman, Peter (June 10, 2008). 'Write in Mickey Mouse for President'. Whatisfairuse.blogspot.com. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  75. ^'MM among top write-in candidates in Wichita elections'. Nbcactionnews.com. Associated Press. January 17, 2011. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  76. ^Rigsby, G.G. (November 15, 2012). 'Elvis, Mickey Mouse and God get write-in votes'. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  77. ^Fuller, Jaime (November 5, 2013). 'If You Give a Mouse a Vote'. The American Prospect. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  78. ^'Vote drives defended, despite fake names – St. Petersburg Times'. Google.com. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  79. ^'The ACORN investigations'. The Economist. October 16, 2008.
  80. ^Miller, John (2009). The lingo dictionary : of favourite Australian words and phrases. Wollombi, N.S.W.: Exisle Publishing. p. 180. ISBN9781921497049.
  81. ^Rosen, Dan. '1983-84: Growing Pains Lead to Promise'. New Jersey Devils. Retrieved March 25, 2006.
  82. ^'Demolition Man Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or Sandra Bullock, Wesley Snipes, and Sylvester Stallone movie'. March 25, 2006. Archived from the original on March 25, 2006.
  83. ^''Irresponsible' Hodge under fire'. BBC News. January 14, 2003. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  84. ^'Film music'. BBC. Retrieved October 21, 2010. When the music is precisely synchronised with events on screen this is known as Mickey-Mousing, eg someone slipping on a banana skin could use a descending scale followed by a cymbal crash. Mickey-Mousing is often found in comedy films.
  85. ^Forno, Richard (November 28, 2001). ''Microsoft,' No. 'Mickeysoft', Yes'. InfoWarrior. Archived from the original on November 28, 2001. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  86. ^'What does Mickey Mouse Have To Do With The European Parliament?'. EU-Oplysnigen (Denmark). Archived from the original on May 7, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
  87. ^Hinton, Ed (September 28, 2001). 'F1 Drivers Knock Indy'. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  88. ^''Mickey Rodent!' (Mad #19)'. Johnglenntaylor.blogspot.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  89. ^The Simpsons Movie (2007) – Memorable Quotes. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)Archived June 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on March 20, 2008.. Retrieved on March 20, 2008.
  90. ^Rosenberg, Pnina (2002). 'Mickey Mouse in Gurs – humour, irony and criticism in works of art produced in the Gurs internment camp'. Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice. 6 (3): 273–292. doi:10.1080/13642520210164508. Retrieved November 18, 2018 – via Taylor & Francis.
  91. ^Menn, Joseph (August 22, 2008). 'Disney's rights to young Mickey Mouse may be wrong'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 22, 2008.
  92. ^Daycare Center Murals. Snopes.com, updated September 17, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  93. ^Mann, Ron. Director (1989). Comic Book Confidential. Sphinx Productions.
  94. ^Levin, Bob (2003). The Pirates and the Mouse: Disney's War Against the Counterculture. Fantagraphics Books. ISBN1-56097-530-X.
  95. ^ abcdefMenn, Joseph (August 22, 2008). 'Whose mouse is it anyway?'. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  96. ^ abcVanpelt, Lauren (Spring 1999). 'Mickey Mouse -- A Truly Public Character'. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  97. ^ abHedenkamp, Douglas (Spring 2003). 'Free Mickey Mouse: Copyright Notice, Derivative Works, and the Copyright Act of 1909'. Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  98. ^The full 1929 cartoon The Barnyard Battle (7:48) is available for viewing on YouTube. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  99. ^The Times (July 14, 1930). 'Mickey Mouse in Trouble (German Censorship)', The Times Archive (archive.timesonline.co.uk). Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  100. ^Hungerford, Amy (January 15, 2003). The Holocaust of Texts. University Of Chicago Press. p. 206. ISBN0-226-36076-8.
  101. ^LaCapra, Dominick (March 1998). History and Memory After Auschwitz. Cornell University Press. p. 214. ISBN0-8014-8496-0.
  102. ^Rosenthal, Jack (August 2, 1992). 'On language; Mickey-Mousing'. The New York Times. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  103. ^Conner, Floyd (2002). Hollywood's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Lucky Breaks, Prima Donnas, Box Office Bombs, and Other Oddities. illustrated. Brassey's Inc. p. 243.
  104. ^The Times (November 16, 1938). 'The Banning of a Mouse'. archive.timesonline.co.uk. London: The Times Archive. p. 15. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  105. ^'Italian Decree: Mickey Mouse Reprieved'. The Evening Post. CXXVI (151). Wellington, New Zealand. December 23, 1938. p. 16, column 3. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  106. ^Francesco De Giacomo, Quando il duce salvò Topolino, IF terza serie, n. 4, 1995.
  107. ^Graser, Marc. 'Jon Favreau enters Disney's 'Magic Kingdom', Variety, November 10, 2010. WebCitation archive.
  108. ^Wagmeister, Elizabeth (April 8, 2015). 'Watch: 'Mickey and the Roadster Racers' to Debut on Disney Junior in 2017'. Variety. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  109. ^ abCraig Bellamy; Gordon Chisholm; Hilary Eriksen (February 17, 2006). 'Moomba: A festival for the people'(PDF). City of Melbourne. Archived from the original(PDF) on August 25, 2006.

Bibliography

  • Korkis, Jim (2012). Who Is Afraid of the Song of the South?: And Other Forbidden Disney Stories. Orlando, Fla.: Theme Park Press. ISBN0984341552. OCLC823179800.

External links

  • Mickey Mouse at the INDUCKS
  • Mickey Mouse on IMDb
  • Wayne Allwine – Daily Telegraph obituary
  • Mickey Mouse comic strip reprints at Creators Syndicate
  • Mickey Mouse at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mickey_Mouse&oldid=898040306'
Film poster from 1929, the first created for the series

Mickey Mouse (originally Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoons) is a character-based series of 130 animatedshort films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The films, which introduced Disney's most famous cartoon character, were released on a regular basis from 1928 ('Plane Crazy') to 1953 with four additional shorts released between 1983 and 2013. The series is notable for its innovation with sound synchronization and character animation, and also introduced well-known characters such as Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Goofy.

The name 'Mickey Mouse' was first used in the films' title sequences to refer specifically to the character, but was used from 1935 to 1953 to refer to the series itself as in 'Walt Disney presents a Mickey Mouse.' In this sense 'a Mickey Mouse' was a shortened form of 'a Mickey Mouse sound cartoon' which was used in the earliest films. Films from 1929 to 1935 which were re-released during this time also used this naming convention, but it was not used for the three shorts released between 1983 and 1995 (Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Prince and the Pauper, and Runaway Brain). Mickey's name was also used occasionally to market other films which were formally part of other series. Examples of this include several Silly Symphonies, Don Donald (1937), and Goofy and Wilbur (1939).

  • 2List of films

Production[edit]

Mickey Mouse began producing films in April 1928 after the Disney studio lost the license to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The first two films, Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho, were previewed in theaters but failed to pick up a distributor. For the third film, Disney added synchronized sound, a technology that was still in its early stages at the time. Steamboat Willie debuted in New York in November 1928 and was an instant success. The revenues from the film provided the studio with much needed resources, and the studio quickly began to produce new cartoons as well as releasing sound versions of the first two.[1]

Production slowed towards the end of the 1930s as the studio began to focus on other characters and feature-length films. The series was informally retired in 1953 with the release of The Simple Things, but was revived in 1983 and 1990 with two featurettes, or three reel short films. 1995's Runaway Brain returned the series to its single reel format, while the most recent installment, 2013's Get a Horse!, was produced in the black-and-white style of the early films.

