Mickey Mouse

### Allies

Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Yen Sid, Jane, Oswald, Yen Sid, Mal, Evie, Carlos, Jay, Ben, Pete (sometimes)

### Enemies

Pete (sometimes), The Phantom Blot, The Shadow Blot, Mackenzie Rose

### Relation to VKS

Personally favorites The VKS due to them being cooler and not as "prissy" as most of The AKS

### Relation to AKS

Neutral

Mickey Mouse is one of the most famous Auradon Heroes. he is a animated mouse whose current occupation is Auradon Hero and TV/Film Actor. He was Created by Walt Disney. Mickey is a recurring character in Rotten to The Core appearing in most chapters after chapter three.

## Before Auradon

### Creation; 1928-1930

“*He popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when the business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb, and disaster seemed right around the corner*”
―Walt Disney in his 1948 essay, "What Mickey Means to Me"
On March 4, 1927, Walt Disney signed a contract with Universal Pictures to produce a series of cartoons starring his character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, under the authority of producer Charles Mintz. With animation being headed by Disney’s longtime collaborator Ub Iwerks, the *Oswald* series was a hit with audiences. As the series gained traction, however, the partnership between Disney and Universal quickly began to fall apart. Walt was informed by Iwerks that Mintz’s assistant, George Winkler, had been hiring away Disney’s animators behind his back. When Disney traveled to New York to negotiate a more profitable contract in 1928, Mintz instead proposed a 20% cut. Rather than accept Mintz’s deal, Disney quit the *Oswald* series. On the train ride back to California, Walt desperately brainstormed ideas for a new cartoon character, in order to keep his studio afloat. He would eventually conceive a mouse character, whom Walt would name “Mortimer Mouse”. His wife, Lillian Disney, disliked the name and instead suggested “Mickey Mouse”, which Walt accepted.

Walt created a sketch to get the basic idea of the character, and later shared it with Ub, who refined it. Mickey’s model greatly resembled that of Oswald and other animal characters of the time, such as Otto Messmer’s Felix the Cat. Iwerks would explain, “Pear-shaped body, ball on top, a couple of thin legs. You gave it long ears, and it was a rabbit. Short ears, it was a cat. With an elongated nose, it became a mouse.” Along with Ub and a few other loyalists, Disney worked on the first two Mickey cartoons in secret, while simultaneously abiding to his contractual obligation to complete his final Oswald cartoons for Universal.

The first Mickey short to be produced was *Plane Crazy*, and it was first screened for test audiences on May 15, 1928. *Plane Crazy* focused on Mickey's attempt to become an aviator in emulation of Charles Lindbergh. In this short, Mickey was gloveless and shoeless. His appearance bore animalistic qualities more closely resembling a mouse than modern interpretations. In terms of personality, Mickey was portrayed as a rash and arrogant character, even going as far as to antagonize his love interest, Minnie Mouse. With a relatively unimaginative production and unlikable lead character, *Plane Crazy* failed to impress audiences and struggled to find a distributor. The second-produced Mickey short, *The Gallopin' Gaucho*, was significant in giving Mickey shoes for the first time, while also depicting the mouse as a more heroic character. The short centered on Mickey embarking on a chase to rescue Minnie from the villainous Pete. However, *The Gallopin' Gaucho* also failed to make an impact with potential distributors. As such, neither *Plane Crazy* or *The Gallopin' Gaucho* were released to the public that year.

It was then that Walt decided to take an extremely ambitious step by breaking into "talkies". Sound had been in animated cartoons before, but never on a scale quite like Mickey's third-produced short, *Steamboat Willie*. A parody of Buster Keaton's *Steamboat Bill, Jr.*, the cartoon featured Mickey as the mischievous deckhand of a steamboat commanded by Pete. Towards the climax of the short, he conducts a performance of the song “Turkey in the Straw“ with Minnie. *Steamboat Willie* reinvented Mickey's character with a more appealing design and relatable personality. In addition to writing the script, Walt provided the vocal effects for both Mickey and Minnie (he would continue to voice Mickey for decades to follow). *Steamboat Willie* was released on November 18, 1928 at Universal's Colony Theater in New York City, to critical acclaim. Though it was the third short to be produced, it was the first to be publicly released. As such, November 18th is recognized as the official birthday of Mickey Mouse, as declared by archivist Dave Smith in 1978. The opening sequence of the short—in which Mickey whistles the tune of “Steamboat Bill”—has served as the opening logo of Walt Disney Animation Studios films since 2007. The success of *Steamboat Willie* later allowed for the official releases of both *The Gallopin' Gaucho* and *Plane Crazy*, remastered with sound.

