Mickey Mouse will celebrate his 90 years of nonstop entertainment! Disney Parks will mark Mickey’s birthday, November 18 – in honor of his first theatrical film, Steamboat Willie, with commemorative merchandise, treats, photo locations and more. Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who wear red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves. But before that, Mickey is a black and white character. Let’s take a sneak peek on his story.
How ‘Mickey Mouse’ did begin? He was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier cartoon character created by the Disney studio for Charles Mintz. Disney asked Mintz for an increase in the budget, but he reminded that Universal Studios owned the character. New Disney Studio consisted of animator UB Iwerks and Les Clark, who worked together with Wilfred Jackson.
In 1925, after several attempts, Hugh Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. “Mortimer Mouse” had been Disney’s original but his wife, Lilian convinced to change it as Mickey Mouse.
Steamboat Willie was first released on November 18, 1928, in New York. It was co-directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Iwerks served as the head animator, assisted by Les Clark, Wilfred Jackson, Dick Lundy, and Johnny Cannon.
In 1938, animator Fred Moore redesigned Mickey’s body away from its circular design to a pear-shaped design. He was praised for breaking Mickey from “rubber hose, round circle” design. In the film The Opry House (1929), Mickey was first given white gloves to get contrasting black hands against his black body. He was given with Caucasian skin tone instead of plain white. It appeared as the cover of a party program.
In 1940 Mickey first appeared in a feature-length film, Fantasia. His screen role is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, set to the symphonic poem by Paul Dukas. Mickey’s most recent theatrical cartoon short was 2013’s Get a Horse! Which was preceded by 1955’s Runaway Brain?
Did you know? The co-creator of Mickey Mouse and founder of The Walt Disney Company was the original voice of Mickey. From 1928 onwards, Mickey was voiced by Walt Disney.
Mickey Mouse has received ten nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. They 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).
Now you know Mickey Mouse has gone through many stages and there’s a lot more to Mickey’s history. This copyrighted and trademarked Mickey forever lives inside our heart and now his anniversary birthday is a wonderful time. In commemoration to Mickey Mouse, Collectors Hive has an ongoing contest that brings out Mickey in you. Share your Mickey Mouse moments/collections on CH timeline ( Buzz Stream ).
Get a chance to win Mickey Mouse merchandise items that are so precious and collectible. Just download Collectors Hive mobile application available in Google Play and App Store.
You get a chance to win these exciting prizes!
