Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)
Mickey Mouse

Tagged: Character, Comics, Film.

Animated character, created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, who has become a worldwide Icon. The same team had earlier created a series star called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who in most respects closely resembled Mickey Mouse; had the Disney studio not been swindled out of the rights to Oswald, Mickey Mouse would probably never have been brought into existence.

Mickey Mouse first appeared in Steamboat Willie (1928), a short Animated Movie undistinguished except insofar as it featured a soundtrack – albeit an unsophisticated one. (It was not the first animated short with a soundtrack: Max Fleischer had performed the trick with My Old Kentucky Home [1924], and may not have been the first.) The public went "Mickey-mad", and further Mickey Mouse shorts followed with dizzying frequency until about 1940, when the pace slowed. After The Simple Things (1953) there was a 30-year hiatus before Mickey Mouse's screen career restarted with Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) (see A Christmas Carol); during these years, however, Mickey Mouse was omnipresent in the Disney comics as well as in the company's theme parks, while Mickey Mouse merchandise was widely sold throughout the world – Mickey Mouse watches being especially prized.

Mickey Mouse has in fact appeared in fewer movies (and probably fewer Comics) than Disney's other great "property", Donald Duck, but the latter has never been promoted to the same extent as a company symbol. This is probably because the character of Mickey Mouse was based in large part on that of Walt Disney himself (who also voice-acted Mickey Mouse for many years): thus the corporate image was not so much Mickey Mouse as Walt.

Mickey Mouse is a jealously guarded copyright character, and therefore for legal reasons rarely appears "in clear" in written fantasy. [JG]

Filmography:

Mickey Mouse shorts: B/w: Steamboat Willie (1928); Gallopin' Gaucho (1928); Plane Crazy (1928); The Barn Dance (1928); The Opry House (1929); When the Cat's Away (1929); The Barnyard Battle (1929); The Plow Boy (1929); The Karnival Kid (1929); Mickey's Follies (1929); Mickey's Choo-Choo (1929); The Jazz Fool (1929); Jungle Rhythm (1929); The Haunted House (1929); Wild Waves (1929); Just Mickey (1930; original title Fiddlin' Around); The Barnyard Concert (1930); The Cactus Kid (1930); The Fire Fighters (1930); The Shindig (1930); The Chain Gang (1930); The Gorilla Mystery (1930); The Picnic (1930); Pioneer Days (1930); The Birthday Party (1931); Traffic Troubles (1931); The Castaway (1931); The Moose Hunt (1931); The Delivery Boy (1931); Mickey Steps Out (1931); Blue Rhythm (1931); Fishin' Around (1931); The Barnyard Broadcast (1931); The Beach Party (1931); Mickey Cuts Up (1931); Mickey's Orphans (1931); The Duck Hunt (1932); The Grocery Boy (1932); The Mad Dog (1932); Barnyard Olympics (1932); Mickey's Revue (1932); Musical Farmer (1932); Mickey in Arabia (1932); Mickey's Nightmare (1932); Trader Mickey (1932); The Whoopee Party (1932); Touchdown Mickey (1932); The Wayward Canary (1932); The Klondike Kid (1932); Mickey's Good Deed (1932); Building a Building (1933); The Mad Doctor (1933); Mickey's Pal Pluto (1933); Mickey's Mellerdrammer (1933); Ye Olden Days (1933); The Mail Pilot (1933); Mickey's Mechanical Man (1933); Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933); Puppy Love (1933); The Steeple Chase (1933); The Pet Store (1933); Giantland (1933); Shanghaied (1934); Camping Out (1934); Playful Pluto (1934); Gulliver Mickey (1934); Mickey's Steam Roller (1934); Orphan's Benefit (1934); Mickey Plays Papa (1934); The Dognapper (1934); Two-Gun Mickey (1934); Mickey's Man Friday (1935); Mickey's Service Station (1935); Mickey's Kangaroo (1935). Colour: The Band Concert (1935); Mickey's Garden (1935); Mickey's Fire Brigade (1935); Pluto's Judgment Day (1935); On Ice (1935); Mickey's Polo Team (1936); Orphan's Picnic (1936); Mickey's Grand Opera (1936); Thru the Mirror (1936; also released in b/w); Mickey's Rival (1936); Moving Day (1936); Alpine Climbers (1936); Mickey's Circus (1936); Mickey's Elephant (1936); The Worm Turns (1937); Magician Mickey (1937); Moose Hunters (1937); Mickey's Amateurs (1937); Hawaiian Holiday (1937); Clock Cleaners (1937); Lonesome Ghosts (1937); Boat Builders (1938); Mickey's Trailer (1938); The Whalers (1938); Mickey's Parrot (1938); Brave Little Tailor (1938); Society Dog Show (1939); The Pointer (1939); Tugboat Mickey (1940); Pluto's Dream House (1940); Mr Mouse Takes a Trip (1940); The Little Whirlwind (1941); The Nifty Nineties (1941); Orphans' Benefit (1941; remake of Orphan's Benefit [1934]); Mickey's Birthday Party (1942); Symphony Hour (1942); Mickey's Delayed Date (1947); Mickey Down Under (1948); Mickey and the Seal (1948); Plutopia (1951); R'coon Dawg (1951); Pluto's Party (1952); Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952); The Simple Things (1953); Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) (see A Christmas Carol); The Prince and the Pauper (1990).

Other shorts in which Mickey Mouse appeared: The Fox Hunt (1938); Mickey's Surprise Party (1939 commercial); The Standard Parade (1939 commercial); A Gentleman's Gentleman (1941 Pluto cartoon); Canine Caddy (1941 Pluto cartoon); Lend a Paw (1941 Pluto cartoon, remake of Mickey's Pal Pluto [1933]); All Together (1942 commercial); Pluto and the Armadillo (1943); Squatter's Rights (1946); Pluto's Purchase (1948); Pueblo Pluto (1949); Crazy Over Daisy (1950).

Features in which Mickey Mouse appeared: The Hollywood Party (1934), a non-Disney "all-star" mess, none of whose eight directors permitted his name to appear in the credits; Fantasia (1940); Fun and Fancy Free (1947); Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

further reading: Mickey Mouse: Fifty Happy Years (anth 1977) ed David Bain and Bruce Harris; Mickey's Golden Jubilee (1979) by Francis Weber; Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse – His Life and Times (1986) by Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley.

see also: Mice and Rats.