The cartoons were directed by 20 different people. Those with the most credits include Burt Gillett (34), Wilfred Jackson (18), Walt Disney (16), David Hand (15), and Ben Sharpsteen (14); the director of the most recent installment, Lauren MacMullan, was the first female director. Notable animators who worked on the series include Ub Iwerks, Norm Ferguson, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Fred Moore. Mickey's voice is mostly provided by Walt Disney, with some additional work by Carl Stalling and Clarence Nash. By 1947, Jimmy MacDonald had taken over Mickey's voice. Wayne Allwine voices the mouse in the three most recent films.

List of films[edit]

The following is a list of Mickey Mouse films in the order of their official release dates. Unless otherwise noted, dates are original theatrical releases in the United States. Gray headers indicate black-and-white films while yellow headers indicate color films.

Years:

1928·1929·1930·1931·1932
1933·1934·1935·1936·1937
1938·1939·1940·1941·1942
1943·1946·1947·1948·1953
1983·1990·1993·1995·2013

1928[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirector[2]Release date[3]
1

Mickey works aboard a river steamboat captained by Pete with the mission of transporting livestock. Along the way Mickey picks up animals and Minnie and the two come up with creative ways to play 'Turkey in the Straw' with a goat, Mickey plays along to the beat. Pete is unamused and puts Mickey to work skinning potatoes.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Pete, Clarabelle Cow

Notes: Disney's first sound cartoon, selected to the National Film Registry in 1998.[4] The title is a parody of the Buster Keaton film, Steamboat Bill, Jr., which was released May 12, 1928.

2
Ub Iwerks

Mickey is an Argentinian gaucho who rides a rhea instead of a horse. He stops at a cantina where he finds Minnie and dances with her. Pete arrives, abducts Minnie, and takes her away on a donkey. Mickey follows after him, but the rhea has become drunk and slows Mickey down. Finally Mickey confronts Pete in a fencing duel and saves Minnie.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete

Notes: Silent version previewed August 2, 1928. Parody of the Douglas Fairbanks film, The Gaucho, which was released November 21, 1927. Mickey wears shoes for the first time and Halfaway through the film, Mickey and minnie’s Eyes change From the Plane Crazy look to the look in Steamboat Willie

1929[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
3
Walt Disney

Mickey wants to take Minnie to a dance, but Pete's flashy car beats Mickey's horse-drawn wagon as her transportation of choice. At the dance, Mickey uses a balloon to make himself light on his feet—the perfect dancing partner—but this doesn't keep Minnie at his side for long, either.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Pete

Notes: Copyrighted 1928, A 1991 colorized version exists on YouTube

4
Walt Disney

Mickey tries to emulate his hero, Charles Lindbergh, and woo Minnie by building and flying his own airplane.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow

Notes: First film to be animated; silent version previewed May 15, 1928, actually released on March 17, 1929.

5
Walt Disney

Mickey owns and performs at his own theatre, going in drag as a harem girl, in a derby as a Hasidic Jew, and finally in a wig as a fancy pianist.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Kat nip

Notes: First time Mickey wears gloves

6
Walt Disney

While Tom Cat, drunk on bootlegged hooch, is away hunting, Mickey, Minnie, and an army of mice ransack the feline's home for food.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Kat Nipp

Notes: Remake of Alice Comedies film Alice Rattled by Rats, depicts Mickey and Minnie as regular mice

7
Walt Disney

Mickey joins an army of mice dressed like the forces of the Confederate States of America to battle an army of cats dressed in German World War 1 helmets. Kommandant Pete leads the cats in a raid on Mickey's farm. Mickey mounts a spirited defense of the farmhouse.

Other appearances: Pete

8
Walt Disney/Ub Iwerks

Mickey sells animated hot dogs at a carnival and heckles rival barker Kat Nipp. Also at the fair is Minnie who performs as a shimmy dancer. Mickey gives here a free hot dog and, with the help of two alley cats, serenades Minnie outside her trailer.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Kat Nipp

Notes: First time Mickey speaks and Mickey has pie eyes and eyebrows

9
Walt Disney

Mickey's running a small-town railroad. He takes Minnie for a wild ride on a humanized train which eventually rumbles out of control.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow

Notes: A 1991 colorized version is known to exist.[5][6]

10

Mickey and his barnyard pals put on a show that includes dancing ducks, opera singing by Patricia Pig, and Mickey's own rendition of his theme song, 'Minnie's Yoo Hoo.'

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Patricia Pig

Notes: Introduction of 'Minnie's Yoo Hoo', Mickey's theme song

11
Walt Disney

Mickey flirts with Minnie on the farm, but she spurns him—making him look bad in the eyes of his helper, Horace Horsecollar.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar (debut), Clarabelle Cow

12
Walt Disney

As part of 'Mickey's Big Road Show', Mickey plays a calliope pulled by Horace. They later play the xylophone and piano.

Other appearances: Horace Horsecollar

13

Mickey works as a beach lifeguard who saves Minnie from being drowned by a wave. After Minnie is rescued, she fusses, Mickey tries to cheer her up by dancing, playing music and scat sings to 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep'. Also present are a wide variety of sea birds and marine mammals who accompany Mickey.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse

14
Walt Disney

Mickey goes on a hunting expedition to the jungle, but when his rifle malfunctions Mickey is left facing several angry and vicious animals. To appease them, Mickey starts playing music, and soon has all of the animals joining him.

15
[a]

Mickey weathers a ferocious storm inside an old haunted house where he is compelled to play the organ for a group of ghouls.

Other appearances: Skeletons

Notes: Title shorted to Haunted House in rerelease title sequence.

1930[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date[8]
16
Walt Disney

At the farm, Mickey directs an orchestra rehearsal of Poet and Peasant by Franz von Suppé. The session is filled with distractions and Mickey ends up with a bucket of water thrown on his head.

Other appearances:Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

Notes: First film released by Columbia Pictures

17
Walt Disney

At a concert hall, Mickey performs solo on a violin. His repertoire includes 'Traumerei' and the finale of the William Tell overture.

Notes: Only film to feature Mickey without supporting characters, copyrighted as Fiddlin' Around,[9] billed as Fiddling Around.[10] First short made without Ub Iwerks.

18
Walt Disney

Set in the desert of Mexico or the southwestern United States; Mickey enters 'El Adobe Cafe' where Minnie works as a bar tender. Pete arrives and abducts Minnie after a short gun fight with Mickey. Mickey rides after Pete on Horace and eventually saves Minnie.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar (without his yoke), Pete

Notes: First time Marcellite Garner voices Minnie and also the last Mickey Mouse short to be animated by Ub Iwerks.