A slew of shorts would quickly follow, a majority of which portrayed Mickey as a rascally mouse living in a barn-like setting. The plots in Mickey’s earliest cartoons were typically bare bones. Generally, the majority of the runtime was dedicated to musical sequences accompanied by rubberhose gags involving the characters and anthropomorphic objects. As more cartoons were released, Mickey's character would develop in significant ways. In *The Karnival Kid* (released on May 23, 1929), Mickey spoke his first words, "Hot dog!". The phrase would become the character’s catchphrase in later shorts. In *The Opry House*, Mickey was given his trademark gloves, which made him easier to animate. *The Plowboy* introduced Horace Horsecollar, who would regularly appear as Mickey’s steed and friend.

With Mickey's success all but assured, Disney was offered a deal—three hundred dollars in cash for the right to feature Mickey on a children's pencil tablet that was going to be produced. Walt accepted, and thus began Mickey Mouse's foray into merchandising. Furthermore, Disney created the original Mickey Mouse Club in 1929 for fans of his character and cartoons. Though the club had its start in the United States, it would later expand to overseas markets such as Europe and Australia. The club had over one million members. In June 1929, J.V. Connelly of King Features Syndicate proposed the concept of a Mickey Mouse comic strip for newspapers.

### 1930-1950

On January 30, 1930, the first of Mickey's printed adventures was distributed—as written by Walt Disney, and illustrated by Ub Iwerks. By the summer of 1930, the comic had appeared in up to forty newspapers across the world. By May of that year, the comics were taken over by Disney artist Floyd Gottfredson, who would become renowned for four decades worth of work on *Mickey Mouse* comic stories. Like Mickey's entry into merchandising, the *Mickey Mouse* strip has been credited to having attributed to ushering in Mickey's golden age and worldwide success.

The 1930s have been regarded as Mickey’s heyday. At the 5th Academy Awards, Mickey received his first nomination for *Mickey's Orphans*. Walt was even awarded an Honorary Academy Award for the creation of Mickey in 1932. The Disney artists indulged in Mickey’s popularity by producing *Mickey's Gala Premiere* in 1933 (which paired Mickey with numerous A-list Hollywood stars). On June 1, 1934, Mickey briefly appeared in *Hollywood Party* opposite Jimmy Durante—the only animated character to appear in the crossover picture. That same year, Mickey made his debut in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and was the third character from pop culture to have a licensed balloon.

Walt had taken a gamble on Technicolor for the Silly Symphonies cartoons in 1932. Disney's cartoon, *Flowers and Trees*, was the first to break this new ground and was a success. This motivated Disney to regularly use color from then on out, though it would take another few years for this to translate into Mickey's cartoons. Mickey's first appearance in color was in 1932's *Parade of the Award Nominees*, a short created for the 5th Academy Awards banquet. As a result, it was not released to the public. In his first animated appearance in color, Mickey donned green shorts, yellow gloves, and shoes. It wouldn't be until 1935's *The Band Concert*, that Mickey was given his first official cartoon in color. The short depicted Mickey as the struggling conductor of a public band concert, with such nuisances as Donald Duck and a sudden tornado causing havoc throughout the performance. Despite the breakthrough, two more Mickey cartoons released that year in black and white; the last of which was *Mickey's Kangaroo*. With the introduction of color, Mickey's body structure was given a new look; his round body was replaced by a pear-shaped looking one and his head was changed so his nose was closer to his face. His ears were turned from round to oval and his eyes became more detailed (the pupils smaller, the eye itself outlined instead of partially open).

As Mickey’s fame grew, a segment of unhappy parents disapproved of the character’s flawed behavior. To appease the demographic, Mickey’s later cartoons strayed away from the controversial gags and stories of the character’s formative years. Consequently, the character’s popularity declined steadily throughout the late 30’s. He was even omitted from a number of the *Mickey, Donald, and Goofy* shorts, beginning with 1938’s *Polar Trappers*. To boost Mickey’s relevance, Walt envisioned, “an advancement in the sophistication of Mickey’s roles and acting ability.” To allow a broader range of emotion in the character animation, Fred Moore was brought on to redesign Mickey. In 1936, with Mickey’s new design in place, Walt began early development on a deluxe short titled *The Sorcerer's Apprentice*, based on the 1797 poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and its 1897 orchestral adaptation by Paul Dukas. Starring Mickey as the titular apprentice, the piece was conceived as a cross between animation and classical music—not unlike Disney’s *Silly Symphonies*. Unlike many of those previous shorts, however, *The Sorcerer's Apprentice* strayed away from slapstick comedy, and was designed as a picture where, “sheer fantasy unfolds ...”. Disney spared no expense, enlisting the studio’s finest artists to work on the picture—from color, to animation. While development was underway for *Sorcerer*, Fred Moore’s redesign of Mickey would appear in 1939's *Mickey's Surprise Party*, and *The Pointer*. The latter of which went on to receive an Academy Award nomination.

