The beloved Disney icon, like others, has a history and meaning that most do not know. Whenever children or sometimes adults look at Mickey Mouse, they are overcome by happiness and joy, but do they know how he became that way?
The forever-changing mouse, Mickey Mouse, first appeared in Hollywood on May 15, 1928. This was the first completed cartoon containing the iconic mouse and was named “Plane Crazy;” however, this cartoon did not become as popular as Disney wished. After this, Walt Disney tired again, but sadly met the same problem. Disney did not give up, instead, he made his third attempt and one of his most famous Mickey Mouse cartoons, “Steamboat Willie,” which premiered in New York on November 18, 1928.
Over the years, this mouse has had a lot of changes done to him. The first and most important change was his name. Beloved Mickey Mouse was originally named Mortimer Mouse, but Disney changed it after being urged by his wife. Along with this name change came years of appearance changes as well as voice actors. Surprisingly enough, the first person to even voice act for the mouse was Walt Disney himself. One year after the big screen debut, Mickey Mouse said his first words in the cartoon “The Karnival Kid,” aired in 1929 with the famous first words of “Hot dogs!”
Since being voiced by Disney, there has been a total of 11 people to voice Mickey, with the most recent being Brett Iwan. Along with this, there were changes to Mickey’s appearance. Over the years, Mickey has been made to look more modern. First appearing as black and white and then later appearing in color with his signature red pants with yellow buttons and yellow shoes.
However, there are some things that have not changed for this mouse. One thing would be his meaning. Everyone, at some point in their lives, looked at Mickey and felt nothing but happiness and joy. Many people still do even after growing up and becoming adults; they still feel it. “Whenever I see Mickey [Mouse], I get really happy. He makes me feel like a kid again,” was the response, Donna Byrnes, who, even after growing up and having a kid, still plans a family vacation to Disney World to see Mickey Mouse and all the other characters.
This is the intended effect. Mickey Mouse was created to represent “happiness, fun, dreams, and the ability to bring families together,” as stated in an article labeled “Birth and Significance of Mickey Mouse.” The feeling that people get from seeing Mickey Mouse causes people to even look for him in everyday life.
People get tattoos, jewelry, clothes, and other various things that have Mickey on them. In the article “Astro Bob: 'Aw, gee!' It's Mickey Mouse on the moon,” people have been calling three craters, Licetus, Cuvier, and Heraclitus, the Mickey Mouse craters. From years of erosion on the moon, these three craters overlap perfectly in the way that they form the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head and ears. Licetus and Cuvier are the ears, while Heraclitus is the head. There is even a smaller crater, Heraclitus D, that could be considered his mouth. “The trio is best visible 7-8 days after new moon and again 5-6 days past full moon,” so Mickey Mouse lovers can hopefully take out their telescopes and witness the magic for themselves.
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Mickey Mouse. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mickey-Mouse.
House, T. P. (2020, May 17). Birth and significance of Mickey Mouse. Medium. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://medium.com/tphfamily/birth-and-significance-of-mickey-mouse-4bdb9b31c628.
Mickey Mouse voice actors. Disney Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Mickey_Mouse_Voice_Actors.
Mon, P. on. (n.d.). The evolution of Mickey Mouse. The Walt Disney Family Museum. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/evolution-mickey-mouse.
Sun, P. on. (n.d.). The Birth of a Mouse. The Walt Disney Family Museum. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/birth-mouse.
Wagner, S. (2021, September 14). Astro Bob: 'aw, gee!' it's Mickey Mouse on the Moon. Park Rapids Enterprise. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/astro-bob/7194658-Astro-Bob-Aw-gee-Its-Mickey-Mouse-on-the-moon.
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