19
Burt Gillett

Mickey is the fire chief of a fire department which receives an alarm in the middle of the night. The group of fire fighters race to the blaze which engulfs a seven-storey building, but on the way the engine loses its water tank. Mickey saves Minnie, trapped on the top floor, by way of a clothes line connected with another building.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar

Note: Original prints of this film had the fire scenes tinted red.[11]

20
Burt Gillett

The friends from the barnyard attend a dance in the barn. Clarabelle Cow attends as Horace Horsecallar's date and the pair take center stage for one of the dances. Mickey and Minnie provide music on fiddle and piano, and Mickey later joins the dancing.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

Notes: Clarabelle's name was mentioned for the first time and Clarabelle stands up for the first time.

21
Burt Gillett

Mickey is a prisoner forced to work on a chain gang with other prisoners. When the guard Peg Leg Pete falls asleep, Mickey leads the prisoners in some care-free, innovative music making, and eventually escape. Mickey vaults himself over the wall, escapes into a swamp and eventually rides away on a pair of horses. When the horses throw Mickey off a cliff, he happens the fall through the roof of the jail and finds himself back in his cell.

Other appearances: Clarabelle Cow, Pluto (prototypes)

22
Burt Gillett

Mickey reads about an gorilla named beppo has escaped the local city zoo in the newspaper and calls Minnie to warn her. Minnie insists she is not afraid and plays the piano for Mickey over the phone. While Minnie is playing, beppo enters the house and kidnaps her,ties her up and takes her into the attic.Mickey hears Minnie's screams in the telephone and runs over to her house to save her before beppo strikes back.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Beppo the Gorilla

Notes: Inspired Donald Duck and the Gorilla

23
Burt Gillett

Mickey and Minnie go on a picnic together along with Minnie's dog Rover. Mickey brings a phonograph, and while he and Minnie dance to 'In the Good Old Summer Time', a variety of animals make off with the food. Finally the weather turns bad and the trio head home in a hurry.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto as 'Rover', Mickey's car

24
Burt Gillett

Period piece set in the old west; Mickey and Minnie are part of a wagon train of American settlers. And Indian scout spots the wagon train and assembles a war party. That night after circling the wagons, the pioneers dance to 'The Irish Washerwoman' and later hear on old goat sing an emotional rendition of 'Nelly Gray.' Just then the Indians attack and a fight breaks out. Mickey and Minnie scare the Indians away by tricking them into thinking U.S. cavalry soldiers are approaching.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse; cameos by Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

1931[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
25
Burt Gillett

Mickey's friends throw a surprise birthday party at Minnie's house. Minnie gives Mickey a piano, and the mice play a piano duet of 'I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby.' During the rest of the party the characters dance and play more songs.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

26
Burt Gillett

Mickey works as a taxi driver in a large city. After losing his first customer in the street, Mickey picks up Minnie on her way to a music lesson. But the taxi gets a flat tire which Mickey is unable to repair. Pete appears as a traveling snake oil salesman who feeds a formula to the taxi. This makes the vehicle go out of control. Mickey, Minnie, and the taxi crash through a barn and end up covered in feathers.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete as 'Dr. Pep'

27
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey is a castaway in the ocean and makes it ashore to a jungle island. After eating bananas, a piano washes ashore and Mickey plays it while dealing at first with bothersome wild animals, and later dangerous ones.

28
Burt Gillett

Mickey and Pluto go hunting for moose. Mickey accidentally shoots at Pluto with his shotgun and the dog plays dead. After this Mickey and Pluto encounter a real moose and are chased away.

Other appearances:Pluto

Notes: First appearance of Pluto as Mickey's dog

29
Burt Gillett

While working as a delivery boy driving a cart filled with musical instruments, Mickey passes by Minnie's house. He sneaks up on her while she is outside doing her laundry. The two mice start dancing in the yard, but Mickey punches a bee hive onto the mule pulling the cart. The mule kicks the cart and the instruments land on the animals. Together they all play 'Stars and Stripes Forever'.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Pete

30
Burt Gillett

Mickey prepares for a date and leaves his house, but Pluto wants to come with him. Mickey tells Pluto to stay home and ties him to the dog house, but Pluto follows anyway, dragging the house behind him. At Minnie's house Mickey and Minnie play music, while outside Pluto chases a cat. The chaos eventually interrupts the date.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto

31
Burt Gillett

Mickey plays piano at a concert hall and is joined by Minnie singing 'St. Louis Blues.' Mickey later conducts a blues orchestra that proves to heavy for the stage.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

32
Burt Gillett

Mickey and Pluto go fishing from a boat on a lake after singing a sign that says 'no fishing'. The fish turn out to be very intelligent and play several pranks on the fishermen, including tying their fishing lines together. Eventually a police officer appears and, trying to stop Mickey from fishing, accidentally falls in the water. Mickey and Pluto make a speedy getaway.

Other appearances: Pluto

33
Burt Gillett

Mickey sets up a radio station in the barn and hosts a music program. While Minnie, Horace, and Clarabelle perform, Mickey struggles to keep a cat family out of the barn who are intent on interrupting the broadcast.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Pluto

34
Burt Gillett

Mickey and his friends spend a relaxing day at the beach going swimming and enjoying a picnic. When Pluto accidentally retrieves an aggressive octopus from the ocean, the party fights him off using techniques learned earlier in the day, such as Horace's spitting of watermelon seeds and ejecting jars of pickled olives from Clarabelle's throat.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Pluto

35
Burt Gillett[12]

Mickey mows his yard with a reel mower pulled by Pluto, while next door Minnie waters her garden. Mickey tricks Minnie by pretending to be a bird in a bird house, but instead he gets attacked by a cat. While Mickey and Minnie are playing a harmonica duet, Pluto chases after the cat, but the mower is still tied on to him and it cuts up everything in its path.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto

36
Burt Gillett

Mickey and Minnie take in an orphaned litter of kittens during Christmas time. The kittens harass Pluto, ransack the house, and skeletonize the Christmas tree.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto, kittens

Notes: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short[13]

1932[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
37
Burt Gillett

Mickey and Pluto go to a pond to hunt for ducks. While Mickey hides behind some bullrushes in a boat with a shotgun, Pluto wears a duck decoy on his head and swims to the center of the pond. The ducks discover the truth after Mickey accidentally shoots a hole in the bottom of his boat.

Other appearances:Pluto

Coils: Mickey's arms/legs-Pluto's body (from the ducks and the weathervane)

38
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey and Pluto go grocery shopping for Minnie and later help her cook. Pluto misbehaves and tries to steal the turkey which leads to a disaster.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Pluto

39
Burt Gillett

Mickey gives Pluto a bath, but the dog doesn't like it and jumps out of the tub. Pluto then accidentally swallows the bar of soap and starts hiccuping bubbles. In a panic, Pluto starts running through the city, all the while hiccuping bubbles. People in town panic when they see Pluto foaming at the mouth, and assume he has rabies. Pete, the town dogcatcher corners Pluto in an alley at gunpoint. Mickey pleads with Pete for Pluto's life, but to no avail. Finally Mickey throws a cat down Pete's pants to distract him, while he and Pluto run home.