During a social night out at Chasen's restaurant in Hollywood, Walt had a chance meeting with conductor Leopold Stokowski. At the time, Walt had considered hiring a well-known conductor to record the music and add prestige to the film. Disney pitched his *Sorcerer’s Apprentice* project to Stokowski, and was met with enthusiasm. Stokowski offered to collaborate with Walt and conduct the deluxe short at no cost. In a statement dated back to October 26, 1937, Disney expressed excitement for *The Sorcerer’s Apprentice*’s development, writing, “The union of Stokowski and his music, together with the best of our medium, would be the means of a success and should lead to a new style of motion picture presentation." Disney and Stokowski signed an agreement on December 16, 1937 that allowed Stokowski to assemble a symphony orchestra for the recording. As development continued, *The Sorcerer’s Apprentice*’s production cost ballooned to $125,000—three to four times greater than the usual *Silly Symphony*, according to producer Ben Sharpsteen. Knowing that *The Sorcerer’s Apprentice* would not make back its budget, talks began in 1938 to extend Stokowski’s contract and produce a full-length feature, of which *The Sorcerer’s Apprentice* would be a segment. This would evolve into *Fantasia*, which would become Disney's third animated film, following the critical successes of *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* in 1937 and *Pinocchio* in 1940.

While the film is lauded today as a cinematic masterpiece, *Fantasia* was a financial and critical disappointment upon release in 1940. Rather than make a comeback as Walt had intended, Mickey would appear in fewer and fewer shorts throughout the decade. There were several contributing factors to Mickey’s decline. For one, it was perceived that the essence of Mickey’s character was too subtle and human for most storymen to capture accurately—the one exception being Walt Disney, himself. After the release of *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs*, however, Walt had become too preoccupied with feature films to contribute to the shorts. Animator Ollie Johnston would explain, “The story guys were not capable of doing a Mickey story without Walt. He was the only one who could get the feeling of that personality." The public had taken notice of the decrease in Mickey films, and sent letters to the studio for answers. Walt responded in a 1949 interview, stating, "Mickey's decline was due to his heroic nature. He grew into such a legend that we couldn't gag around with him. He acquired as many taboos as a Western hero—no smoking, no drinking, no violence." Jack Hannah further elaborated on the issue of Mickey becoming too restrictive, recalling in an interview, "I remember many stories were started with Mickey but as soon as they started to rough the mouse up, somebody would come up and say, 'Well, that's more of a Donald Duck story' so they'd turn around and make it a Donald Duck story." Mickey would continue to appear in a few noteworthy shorts, but these were few and far between. One of which included *Lend a Paw*, which became the only Mickey Mouse cartoon to date to win an Academy Award, having won for Best Animated Short of 1941. In 1947, Mickey made his second feature film appearance, as the protagonist of the *Fun and Fancy Free* segment, *Mickey and the Beanstalk*.

### 1950-2000

In the final years of Mickey's original theatrical run, Disney's cartoon shorts were given a "modernized" style of animation that Disney used from the mid-1950s to the later 1960s. Mickey, himself, was given eyebrows in his redesign. Eyebrows would continue to be seen on Mickey's face until the late 1980s and rarely in the early 1990s, until being removed altogether. There were 56 more color cartoons in the original *Mickey Mouse* theatrical series. The last of which was *The Simple Things* in 1953, which focused on Mickey and Pluto's day at the beach.

Afterward, Mickey's series would receive a thirty-year hiatus. Although he no longer appeared in theatrical cartoons, Mickey would maintain some degree of relevance by remaining the face of the Disney company, specifically in merchandising. In 1953, Disney commemorated Mickey's 25th anniversary with a portrait depicting the mouse by John Hench. This would be the first in a tradition in which the Disney company would commission and release a portrait to coincide with a major anniversary of Mickey's. Hench would paint the portraits for 1978, 1988, 1998 and 2003. Following Hench's death, Paul Felix designed the portrait for 2008, while veteran animator Mark Henn designed the portrait for 2018. The portraits are currently residing at the Walt Disney Archives.

