Happy Birthday, Mickey Mouse!
- Details
- Published on November 19, 2012 @ 07:21 am
- Written by Arielle
When Walt Disney began working in Kansas City on little animation pieces in the 1920s, I hardly think he imagined he would become one of the biggest household names in the world. Disney wanted to make it big; of course, that is what anybody with ambitions wants. It took quite some time for Walt Disney to create the iconic mouse that most people associate the Walt Disney Company with, but with his determination and passion for art he soon became a revolutionary of the world of animation.
Early in his animation career, Disney funneled all of his money into The Alice Comedies, a series of animated cartoons featuring a live action Alice traveling an animated landscape with an animated cat, and after going bankrupt he decided to move to California to create an animation studio with his brother Roy. The brothers were able to get new Alice Comedies distributed by the owner of a production company, Margaret Winkler. The success of The Alice Comedies allowed the two brothers to create Disney Brothers’ Studios in 1923 and thus began the start of their long and fruitful career.
After The Alice Comedies ended in 1927, Disney started work with a new character he and his best friend Ub Iwerks created for Charles Mintz, husband of Margaret Winkler, named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The subsequent series of shorts created by Disney and animated by Iwerks were distributed by Universal, and Oswald became a huge success. With that success came conflict between Mintz and Disney, leading to Disney losing most of his animation staff and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Universal. Disney’s luck did not run out when he lost Oswald, though. The animator only became more determined to create a new character that belonged wholly to Disney Studio and could blow Oswald out of the water.
Disney tasked Iwerks to create a new character while Disney finished his work with Oswald and Universal, which lead to the creation of Mickey Mouse. The character made his first appearances in Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho, two unsuccessful silent animated shorts that failed to amaze audiences or get picked up by a distributor. As they always say "the third time's the charm," and Mickey Mouse finally made his official debut on November 18th 1928 in the animated feature Steamboat Willie. The animated feature became critically acclaimed around the world, known for being the first cartoon with successful synchronized sound. This also lead to the Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho being reproduced with sound, and Mickey Mouse’s popularity skyrocketed.
For 84 years Mickey Mouse has evolved with the times, charming his way into the hearts of children and adults alike through the hundreds of works he has been featured in. No matter if Mickey is piloting a steamboat, conducting a band, serving as a sorcerer’s apprentice, or working as a host of his own nightclub, there is always some form of him to enjoy.
Fans of the Kingdom Hearts series are familiar with Mickey Mouse as King Mickey, who is absent for most of the first game’s events and mentioned only by name. It is not until the end of Kingdom Hearts where we see a shadowy outline of King Mickey as Sora and Riku close the door to the Realm of Darkness. The entire scene remains to be a favorite moment by many fans due to how elusive Mickey Mouse was throughout the game. Even if the iconic mouse’s moment in the game’s spotlight was brief, it was the start of something new and revitalizing.
By giving Mickey a keyblade, he became a warrior in a fight against the Darkness that threatened the Kingdom Hearts universe. His badass and cool attitude, especially when wearing Organization XIII's sleek black coats, coupled with the wise advise he gives to Riku and Sora throughout their journey was something novel and rarely seen in other media featuring the mouse. For many of us, it has become hard to separate Mickey Mouse from the image of him fighting Heartless alongide Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy. Hopefully we'll continue to see him in this way for as long as Kingdom Hearts continues.
Happy birthday, Mickey Mouse!
COMMENTS
Nice Mickey history. He truly is one heck of a character:] Kind of heard a shortened version of the background story (but mainly about Oswald) from an elderly Disneyland bus driver lady, which was a pretty interesting conversation. She seemed to be a big fan of Oswald, but anyways...back to Mickey!
Happy birthday, Mickey! I still didn't get to fight as you in KHII, but I will ONE day!
*sees avatar* Looks like you're all ready for the party, Mirby!
Ah yes, Mickey's 84th.
Happy Birthday! I said it on two sites now!
Nice Mickey history. He truly is one heck of a character:]
Happy birthday, Mickey! I still didn't get to fight as you in KHII, but I will ONE day!
*sees avatar* Looks like you're all ready for the party, Mirby!
(i stole bits from my history of animation paper earlier in October haha)
If you die during the battle against Xaldin, you can ;D
Happy Birthday Mickey!
You're an inspiration and you will be for many more ears.
Hope Minnie gives you a little something-something to celebrate!
(i stole bits from my history of animation paper earlier in October haha)
If you die during the battle against Xaldin, you can ;D
No harm done. Haha. Good job! Hope you got an A :3
Ooh, die I shall! Kinda feel bad about killing off Sora, but...oh well!
No harm done. Haha. Good job! Hope you got an A :3
Ooh, die I shall! Kinda feel bad about killing off Sora, but...oh well!
Haha I actually did! My teacher really liked it, even though I'm sure they got better essays on Walt xD
Yeah, it is sad but Mickey is pretty cool and he heals you 100% which is great xD
Hm, that'd make for a great trophy in 2.5..."Healing Light" which happens if you've been healed by Mickey once (or three times idk)
I actually was saved by Mickey three times in that battle once. Then still lost.
And then beat Xaldin without needing him at all in the retry XD
Don't forget to mention that walt Disney originally wanted to name micky mortimer mouse.
Whose the the leader of the club made for you and me! M-i-c-k-e-y m-o-u-s-e,mickey mouse,mickey mouse. Forever let us hold our banner high! So come along enjoy this song and join the jamberee m-i-c-k-e-y m-o-u-s-e! Happy birthday Mickey!
That mouse is getting old, I wonder what Sora and the others would think if he told them his age...
Happy birthday Mickey Mouse~ C:
Happy Birthday Mickey glad your still with us after all this time.
Happy Birthday Mickey! :D
Happy Birthday Mickey, my all-time favorite disney character!
happy birthday mickey!!!!
Happy Birthday, Mickey Mouse, our favorite keyblad weilder
Happy Birthday, King Mickey Mouse! :D Long live the king!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to what is likely the first cartoon character I ever saw. May he keep existing a least as many years more as he already has.
Happy birthday to me!
Hey, I didn't know it was your birthday too. Happy birthday, and to many more!
I miss Wayne Allwine : /
Happy birthday! I think I hugged him at Disneyland, but I can't really remember.
Mickey's birthday was yesterday. LOL! Happy belated Birthday, Mickey! ^_^
Wow, 84 years. Looks like our beloved Mickey has come a long way. Make me laugh though. If so that is his age in the KH series as well, it's hard to believe he's really that much older than Sora, Riku, and Kairi lol. (This goes for Donald and Goofy as well.) Even more amusing is the fact that if you count it by year, Mickey would actually be older then Yen Sid, seeing as Yen Sid was not introduced until a good two decades after Mickey was introduced.
Obviously though, age in Disney characters was never important, but still an amusing thought.
Happy Birthday (belated)! *o* hard to believe he's over 80.
I miss Wayne Allwine : /
We all do, man. We all do. :c Happy belated Birthday, Mickey! A great mouse, created by an even greater man.
Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse ! Wonder what they're going to do to celebrate his 100...
So, soon, he might be a hundred. Did you think of that?
Mirby
November 19, 2012 @ 07:27 amOffline