Other appearances: Pluto, Pete

40
Wilfred Jackson

Several characters participate in the Olympic Games including boxing and diving. Mickey himself participates in the main event, a cross-country multi-sport race similar to a Triathlon, except it includes row boating instead of swimming. Another participant in the race (possibly Pete) tries to sabotage Mickey's chances of winning along the way.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

Notes: Released to coincide with the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles[14]

41
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey presents a revue at an informal concert hall. The program includes an orchestra conducted by Mickey, a stage show with Minnie as a fairy and three dancing cows, two dancing dogs, and a ragtime duet by Mickey and Minnie. There are several distractions throughout the performance including Goofy laughing loudly in the audience and Pluto roaming onto stage.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Goofy (first appearance), Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Pluto

42
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey plants seeds with Pluto. When Mickey sees Minnie milking a cow, he decides to sneak up on her and scare her with him and Pluto inside a scarecrow. Eventually Mickey is found out and he and Minnie play music with the animals and other improvised instruments. Later Mickey tries to photograph a humongous egg laid by one of the hens.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto; hens Fanny, Bessie, Tessie, others

43
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey and Minnie visit the Middle East as tourists. As they are taking pictures with locals, Pete the sultan appears and abducts Minnie behind a fence, carrying her away to his castle on a horse. Mickey follows on his camel but is slowed down because the camel is drunk. Mickey fights Pete and his henchmen and eventually saves Minnie.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete

Notes: Last film released by Columbia Pictures

44
Burt Gillett

Mickey goes to sleep one night and dreams that he and Minnie get married. Soon several storks arrive at the house dropping off children, literally by the bucket load. The hoard of children overrun the house and create a nuisance for Mickey and Pluto. Mickey finally wakes up with a renewed determination never to marry.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto, The Orphans

Notes: First film released by United Artists, introduced new title sequence including the Mickey Mouse starburst

45

Mickey and Pluto are exploring in Africa taking their trading boat down a jungle river. They come across a tribe of hostile cannibals who take Mickey's things and try and cook the explorers. Later as the tribesmen go through Mickey's goods, they discover several musical instruments. When Mickey teaches them how to play the instruments, they decide not to cook him.

Other appearances: Pluto, cannibals

46
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey and his friends attend a celebratory community party.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

47
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey leads his team, Mickey's Manglers, against the Alley Cats in a game of American football. The Alley Cats consist of several large indistinguishable black cats while the Manglers consists of different kinds of animals, including a head butting goat, a long wiener dog, and a large pig capable of steamrolling opponents. Goofy delivers the play-by-play over radio.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Pluto

48
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey works as a pianist at a bar in the Klondike region. One night he finds Minnie out in the cold and saves her by bringing her inside the bar. The two mice appear to meet each other for the first time. Later a wanted outlaw, Terrible Pierre (portrayed by Pete), enters the bar and, after a gun fight, abducts Minnie. Mickey chases after Pierre in a dog sled pulled by Pluto and eventually finds Pierre's hideout.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Pete as 'Terrible Pierre'

49
Burt Gillett

Mickey gives Minnie a canary as a present. The canary turns out to have several babies. The birds get loose in Minnie's house and cause problems. Pluto later saves the canary from a cat.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto

50
Burt Gillett

On Christmas Eve, Mickey reluctantly sells Pluto in order to give a poor family a happy Christmas. Pluto, however, is mistreated at his new home and is kicked out after creating a nuisance. Mickey and Pluto finally reunite.

Other appearances: Pluto, Adelbert, Adelbert's father, butler

1933[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
51
David Hand

Mickey works at the construction site of a steel frame skyscraper while Minnie sells box lunches to the workmen. Pete, the foreman, harasses Minnie and later steals Mickey's lunch.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Pete

Notes: A close, but rather more elaborate remake of Disney's earlier Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon Sky Scrappers (1928). Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short[15]

52
David Hand

A mad scientist named Dr.XXX captures Mickey's dog Pluto and takes him to his laboratory. Mickey follows and tries to save Pluto.

Other appearances: Pluto, Doctor XXX

Notes: Partially inspired by comic story 'Blaggard Mansion' (1932), in turn inspired Runaway Brain (1995); in the public domain

53
Burt Gillett

Pluto saves a litter of kittens from drowning, but later becomes jealous when Mickey takes the kittens into the house and are treated like part of the family. As Pluto tries to guard his territory from the kittens, he causes a ruckus and Mickey throws him out of the house. Later the kittens come outside and fall down a well, giving Pluto a moral dilemma of whether or not to save them a second time.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto's shoulder angel and devil, kittens

Notes: Inspired Lend a Paw (1941)[16]

54
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey and his friends put on a low-budget stage play adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The use of actual dogs in place of the bloodhounds which chase Eliza across the ice floes leads to chaos as the dogs chase a cat through the orchestra pit.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Goofy as 'Dippy Dawg', Horace Horsecollar (without his yoke), Clarabelle Cow

55
Burt Gillett

Musical set in medieval Europe; a king arranges for his daughter (Minnie) to marry a visiting prince (Dippy Dawg). When Minnie refuses, the king locks her in a tower. Mickey appears as a traveling minstrel and rescues Minnie from the tower, but the king discovers them before they can get away and condemns Mickey to death, anachronistically by guillotine. Just as Mickey is about to be killed, Minnie confesses her love for Mickey, at which point the king orders a duel between Dippy and Mickey. Mickey tricks Dippy and cuts off his spear in the guillotine and chases him out of the castle.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Goofy as 'Dippy Dawg', Clarabelle Cow, king (possibly Pete)

56
David Hand

Mickey works as a courier pilot for the airmail service and helps arrest Pete who is wanted as a mail bandit.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete

Notes: At around the same time the short was originally released, the Mickey Mouse comic strip published a storyline [by Floyd Gottfredson] based on the cartoon, which ran from February 27 through June 10.

57
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey builds and trains a boxing robot to face the Kongo Killer, a trained boxing gorilla. Minnie discovers that the sound of a horn makes the robot 'go crazy', an effect that Mickey finds undesirable. However, when the robot is being beaten in the match, Minnie uses a horn to motivate the robot to win.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Mickey's Mechanical Man, Beppo the Gorilla as 'The Kongo Killer'

58
Burt Gillett

Set at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Mickey and his friends attend the premier of one of his films, the meta-fictionalGalloping Romance, which is based on The Cactus Kid. Cartoon versions of movie stars also attend the show and enjoy it immensely. After the film, Mickey receives praise from many of the show's attendees, but when Greta Garbo kisses him, Mickey awakes and discovers it was a dream.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Pluto, Pete; cameos by over 40 real-life celebrities

Notes:A 1991 colorized version is known to exist.[17]

59
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey and Pluto pay visits to their respective sweethearts, Minnie and Fifi. While Mickey and Minnie are preoccupied playing the piano (playing the song 'Puppy Love'), Pluto steals the box of chocolates that Mickey brought for Minnie and gives it to Fifi. He then replaces the chocolate with a bone and returns the box. Both relationships turn cold when Minnie finds the bone, but she later discovers the half-eaten chocolate and reunites with Mickey.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Fifi the Peke

60
Burt Gillett

Mickey is a jockey in a steeplechase; his horse, Thunderbolt, is sponsored by Colonel Rolfe. After Mickey promises to win the race, the horse discovers a bottle of moonshine in the stable and gets drunk. Instead of the horse, Mickey dresses up two of the stable hands like a horse, and with the help of a pursuing swarm of bees, manage to win the race.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Colonel Rolf Rolfe, Thunderbolt

61
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey gets a job at Tony's Pet Store, and while the owner is away Minnie pays a visit to stay with Mickey. A movie ape kept at the store becomes inspired by the 1933 film King Kong, escapes his cage, abducts Minnie, and climbs a tower of boxes. A swarm of birds and other animals fight the ape and create a huge mess at the store. Mickey and Minnie run away just in time before the owner returns.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Tony, Beppo the Gorilla

62
Burt Gillet

Mickey tells the story Jack and the Beanstalk to the mice children and inserts himself into the story as Jack. The film takes over Mickey's narration as he visits 'Giantland' and meets the giant.

