The Mickey Mouse 90 Series- Part One: Beginning of An Icon
Boardwalk Times brings the first installment of The Mickey Mouse 90 Series.
The origin story of Mickey Mouse is often debated. There are many theories on who actually created him (Walt or Ub) and how (on the train or elsewhere?). Even the guys at Boardwalk Talk debated it. All we know is that Mickey Mouse became a symbol of pop culture. Beloved and cherished by millions. The mischievous mouse often symbolized the love, courage, and bravery we all have deep inside. That’s what made Mickey such a powerful character.
Countless celebrities have discussed Mickey’s impact. Notable company members have talked about his influence. For today’s part, we will be discussing Mickey’s beginnings. Where an unfortunate circumstance for Walt Disney ended up leading him to his greatest success.
In 1927, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks decided to end their work on the Alice Comedies due to cost and restrictions. They started to search for new creative opportunities. At the time Universal Studios was jumping into the cartoon business. Disney and Iwerks began work on a new character that Universal would distribute. Disney decided to make the character a rabbit. At the time cartoons were dominated by cats like Krazy Kat and Felix the Cat. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit would become Disney’s first major hit.
The success of Oswald allowed Disney Bros. Studios to grow its staff. Not everything would stay sweet for Walt and Roy Disney. In 1928, when Disney met with Universal executives to negotiate his next contract he thought he had the upper-hand. Charles Mintz, Univesal’s distributor, then told Disney that they hired away all of his artists, and that they retained the rights to Oswald. Walt was devastated. Universal wanted Walt Disney for a lower salary, and he refused. One loyal animator did stick with Walt. Ub Iwerks. Disney and Iwerks would then go into major brainstorming sessions to create the next Oswald. Walt Disney would have a sketch on a train ride that would change the course of history.
Then was the birth of Mortimer Mouse. The original name wouldn’t last. As according to legend, Walt’s wife Lillian hated the name. So Mortimer was changed to Mickey, a much more playful name (Mortimer Mouse, later would be reinvented as Minnie Mouse’s uncle). The mouse would become the face of an empire.
The first Mickey Mouse cartoon created was Plane Crazy. The sound cartoon was animated by Ub Iwerks. The cartoon was not well received at test screenings so Disney and Iwerks continued with the character. The second cartoon they completed The Gallopin’ Gaucho suffered the same fate. The success wouldn’t come until Mickey was behind the wheel of a riverboat in Steamboat Willie.
Plane Crazy would be the fourth Mickey Mouse cartoon released. The Gallopin’ Gaucho would actually follow Steamboat Willie. So when would Mickey Mouse get his other friends? Obviously Minnie Mouse and Pete debuted at the same time. Pluto wouldn’t appear until 1931, he previously appeared as prototypes of himself. Also he was originally Minnie’s dog. Goofy would first appear in 1932. Donald Duck would come along in 1934.
This was only the beginning for Mickey Mouse. The character would go on to become the most-beloved, and recognizable marketing machine in the world. Walt and his animators would continue doing Mickey shorts.
In 1935, Disney would release one of their most praised animated shorts. The Band Concert was the first Mickey Mouse film produced in color. It still has a significant impact to this day. After The Band Concert, Mickey would continue to appear in shorts. The next short Mickey’s Service Station, would mark the first time the trio of Mickey, Goofy, and Donald were together. The short would be the last black and white appearances of Goofy and Donald. After the success of The Band Concert the shorts would move on to technicolor.
These shorts would showcase Mickey performing a new skill whether it is playing polo to building a boat. Not to mention going on adventures with Pluto, Goofy, and Donald to fighting against his enemy Pete. One of the more popular Mickey Mouse moments would arrive in 1940 during a segment of Fantasia called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”
It would be the first time we witnessed Mickey’s transition into Sorcerer Mickey. An alter ego that would appear many times throughout Mickey’s 90 year history. Mostly on merchandise. Also more on Sorcerer Mickey in part two of this series.
In the 1950’s, Walt Disney wanted to expand on Mickey Mouse with a theme park. The plan was originally called Mickey Mouse Park. This project would ultimately become Disneyland. Which would become the place where people all around the world could come and meet Mickey Mouse. Just proving how iconic the mouse became.
Check back at the Boardwalk Times for the second part in our Mickey Mouse 90 series.
Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
