On November 18, 1928, the film Steamboat Willie premiered, the first sound-synchronized animated cartoon. Mickey Mouse made his way into the world and into the hearts of many, bringing a lot of smiles and laughs with him.
“Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner,” explained Walt Disney. Mickey didn’t appear in color for a few years, with his first color animated film being The Band Concert in 1935.
Disney always said that he and Mickey were linked, but some may be surprised to learn that Walt was Mickey for a large period of time. Walt Disney provided the voice for Mickey Mouse from when he first created him in 1928 until 1946. At that point, Jimmy MacDonald, an English voice actor, took over the responsibility. Walt again voiced Mickey for The Mickey Mouse Club from 1955-59.
Walt Disney said, “When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it’s because he’s so human; and that is the secret of his popularity.”
One thing that never fails to make me laugh and smile is this video of Mickey Mouse Dancing. He busted a move on four different occasions at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration earlier this year, and I had to compile that footage. Seeing Mickey moonwalk was definitely a highlight for me.
On Mickey Mouse’s special day, it seems appropriate to remember Walt Disney’s words: “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.”
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]]>* Mickey Mouse originally named Mortimer Mouse. 
Lillian Disney, Walt Disney’s wife, wisely advised her husband to ditch the name Mortimer. She suggested the name Mickey. Good call, Lillian!
Mortimer Mouse emerged later as a second character, Mickey’s Brooklyn-accented rival (below), who was also pursuing Minnie Mouse.
* Mickey Mouse has only four fingers
Walt Disney felt that five fingers were too many for a mouse. He said “it would look like a bunch of bananas.” Also, it is faster and therefore cheaper to draw only four fingers instead of five.
* Walt Disney first voiced Mickey Mouse.
If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, and that was apparently what Walt Disney thought about Mickey. Walt himself voiced Mickey from when he first created him in 1928 until 1946. At that point, Jimmy MacDonald, an English voice actor, took over the responsibility. Walt resumed voicing Mickey for The Mickey Mouse Club from 1955-59.
* Mickey was the first cartoon to receive his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
* Mickey started out in black and white, but it took only 7 years to get him in color
Mickey Mouse appeared in living color for the first time in The Band Concert in 1935, which is highly acclaimed. For this production, Walt Disney gave Mickey a new design and full personality, but interestingly, the only character who speaks in it is Donald Duck.
The Band Concert is on of the cartoons that airs on a special television channel at Walt Disney World resorts.
* Mickey is certainly the world’s most merchandized mouse.
The first item of Mickey Mouse merchandise was a child’s school tablet released in 1929. That was the same year that Mickey spoke his first words in 1929’s The Karnival kid. Today, it feels like you can find Mickey on pretty much anything you can purchase.
* When the Allied Forces commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower prepared to invade the continent of Europe in 1944, the code name for the invasion was Mickey Mouse.
Happy birthday, Mickey, and many happy returns!
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