Other appearances: The Orphans, giant

Notes: Inspired 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' from Fun and Fancy Free[18]

1934[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
63
Burt Gillett

Mickey and Minnie are captured by Pete who is the captain of a ship. Mickey is able to escape from being tied up and fights Pete and his men to take over the ship.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Pete

64
David Hand

Mickey, Minnie, Horace, and Clarabelle go camping and fight of a vindictive swarm of mosquitoes.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

65
Burt Gillett

Pluto plays rough with Mickey's garden hose and breaks the spigot. When Mickey goes into the basement to shut the water off, Pluto accidentally swallows a flashlight causing him to panic and eventually rip a hole in the kitchen screen door which lets in flies. Mickey then sets out flypaper which Pluto gets tangled in.

Other appearances:Pluto

66
Burt Gillett

Inspired by reading Gulliver's Travels, Mickey tells the mice children about when he was shipwrecked in a land of tiny people. The little people distrust him at first, but later the city is attacked by a giant spider which Mickey fights.

Other appearances: Pluto, The Orphans

67
David Hand

Mickey works as a steamroller driver. He comes across Minnie who is babysitting two of his nephews. To give the children a little fun, Mickey tows them around in their baby carriage by the steamroller. After the ride, while Mickey is not watching, the nephews take off in the steamroller by themselves and bring havoc on the city.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Morty and Ferdie

Notes: Also stylized as Mickey's Steam-Roller[19]

68
Burt Gillett

Mickey and his friends put on a benefit show for a group of unruly orphans. Donald loses his temper when the orphans heckle his performance.

Other appearances:Donald Duck, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck (debut), The Orphans

Notes: First joint appearance of Mickey and Donald Duck

69
Burt Gillett

A mysterious hooded figure approaches Mickey's house as he and Pluto are reading a scary book called 'The Cry in the Night'. The figure turns out to be a destitute mother leaving a baby at Mickey's doorstep. The baby, a mouse named Elmer, turns out to be a fussy child and Mickey and Pluto have to work to keep him happy.

Other appearances: Pluto, Elmer

70
David Hand

Mickey and Donald are police officers who hunt down Peg Leg Pete after he dognapps Minnie's dog Fifi.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Pete, Fifi the Peke; cameo by Minnie Mouse

71

Mickey appears as a cowboy who comes across a self-reliant Minnie in the desert, insisting she can take of herself. In town Minnie again refuses help from Pete, but he turns out to be an outlaw. After Minnie leaves town, Pete and his gang of bandits chase after her, but Mickey realizes Minnie is in trouble and finally comes to help her.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pete

Notes: Minnie's first role as a protagonist

1935[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
72
David Hand
Mickey is shipwrecked on an island where he discovers a tribe of cannibals. He scares them away saving the life of one tribesman who was about to be cooked. Mickey names him 'Friday', and together Mickey and Friday build a stockade rigged with booby traps. The rest of the tribe eventually reappears and attack the fort. Mickey and Friday abandon the island in a boat.

Other appearances:Friday, cannibals

Notes: Inspired by Robinson Crusoe[20]

73
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey conducts a community music band through a public performance of the William Tell overture. Donald Duck distracts the band by coming in uninvited with a flute. The concert is later wrecked by a tornado.

Other appearances:Donald Duck, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Peter Pig, Paddy Pig

Notes: This is the first color Mickey Mouse cartoon. Mickey does not speak in this short.

74
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy work at an automobile repair shop and try to repair Pete's car with disastrous effects.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy, Pete

Notes: First Mickey, Donald, and Goofy adventure

75
David Hand

Mickey receives a gift from Australia's famous winemaker Leo Buring: a crate containing a boxing kangaroo and its baby. The baby kangaroo makes Pluto jealous at first, but he later learns to like him. Meanwhile, Mickey boxes the older Kangaroo and gets soundly beaten.

Other appearances:Pluto, unnamed kangaroo and baby kangaroo

Notes: Only time that Pluto is heard thinking. Last Mickey cartoon in B&W until 2013.

76
Wilfred Jackson

Mickey is working in his garden exterminating insects.

Other appearances:Pluto

77
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are firefighters responding to a hotel fire. After experiencing many setbacks, the trio finally enter the building and discover a woman upstairs who is unaware that the hotel is on fire.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow

78
David Hand

After Pluto chases a cat inside the house, Mickey scolds him for always chasing cats, and adds that he will have 'plenty to answer for on [his] judgement day.' Pluto then falls asleep and dreams of judgement day in which he is tried by a hellish court composed entirely of cats. Just as the cats are about to burn Pluto alive, he wakes up and discovers a new appreciation for cats.

Other appearances: Pluto

79
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey and his friends are leisurely ice skating on a frozen river. Mickey teaches Minnie how to skate, Goofy tries unusual ways to catch fish, and Donald pranks Pluto by attaching skates to the dog's feet while he is sleeping.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto; cameo by Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow

Notes: First joint appearance of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. First color appearance of Minnie Mouse

1936[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
80
David Hand

Mickey leads the Mickey Mousers against the Movie Stars in a spirited game of polo. Mickey's team consists of cartoon characters from Disney films while the Movie Stars are all cartoon versions of real-life movie stars. Several other characters and stars appear as spectators at the game.

Other appearances:Donald Duck, Goofy as 'The Goof', the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf; cartoon versions of Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harpo Marx, Charlie Chaplin, Jack Holt, Shirley Temple; cameos by Clarabelle Cow, Pluto, Fifi the Peke, characters from the Silly Symphonies, other movie stars

81
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey and Donald take the orphans out for a day in the park. Donald sets out a picnic lunch and is unsuccessful in keeping the food from being stolen by the orphans and eaten prematurely. Meanwhile, Mickey play's blind man's bluff with another group of the orphans. Donald is further harassed by the orphans who use teamwork to steal food in creative ways.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, The Orphans

82
Wilfred Jackson

At a formal concert hall, Mickey conducts the orchestra for an opera starring Clara Cluck and Donald Duck. Before the program, Mickey unexpectedly finds Pluto backstage and sends him home. But the dog becomes distracted by an unattended magician's hat with a rabbit inside. Eventually the opera begins, which features Clara and Donald unintelligibly clucking and quacking back and forth. Pluto, still following the animal spewing hat, wanders onstage during the show and creates chaos.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck, Pluto; cameo by Goofy

83
David Hand

Mickey falls asleep while reading Through the Looking-Glass and has a dream based on the book. In the dream, Mickey passes through his mirror and enters a fantasy world which is essentially a mirror image of his own, except that several inanimate objects become anthropomorphic. Mickey is eventually run out of the dream by an army of hostile playing cards and awakes.