Perhaps most notably in the 1950's, Walt debuted the popular *The Mickey Mouse Club* television show (with follow-ups of the same name debuting in 1977 and 1989). In relation to Mickey, the show is perhaps most notable for introducing Jimmie Dodd's "Mickey Mouse March", which would go on to become Mickey's trademark theme song. It also marked the first appearance of the iconic Mouse Ear hats that would become staples in Disney theme parks, the first of which—Disneyland—opened the same year in 1995. Mickey was present for Disneyland's opening, and continues to serve as the park's "ambassador" to this day.

On November 18, 1978, in honor of his 50th anniversary, Mickey became the first animated character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. That same year, Mickey would appear at the 50th Academy Awards ceremony to help announce the winner for Best Short Film (Animated). Mickey would later go on to appear at the Academy Awards ceremonies of 1988 and 2003.

In 1983, Mickey appeared in his first theatrical short since 1953's *The Simple Things*: *Mickey's Christmas Carol*, where he played the role of Bob Cratchit, opposite Scrooge McDuck's Ebenezer Scrooge. The short also marked the debut of Wayne Allwine, who would voice Mickey for three decades until his death.

As Mickey's 60th anniversary grew near in the late '80s, there was an initiative to bring classic Disney characters back into the spotlight via animated short productions. Several projects were planned, one of which included 1990's *The Prince and the Pauper*, which was screened in front of *The Rescuers Down Under* and featured Mickey starring in the (duo) lead role. Two additional Mickey projects were slated to release around this time, including the featurette *Swabbies* (1989), and a Christopher Columbus-inspired period piece titled *Mickey Columbus* (1992). Both cartoons were shelved, however.

In 1994, four of Mickey's cartoons were included in the book *The 50 Greatest Cartoons*, which listed the greatest cartoons of all time as voted by members of the animation field. The films were *The Band Concert* (#3), *Steamboat Willie* (#13), *Brave Little Tailor* (#26), and *Clock Cleaners* (#27).

In 1995, Mickey starred in a new theatrical cartoon short titled *Runaway Brain*, where Mickey's brain and body gets switched with that of a monster who falls in love with Minnie. This short was originally screened in front of *A Kid in King Arthur's Court*.

### 2000-2020

Mickey and his friends received a major comeback with the premiere of the *Mickey Mouse Works* series of shorts in 1999, shepherd by Roy E. Disney (son of Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt). Developed in the style of Disney's Golden Age of Animation, the show featured new cartoons starring Mickey, in which he embarked on comical misadventures often caused by his own mischief. Most often appearing alongside Mickey were Minnie, Pluto, and Mortimer Mouse. He would also star in trio cartoons as an employee of Ajax, alongside Donald and Goofy. Outside of his mainline shorts, Mickey also starred in the 90-second umbrella title *Mickey to the Rescue*, which followed Mickey’s quest to rescue Minnie from Pete’s lair. In the 12-minute long *Mouse Tales* cartoons, Mickey served as the protagonist in adaptations of classic stories. Immediately after *Mouse Works*’s conclusion, Mickey starred in *House of Mouse*—a crossover sitcom series in which Mickey manages a club frequented by various characters from Disney’s history. *House of Mouse* ran for three seasons, and spawned two straight-to-DVD movies.

When development began for what would become the 2002 video game, *Kingdom Hearts*, developer Squaresoft wanted Mickey to serve as the game's protagonist—contrast to Disney's request to use Donald Duck. Director Tetsuya Nomura remedied the issue by creating the character Sora, who was inspired by Mickey. Despite only having a brief appearance in the original game, Mickey's role was greatly expanded in later entries to serve as the most significant Disney character in the franchise.

Mickey served as the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day of 2005 as part of the kickoff of the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth", celebrating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary.

Mickey had appeared in computer animation prior to 2006, but the children's show *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse* served as his true foray into the art form. The series was a massive success amongst younger audiences, and popularized Mickey’s catchphrase (“Hot dog!”) with “The Hot Dog Song” by They Might Be Giants. *Clubhouse* ran on Playhouse Disney and Disney Junior for four seasons, until its conclusion in 2016.

