Mickey Mouse

Using Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as a starting point, Walt created Mickey Mouse, basing it on Oswald's character design and a real mouse that used to share Walt's tiny studio shack when he was starting out in Kansas City. Mickey was originally named Mortimer. The Disney studio produced the first short of Mickey called Plane Crazy, which coincided with Charles Lindburgh's crossing of the Atlantic in an aeroplane. Ub Iwerks, the uberlegendary animator who teamed with Walt Disney, was known as the fastest animator on the planet. He proved his worthiness of that title by producing 700 drawings for the film in one day, averaging an astounding one drawing per minute. Mickey's second film was called Gallopin' Gaucho. Walt headed out to New York City to find a distributor for these two animations with his new star character.

After the release of The Jazz Singer, the first talking movie, Walt Disney decided to bring sound to the animation genre. While he was in New York, he stopped production on Mickey's third film, Steamboat Willie, to have the studio do something unheard of - he wanted them add sound to the animation.

When he returned to the studios, they began brainstorming ideas. Wilfred Jackson, one of the Disney animators, suggested that rhythm and sound effects could be matched to the animation frames. Since there were 24 frames per second, music could be added and the animation matched to it using multiples of 8. They released Steamboat Willie to an amazed nation, and received standing ovations, rave reviews in the New York Times, and a good chunk of capital that was used to create the Disney empire.

Walt Disney once confessed, "I love Mickey Mouse more than any person I've ever known"!

Mickey’s ears always point their flat side towards YOU no matter which way he’s facing!

In World War 2, English children were given Mickey Mouse gas masks to make air raids more fun!

Walt Disney named Mickey after Mickey Rooney; he was dating Rooney’s mother! (This is probably not true!)

Mickey’s face is a popular motif for blotter acid!

In Sweden, Mickey is known as “Musse Pigg”! In China, “Mi Lao Shu”, in Italy “Il Topolino”! Mamma Mia!

Mickey was banned by Adolf Hitler in Germany in 1935!

”Mickey Mouse” was the Allied forces’ password on D-Day!

Walt Disney was the voice of Mickey Mouse until 1946!

Mickey received pupils for his eyes in 1939!

In 1933, Mickey received 800,000 fan letters!

Mickey Mouse was the first person to win an Oscar who was not a human being! Okay, it’s not true! Walt Disney (a human) won a special Oscar in 1932 for the creation of Mickey!

Mickey has appeared in 175 different outfits!

Between 1953 and 1983, Mickey took a 30-year break from acting!

In 1999, the U.S. Congress passed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, allowing the Disney corporation to retain Mickey Mouse’s copyright until 2023! By then they should be able to get congress to pass a new law so they can keep the copyright another twenty years and so on!

Mickey was originally going to be named Mortimer Mouse!

Rodents play an important role in natural dispersal of mycorrhizal fungi! Both ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi get a free ride from rodents! Some of the helpful creatures include squirrels, voles, gophers, pocket mice, and kangaroo rats! Even so, other kinds of animals may be the best vectors! You should also know that if you pluralize the word as Mycorrhizae you can spell it out to the tune of the Mickey Mouse Club March!

Mickey has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! He’s not the only fictional character to have one though! Other cartoons with stars are: Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker and Snow White!

Mickey isn’t Disney’s oldest character! That distinction goes to Peg-leg Pete, a combination of a cat and a dog with a wooden leg created way back in 1925!

In the 1930s, “Mickey Mouse” was a code word referring to homosexuality!

Most Disney fans know about the "hidden Mickeys" found at Disneyland and Disneyworld, but here's a real surprise "hidden Mickey": Mickey's likeness was recently discovered in a 700-year old Austrian fresco! The fresco is in the Community Church, Malta, Carinthia! St. Christopher (who has since been decanonised!) is depicted surrounded by woodland creatures, including one who looks a lot like Mickey Mouse, complete with large round ears and upturned snout! Art Historian Eduard Mahlknecht believes that the animal depicted is more likely to be a beaver or a weasel than Mickey! As far as we know, Walt Disney wasn't even born yet in the 14th century! Still, it certainly does look a lot more like Mickey than a weasel or a beaver!

Referring to shoddy goods or workmanship

At least in the UK, the reference to "Mickey Mouse" is used as a descriptor of something cheap and shoddy. It turns out that this comes from the influx of cheap, counterfeit Mickey Mouse watches into the UK during the Second World War. At a time when Britain was struggling with rationing, and luxuries were often few and far between in addition to being expensive, the islands were a target for many who sought to turn a quick profit on a low-grade product. As expected, many of the counterfeits were poorly made and inaccurate. "Mickey Mouse" became a byword for low-quality tat.

The usage is quite common around the world.