84
Wilfred Jackson

Minnie's former boyfriend shows up at Mickey and Minnie's picnic unexpectedly. Mortimer tries to charm Minnie, but acts like a jerk to Mickey. Later Mortimer tries to show off to Minnie by fighting a bull, but when the bull escapes his pen, Mortimer flies away in a flash leaving Mickey to save Minnie.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Mortimer Mouse, Mickey's car, Mortimer's car

85
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey and Donald are behind on their rent. When Sheriff Pete arrives and serves them a notice to dispose their belongings, the pair decide to move in a hurry. They enlist the help of Goofy who, employed as an iceman, has a large truck at his disposal.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pete

86
David Hand

Mickey, Donald, and Pluto go mountain climbing in the Alps. Mickey runs into trouble after a mother eagle returns to her nest while Mickey is collecting eggs. Donald's temper flares at a baby mountain goat who eats the Edelweiss flowers he picks. Meanwhile, Pluto falls into a snow bank and freezes solid. He is revived by a St. Bernard rescue dog who gives him brandy, but becomes intoxicated in the process.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Pluto

87
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey is the ringmaster at a circus and 'Captain' Donald Duck performs with trained sea lions. The circus hosts a free day for the orphans, but they cause trouble during the show.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, The Orphans, sea lions, Salty the Seal

88
Ben Sharpsteen

Donald works as a plumber with Pluto as his assistant. Pluto panics after accidentally swallowing a magnet.

Other appearances:Donald Duck, Pluto (Disney)

Notes: First film in which Mickey does not appear

89
David Hand

Mickey builds a nice new house for Bobo the Elephant, his new pet. Pluto becomes jealous of his new playmate, but his scheme for revenge backfires.

Other appearances: Pluto, Bobo the Elephant, Pluto's shoulder devil

1937[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
90
Ben Sharpsteen

As a chemist, Mickey recreates an ancient formula to build courage. He uses it on a fly caught in a spider's web, a mouse, a cat, and finally on Pluto when he is cornered by Pete the dogcatcher.

Other appearances:Pluto, Pete

91
Ben Sharpsteen

Don Donald rides over to Donna's place on a donkey that drives him nuts. He entertains Donna (later known as Daisy)... until she hops on to the donkey for a little ride and gets thrown off its back into a fountain. She then rejects Donald and smashes the guitar over his head.

Donald then trades in the donkey for a hot new car. He offers Donna a ride in it, and she reluctantly accepts. They then drive by the trading post and heckle at the donkey, who gives chase to them as they speed across the desert until the car breaks down. When Donald tries to fix the car it runs out of control, runs him over, and sending Donna skidding across a giant mud puddle. She then rejects Donald ultimately and rides back home on a unicycle that she pulls out of her purse.

An angry Donald blames the car for his demise and throws the car horn at it. The car's radiator explodes sending water flying and landing within the brim of Donald's sombrero where it shrinks the hat down to the size of baseball. The donkey, which has watched everything happen, gets the last laugh at a beaten and defeated Donald as the cartoon comes to a close.

Other appearances:Donald Duck, Donna Duck

Notes: Second film in which Mickey does not appear (reissued as a Donald Duck cartoon)

92
David Hand

At a formal theater, Mickey performs as a magician, but is heckled by Donald Duck. Mickey then uses his tricks to get back at the ornery duck.

Other appearances:Donald Duck, Goofy

93
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy go on an ill-fated hunting trip in the wilderness. Goofy and Donald disguise themselves as a cow moose to attract a bull, while Mickey disguises himself as a tree.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy

94
Pinto Colvig, Erdman Penner, Walt Pfeiffer

Mickey hosts and moderates a radio talent show. Donald is determined to complete a recitation of 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' even though Mickey terminates his act. Also performing are Clara Cluck who performs an operatic piece and Goofy who plays a multi-instrumental contraption.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck, Pete

95

Donald visits 'The Museum of Modern Marvels.' Among the inventions he struggles with are a robot butler who keeps taking his hat; a package-wrapping machine; a robot nursemaid; a hitchhikers' aid; and an automated barber chair. Of course, Donald is spluttering all over the place.

Other appearances: Donald Duck

Notes: Third and last film in which Mickey does not appear (reissued as a Donald Duck cartoon) and last film released by United Artists

96
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey and his friends enjoy a vacation in Hawaii.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto

Notes: First film released by RKO Radio Pictures

97
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are employed as janitors in a tall clock tower. Mickey struggles with a squatting stork, Donald fights a talking mainspring, Goofy gets knocked into a daze by an animatronic bell ringer.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy

Notes: Voted the 27th greatest cartoon of all time in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons

98
Burt Gillett

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy run 'Ajax Ghost Exterminators' and receive a call from a group of 'lonely ghosts' who want someone to scare.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy, ghosts

Notes: released four days after Snow White

1938[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
99
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy build a boat from do-it-yourself kit. The boat comes in several crates of prefabricated sections, such as an unfolding keel and a telescoping mast. At the boat's launching, Minnie christens the boat 'Queen Minnie', but as she breaks a bottle of champaign on the bow, she damages the boat, which disassembles itself once in the water.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy; cameos by Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse

Notes: First cartoon to depict Mickey without a tail.

100
Ben Sharpsteen

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy take a near-disastrous road trip in a travel trailer.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy

Notes: This is the 100th Mickey Mouse cartoon.

101

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy go out to sea as a three-man whaling crew. Donald keeps a sharp lookout for whales from the crow's nest and tries to keep his baloney sandwich from being eaten by seagulls. Mickey struggles to throw a pail of water overboard and Goofy mans a harpoon gun. Eventually the trio come across a large sperm whale, but things do not go according to plan.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy

102
Bill Roberts

A stray parrot, apparently formerly owned by a sailor, finds his way into Mickey's basement. Upstairs Mickey and Pluto receive a radio bulletin warning the public of an escaped convict, 'Machine Gun Butch'. Mickey hears the bird in the basement and believes the killer has broken into the house.

Other appearances:Pluto, parrot

103
Bill Roberts

A lose adaptation of the fairy tale The Valiant Little Tailor, set in medieval Europe; Mickey Mouse is commissioned by the King to slay a giant that has been terrorizing the kingdom, promising him the hand of his daughter, Princess Minnie, if he is successful.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse as 'Princess Minnie', unnamed king, Gustav the Giant[21]

Notes: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short[22]

1939[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
104
Bill Roberts
Mickey enters Pluto in a high society dog show, but gets kicked out. He later re-enters Pluto in the 'trick dog' category and puts a pair of roller skates on him. Meanwhile, Pluto falls in love with Fifi, a Pekingese also entered in the show, and saves her when the building burns down.

Other appearances:Pluto, Fifi the Peke

Notes: This is the final cartoon, with Mickey with his dot-eyes. Mickey was changed from black and whiten to black and a flesh colored beige.

105
unknown

Minnie tries to surprise Mickey by cooking him some cookies for his birthday. But her recipe gets burnt and Minnie is frightened. Fortunately Minnie gets sad but Mickey brings along some Nabisco© products with him.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Fifi the Peke

Notes: Commercial film sponsored by the National Biscuit Company for the 1939 New York World's Fair.[23] This is the first appearance of Mickey's modern character design. In the public domain.