In 2009, Mickey reappeared in balloon form in the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, dressed as the captain in *Tugboat Mickey*. That same year, Disney sought to rebrand the Mickey Mouse character again by putting less emphasis on his pleasant, cheerful side and reintroducing the more mischievous and adventurous aspects of his personality, beginning with the video game *Epic Mickey*. Though the game received mixed , it was significant as the first onscreen interaction of Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

In 2010, three dozen Mickey statues were used to promote the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which was played in Anaheim, California, adorned with insignias of the teams.

In 2011, Mickey and Minnie were given the honors as Grand Marshals of the 20th Annual Festival of Lights Parade in Chicago.

In 2012, Mickey played a silent supporting role giving a dress to Minnie in the animated short *Electric Holiday*, a collaboration between Disney and the Barney's New York fashion industry.

In June 2013, Mickey and his friends were rebranded, once more, with the premiere of a new series of shorts (appropriately titled *Mickey Mouse*) headed by animator Paul Rudish. In the style of Mickey's earliest cartoons, the shorts highlight Mickey's more flawed personality traits while retaining his likability and wholesomeness. The series marks the debut of Chris Diamantopoulos as the voice of Mickey, who has since earned numerous accolades for his performance. With millions of views on YouTube, the series has garnered major acclaim; it has earned numerous Emmy and Annie Awards for its writing, music, voice work, and animation. Paul Rudish's take on Mickey has since been featured significantly in different facets of the Disney company, including theme parks, merchandise and social media outlets. Rudish's Mickey also serves as the current mascot of Disney Television Animation.

According to animation director Lauren MacMullan, there was a company-wide initiative to come up with ideas for classic Disney characters. MacMullan looked to the Ub Iwerks era of animation for ideas, and this would eventually become *Get A Horse!* (released on November 27, 2013). In the short, Mickey is knocked out of the 2D world by Pete, who has once again kidnapped Minnie. With help from Horace Horsecollar, Mickey battles Pete to rescue Minnie, all the while being trapped in the 3D world. *Get a Horse!* was screened theatrically in front of *Frozen*, and featured archival recordings of Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse. It also earned Mickey his tenth Academy Award nomination.

To celebrate his birthday in 2016, Mickey was sent to various locations around the world (such as Brazil, Peru, Italy and China) where he interacted with locals and the culture. An original song titled "What We Got" by Tony Ferrari was released to coincide with the tour. Similarly in 2017, Disney sought out some of Mickey's biggest fans of all ages from around the globe, interviewed them regarding their love for Mickey, then capped everything off with a surprise meet-and-greet with Mickey himself. Around that same time, Mickey got a new show *Mickey and the Roadster Racers* which was later re-named to *Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures*.

2018 marked Mickey's 90th anniversary; Disney launched a company-wide celebration dubbed "Mickey: The True Original", which highlighted Mickey's impact on pop-culture since his inception in *Steamboat Willie*. On November 4th, ABC aired *Mickey's 90th Spectacular*, a two hour long television special centering Mickey's career. The gala included tributes, musical numbers and celebrity guest stars. From November 8th to February 10, 2019, New York City hosted a pop-up art exhibit dedicated to Mickey. The exhibit consists of ten interactive rooms and displays artists' recreations of various Mickey moments from over the years, as well as archived Mickey material such as concept art and merchandise. Similar exhibits were opened in Seoul, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Dubai and South Africa. Exclusive Mickey-themed merchandise from major brands such as Beats by Dre, Pandora and Vans were also released. There was also a book released called Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History, a large 496-page encyclopedia of Mickey's history from 1928 to the present.

### 2020-present

In 2020, Walt Disney World debuted the first Mickey Mouse-themed dark ride in the parks' history with Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway—based on Paul Rudish's shorts. In the attraction, Mickey appears in both the pre-show musical short and as an audio animatronic.

On October 9, 2020, Mickey briefly appeared as a virtual guest at the fifth game of the NBA Finals, which was hosted at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Walt Disney World.

On November 18, 2020, Disney premiered Mickey’s first made-for-streaming series on Disney+, *The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse*. A successor to the Paul Rudish shorts, the series retains the same creative team and art style, with Chris Diamantopoulos reprising his role as Mickey.

## Trivia

* Mickey the second hero that appears the most in the series, the first being Bolt, the third being Fairy Godmother, and fourth/fifth being Belle and Beast
* He is Yen Sid's apprentice who is the father of Jane so the two bonded sometimes