The world’s most recognised cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, celebrates
his birthday on November 18. How much do you really know about him?
1. Mickey became an instant hit on November 18, 1928 with the release
of ‘Steamboat Willie’, the first ever cartoon with synchronised sound.
At that time, most other studios were still producing silent films while
Disney adopted sound and raised the standard.
2. Walt originally
wanted to call Mickey ‘Mortimer Mouse’, and it was changed to ‘Mickey
Mouse’ when Walt’s wife Lillian said she felt that ‘Mortimer’ sounded
too pompous and suggested another name that personified the qualities of
fun and humbleness.
3. In ‘Opry House’, a video short released on
March 28, 1929, Mickey started wearing white gloves. He went on to wear
them in most of his subsequent appearances until today.
4. Mickey
became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame on November 18, 1978, in honour of his 50th anniversary. The
star is located on 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.
5. Disney’s product
licensing business began in 1929, when Walt Disney accepted a deal with a
stationery company for the right to imprint Mickey Mouse on school
writing tablets. This later turned into what is now known as Disney
Consumer Products, a multi-billion dollar business.
6. One of the
most iconic Mickey Mouse products of all time is the Mickey Mouse wrist
watch. The first one was produced by the Ingersoll-Waterbury company in
1933, and it was sold for USD2.95. The company presented Walt Disney
with the 25-millionth Mickey Mouse watch in 1957.
7. The creation of Mickey Mouse earned Walt Disney an honorary Academy Award in 1932.
8. Mickey was given his own entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1934.
9. Mickey appeared in colour for the first time in ‘The Band Concert’, which premiered on February 23, 1935.
10. Mickey appeared in black and white for the last time in ‘Mickey’s
Kangaroo’, which actually premiered about two months after the first
colour one!
11. Mickey Mouse’s feature film debut in ‘Fantasia’ in
1940 as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice was one of his most famous roles ever.
The film introduced stereophonic sound to motion pictures through a
special sound system called Fantasound, and cost US$2.28 million to
make.
12. In 1955, Mickey made his debut on television in The Mickey Mouse Club television show.
13. According to Walt Disney, Mickey and Minnie Mouse have never been
married on screen. But, in 1933, during an interview with Film
Pictorial, Walt said, “In private life, Mickey is married to Minnie...
What it really amounts to is that Minnie is, for screen purposes, his
leading lady.”
14. In designing and constructing a Disney theme park
or adding the final touches to an attraction, Disney Imagineers subtly
“hide” Mickey Mouse silhouettes in plain sight. It later became a
tradition known as ‘Hidden Mickeys’.
15. One of Walt Disney’s most
famous quotes about his accomplishments is: “I only hope that we never
lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.”
16.Mickey was born out of necessity when Walt discovered he had lost the
rights to his previous character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In 1932 a
special Academy Award was given to Walt Disney for the creation of
Mickey Mouse.
17.In 2004 Mickey and the Gang starred in two brand
new feature-length animations released direct to video. The first title
is ‘The Three Musketeers’, launched in August 2004, and the second is
‘Twice Upon a Christmas’, released in December 2004, featuring five all
new stories. This was Mickey’s first ever 3D CGI (computer generated
imagery) cartoon.
18.Mickey’s favourite sayings are “Oh Boy!”, “Gosh!”, “That sure is swell”, “Aw, gee…”, “See ya soon!”
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