106

During a hunting trip, Mickey tries to train Pluto to be a pointer dog. The pair eventually encounter a large grizzly bear whom Mickey tries to reason with before running from.

Other appearances: Pluto

Notes: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short[24]

1940[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
107
Clyde Geronimi
Mickey captains a tugboat with Donald, and Goofy as the crew. As Mickey is sealing the mast and dealing with an intoxicated pelican, he receives a distress signal of a sinking ship. Mickey calls the crew and has them fire up the engine. As Donald struggles with the connecting rod of one of the pistons, Goof accidentally overloads the furnace of the ships steam engine, causing a catastrophic explosion and accidentally breaks the boat. As Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are floating in the water amid the remains of the tugboat, they discover that the distress signal they heard was only part of a radio drama.

Other appearances:Donald Duck, Goofy

108
Clyde Geronimi
Mickey decides to build Pluto a new house, but they discover a magic lamp while breaking ground. The lamp finishes building the house in a hurry, and Mickey then tasks the lamp with giving Pluto a bath. Later, as Mickey is relaxing next to the radio, it starts to have a mechanical problem. Mickey tries to fix it, but the radio keeps changing stations. The lamp, within earshot in the next room, takes the radio's random audio snippets as verbal commands, and starts preparing Pluto like a recipe. Just as the lamp is about to slice Pluto into thin slices, he wakes up and discovers it was a dream.

Other appearances:Pluto, Magic Lamp

109
Clyde Geronimi
Mickey and Pluto go for a train ride despite a rule forbidding dogs. Pete plays a menacing conductor intent on enforcing the rule. Mickey at first hides Pluto in his suitcase, but eventually Pete discovers him and chases them about the train.

Other appearances: Pluto, Pete

1941[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
110
Mickey offers to clean Minnie's yard for a cake she is baking, but he is thwarted by a small, mischievous whirlwind. After chasing the whirlwind away, Mickey is in turn chased by a large whirlwind with damages most of the neighborhood. Seeing the damage, Minnie is jealous with Mickey and throws the cake at him when he lands in a fountain.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse

Notes: First two shorts to portray Mickey with buck teeth.

111
Clyde Geronimi
Pluto acts as Mickey's personal valet. The dog serves Mickey breakfast in bed and then is sent by Mickey into town to buy a newspaper.

Other appearances: Pluto

112
Clyde Geronimi
Mickey goes golfing with Pluto serving as his caddy. Pluto at first causes distractions for Mickey, but helps him out by pointing to the ball just like he learned in The Pointer. Later Pluto encounters a mischievous gopher whom he chases burrowing through the ground.

Other appearances: Pluto

Notes: Second and final two shorts to portray Mickey with buck teeth

113
Riley Thomson
Period piece from the 1890s; Mickey and Minnie spend the day together going to a Vaudeville show and driving across the countryside in a Brass Era car.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse; cartoon versions of animators Fred Moore and Ward Kimball; cameos by Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie

114
Riley Thomson
Mickey and his friends put on a benefit show for a group of unruly orphans.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck, The Orphans

Notes: Remake of the black-and-white Orphan's Benefit (1934)

115
Clyde Geronimi
Pluto saves a kitten from drowning. Mickey takes the kitten in and Pluto becomes jealous. When the kitten accidentally falls into a well, Pluto struggles with whether or not to save the kitten a second time.

Other appearances: Pluto, kitten, Pluto's shoulder angel and devil

Notes: Won Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film,[25] remake of Mickey's Pal Pluto (1933)[26]

1942[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
116
Riley Thomson
Minnie hosts a surprise birthday party for Mickey with several of his friends. The gang buys him an electric organ and the play music and dance. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Goofy tries to bake the birthday cake with disastrous results.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Clara CluckNotes: last appearance of Horace Horsecollar,Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck but they would make cameos in Mickey's Christmas Carol

117
Riley Thomson
Mickey conducts a symphony orchestra of hist friends sponsored by Pete. After an exceptional rehearsal playing the 'Light Cavalry Overture,' the orchestra is booked for a live performance. But Goofy accidentally drops the instruments down an elevator shaft.

Other appearances: Donald Duck, Goofy, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck

Notes: Mickey is called 'Michel Mouse' while Pete is called 'Sylvester Macaroni'

1943[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
118
Clyde Geronimi
Mickey and Pluto make a 15-minute stop-over in Belém, Brazil on their way to Rio de Janeiro. There, Mickey plays fetch with Pluto, but the ball becomes lost in the jungle and Pluto mistakes a rolled up armadillo for it. Mickey and Pluto accidentally take the armadillo along with them when the plane leaves again.

Other appearances: Pluto, armadillo

Notes: Last appearance of Mickey's red shorts until Runaway Brain (1995)

1946[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
119
Chip and Dale take up residence in Mickey's hunting shack during the winter. When Mickey and Pluto return for hunting season, Pluto discovers the chipmunks living in the wood-burning stove.

Other appearances: Pluto, Chip and Dale

Notes: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film[27]

1947[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
120
Mickey oversleeps and misses a date with Minnie. She calls him up and gives him an ultimatum. Mickey gets ready in a hurry with the help of Pluto, but drops the tickets for the event on his way out. Pluto saves the day by noticing the tickets on the floor and bringing them to Mickey.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto

Notes: Last theatrical short with Walt Disney voicing Mickey.

1948[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
121
Charles Nichols
Mickey and Pluto visit Australia where Mickey collects bananas using a boomerang and tries to steal an egg from a vigilant emu.

Other appearances: Pluto

Notes: First theatrical short with Jimmy MacDonald voicing Mickey.

122
Charles Nichols
Mickey accidentally brings a baby seal home with him from the zoo. The seal takes a liking to Mickey's bathtub, but makes Pluto jealous. Mickey eventually takes the seal back, but he later brings the rest of the seals to Mickey's house.

Other appearances: Pluto, Salty the Seal

Notes: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

1951[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
123
Charles Nichols
While hunting with Mickey, Pluto picks up the scent of a raccoon and follows the trail. But the clever raccoon discovers he is being followed and lays several tricks for the dog to throw him off the trail. When at last Pluto trees the raccoon, he secretly swipes Mickey's coonskin cap to make Pluto think he has a baby. Pluto and Mickey then respectfully leave the raccoon alone.

Other appearances:Pluto

1952[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
124
Milt Schaffer
It's Pluto's birthday party, but the orphans seem to be having all the fun. Their present is a wagon so Pluto can pull them; the 'Pin the Tail on Pluto' game doesn't go quite right, and everything seems to prevent Pluto from having his birthday cake. But Mickey has planned ahead.

Other appearances: Pluto, The Orphans

125
Jack Hannah
Pluto comes bounding outside to help Mickey get a Christmas tree. Chip 'n Dale see him and make fun of him, but the tree they take refuge in is the one Mickey chops down. They like the decorations, especially the candy canes and Mickey's bowl of mixed nuts. But Pluto spots them and goes after them long before Mickey spots them.

Other appearances: Pluto, Chip and Dale; cameos by Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy

1953[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
126
Charles Nichols
Mickey and Pluto go fishing and Pluto encounters a mischievous clam who eats the bait. After getting rid of the clam, Mickey is outsmarted by a clever seagull. Mickey and Pluto get chased away by a flock of hungry birds.

Other appearances: Pluto

Notes: Mickey's final theatrical appearance until Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983

1983[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
127
Adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol with Mickey as Bob Cratchit and Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Other appearances:Scrooge McDuck, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Jiminy Cricket, Willie the Giant, Pete, Morty and Ferdie; cameos by Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Clara Cluck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Chip and Dale, and others.

Notes: Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[28] First time Wayne Allwine voices Mickey since The New Mickey Mouse Club. Longest film of the series at 26 minutes. The release date is for the United Kingdom. The release date for the United States is December 16, 1983. First Mickey film since 1953

1990[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
128
Adaptation of Mark Twain's 1881 novel of the same name with Mickey playing the pauper and a look-alike fictional Prince Edward.

Other appearances: Goofy, Donald Duck, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Pluto, Pete

1995[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
129
Eager to give Minnie a Hawaiian vacation, Mickey answers a newspaper want ad advertising 'a mindless day's work'. After reporting for the job, however, Mickey is horrified to discover he is to partake in a mad scientist's brain-swapping experiment with a monster.

Other appearances: Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Pete as 'Julius', Dr. Frankenollie

Notes: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film[29]

2013[edit]

InstallmentFilmDirectorRelease date
130
Mickey and friends embark on a musical wagon ride, until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road.

Other appearances:Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and Pete, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Notes: Debuted at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 11, 2013.[30] Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[31]Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cameos at the end of the short, making his first appearance in a Mickey Mouse-related short and also his first appearance in a theatrical short since his cameo in The Woody Woodpecker Polka (1951).

Releases[edit]

Every Mickey Mouse cartoon was originally released theatrically, typically appearing before feature films. In 1929, some theaters began to host the 'Mickey Mouse Club', a children's program which would exclusively show Mickey's cartoons.[32] The series was first distributed by Celebrity Productions (1928–1929), followed by Columbia Pictures (1930–1932), United Artists (1932–1937), and RKO Radio Pictures (1937–1953). The four most recent films were released by Disney's own company, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution).

Many of the films were also broadcast on television, beginning in 1936 on BBC Television. Here the series was shown on a regular basis except during World War II.[33] In the United States, selected films were shown on the Walt Disney anthology television series, and later on other series such as The Mouse Factory (1971–1973), Mickey's Mouse Tracks (1992–1999), and Ink & Paint Club (1997–1998).

The films have also been released in various forms of home entertainment. In the 1960s there were several 8 mm and Super 8 releases, although these were often silent, black-and-white, or condensed versions. In 1978, Disney began to release selected films on VHS, laserdisc, and later DVD. Starting in 2010, some of the cartoons were made available on the iTunes Store as digital downloads.

Disney has also released films online. At the Disney website, cartoons are shown on a rotating basis under the video page 'Mickey & Friends'. On Walt Disney Animation Studios' official YouTube channel, three complete cartoons have been released: Plane Crazy (1928), Steamboat Willie (1928), and Hawaiian Holiday (1937), and most of Thru the Mirror (1936) as seen on the Disneyland episode 'The Plausible Impossible' (1956).

As of 2018, the only complete re-release of the entire series has been in the 'Walt Disney Treasures' DVD sets. The vast majority[34] of the series appears between four two-disc sets: 'Mickey Mouse in Black and White' (2002), 'Mickey Mouse in Black and White, Volume Two' (2004), 'Mickey Mouse in Living Color' (2001), and 'Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two' (2004). Film critic Leonard Maltin, who hosts the collection, implied that there was opposition to releasing the complete series because of some content now considered politically incorrect, such as racial and ethnic stereotypes. Maltin argued that releasing the material uncensored was the only way to 'learn from the past'. The only film not included in this collection was the subsequently released Get a Horse! (2013) which first premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and was shown ahead of Frozen.

See also[edit]

  • List of Disney animated shorts

Notes[edit]

  1. ^While many sources credit Walt Disney as the director, the animators' draft lists King as director instead.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^Gable 2007, p. 115 ff.
  2. ^Except where noted, source for directors is Disney A to Z
  3. ^Except where noted, sources for 1928 and 1929 release dates are from The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts (EDAS) and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Many of the films have more than one release date; in such cases, the earliest date is given in the list with the later in a footnote. See 'A Note on Release DatesArchived September 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine' at EDAS.
  4. ^'Hooray for Hollywood - Librarian Names 25 More Films to National Registry' (Press release). Library of Congress. November 16, 1998. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
  5. ^'Mickey Mouse - Mickey's Choo Choo 1929 HD (colorized)'. youtube.com. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  6. ^PAu001629050 / 1991-10-31
  7. ^Gerstein, David; Groth, Gary (eds.). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Race to Death Valley. Fantagraphics Books.
  8. ^From 1930 onward, all release dates are from Disney A to Z
  9. ^Smith 1996, p. 270 'Just Mickey'
  10. ^Just Mickey at EDAS
  11. ^Layton, James; Pierce, David. The Dawn of Technicolor: 1915–1935. Rochester, NY: George Eastman House. p. 269. ISBN978-0935398281.
  12. ^Mickey Cuts Up at EDAS
  13. ^'5th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  14. ^Smith 2006, p. 57 'Barnyard Olympics'
  15. ^'6th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  16. ^Smith 1996, pp. 327-328 'Mickey's Pal Pluto'
  17. ^PAu001629049 / 1991-10-31
  18. ^Smith 1996, p. 205 'Giantland'
  19. ^Smith 1996, p. 329 'Mickey's Steam-Roller'
  20. ^Smith 1996, p. 327 'Mickey's Man Friday'
  21. ^Gerstien (2005) p. 178
  22. ^'11th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  23. ^Smith 1996, p. 329 'Mickey's Surprise Party'
  24. ^'12th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  25. ^'14th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  26. ^Smith 1996, p. 286 'Lend a Paw'
  27. ^'19th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  28. ^'56th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  29. ^'68th Academy Awards Winners'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  30. ^'Walt Disney Voices Mickey Mouse in Get A Horse!'. Disney. April 23, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  31. ^'2014 Oscar Nominations'. Oscars.com. January 16, 2013. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  32. ^Tomart's Illustrated Disneyana Catalog and Price Guide
  33. ^Holliss 1986, pp. 70-71
  34. ^Donald and Pluto appears on 'The Chronological Donald' and several others which prominently feature Pluto appear on 'The Complete Pluto'

Bibliography[edit]

  • The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts (EDAS)
  • Gabler, Neal (2007). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. New York: Vintage. ISBN0-679-75747-3.
  • Gerstein, David (2005). Walt Disney's Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse. Timonium, MD: Gemstone Publishing. ISBN978-1-888472-06-6.
  • Holliss, Richard; Brian Sibley (1986). Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: His Life and Times. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN0-06-015619-8.
  • The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
  • 'Oscars.org'. Beverly Hills, California: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2011.
  • Smith, Dave (1996). Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Hyperion. ISBN0-7868-8149-6.
  • Tomart's Illustrated Disneyana Catalog and Price Guide

External links[edit]

  • 'Mickey Mouse' at The Encyclopedia Of Disney Animated Shorts
  • 'Mickey Mouse Theatrical Cartoon List' at the Big Cartoon DataBase
  • 'Synopsis for the Mickey Mouse' at the Big Cartoon Database
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