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| Walt Disney: "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." |
Despite popular thought, Mickey Mouse wasn't actually Walt Disney's first creation. In the mid-20s, Walt and his brother Roy Disney worked at Disney Brothers Studios which was a subsidiary of Universal Pictures. At this time, Walt created another lovable animal: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was a huge success, but it turned out he wasn't so "lucky" despite the namesake. In 1928, Disney met with Universal Pictures executives to renegotiate contracts, the retort of distributor Charles Mintz was to buy out all of the artists and animators from Disney Brothers Studios, keep the rights to Oswald and leave the Disney brothers themselves in the dust by paying them a lower salary.
Walt turned down the salary offer and disbanded Disney Brothers Studios from Universal. He immediately began work on a replacement for Oswald, along with Roy Disney and Ub Iwerks who was the only animator to stay with the Disney brothers. It was at this point that Disney vowed against middle men and would only use characters that he had complete rights to. Allegedly, on a train journey through Manhattan, Walt was drawing and came up with a mouse whose name was Mortimer. This name was changed to Mickey by suggestion of Walt's wife, Lillian Marie Disney, who thought Mortimer sounded too mean.
“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 wrote in “What Mickey Means to Me”, a 1948 essay. It's a wonder, and a blessing, that Charles Mintz or Universal Pictures didn't sue Walt and his cohorts for ripping off Oswald, seeing as the two characters share so many clear similarities.
Mickey's hands have three fingers and a thumb, this was both a financial and an artistic decision. Walt Disney explained that "Artistically, five digits are too many for a mouse. His hand would look like a bunch of bananas. Financially, not having an extra finger in each of 45,000 drawings that make up a six and one-half minute short has saved the Studio millions."
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| Initial designs for Mickey, originally known as Mortimer Mouse, who eventually became his own fully-fledged character - "Ha, cha cha!" |
Plane Crazy was the first cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse; it was inspired by Charles Lindbergh’s heroic first solo flight across the Atlantic.The cartoon premiered in Hollywood on May 15, 1928, in the form of a test screening. Both Plane Crazy and Mickey's next cartoon, The Gallopin' Gaucho, failed to make a lasting impression. It wasn't until November 18th of the same year, the release of Steamboat Willie, that critics' heads began to turn in Disney's direction. Steamboat Willie was, according to a 2008 Time magazine article, "the first animation to feature synchronised music and sound effects.". Walt received $1,000 for a two-week run of the animation which, at the time, was the highest sum ever paid for a cartoon on Broadway. Disney Brothers Studios, a small but dedicated team, was saved and an icon was born.
Mickey Mouse came about at the same time as the start of The Great Depression, he and his fun cartoons stood as a pillar for Americans to overcome hardships; Mickey displayed a persevering spirit that inspired a nation in the late 20s and throughout the 30s. In rooting for Mickey Mouse's success, the people were also rooting for their own success. The timing of his cartoons releasing was a great aid in his surge of popularity.
In the 1929 cartoon, The Opry House, Mickey's signature white gloves made their first appearance as a way to contrast his naturally black hands against his torso. This design choice proved to be influential as a number of Disney's own characters took the trait, among other characters such as Woody Woodpecker and Super Mario. A few years later, in 1935, Mickey got a revamp to his design. Fred Moore, who would go on to animate the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment of 1940's Fantasia, gave Mickey a pear-shaped body, pupils and a shortened nose in an attempt to make him cuter. Mickey had previously been drawn using a series of circles which limited his movement, Moore's design looked to improve the dynamics of Mickey's movement.
Mickey's marketability started to show through in 1933, when the Ingersoll-Waterbury Clock company made Mickey Mouse themed watches. Records state that "On its first day of release, the watch sold a record 11,000 units at Macy's in New York." It was around this time that Mickey's personality became duller and less mischievous. As he became the face of the company towards the end of the 1930s and at the start of the 1940s, Disney animators found it progressively more difficult to tailor story lines around Mickey. David Smith, archives director for the Walt Disney Company, stated that ''Donald (Duck) became easier to write stories around... Often in that period, they would start a cartoon with Mickey and it wouldn't work and someone would say 'Use Donald', you didn't want to do naughty things with your corporate logo. He suddenly became sacrosanct.''
With his sacred status, Mickey's popularity began to decline as he appeared in fewer cartoon shorts. This wane in his popularity was short-lived however, as Disney opened up the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California on July 17th, 1955. ''Mickey got a double shot of invigoration,'' said Marty Sklar, vice chairman and principal creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering. ''The characters live in our park. Mickey is the king of our characters.'' Disneyland is comprised of 160 acres of land, and represents many facets of Walt Disney's personality; the park itself opens out on "Main Street", a romanticised portrayal of small-town America - this branches into various themed areas including Adventureland, Frontierland and most notably Tomorrowland, an area dedicated to Disney's consistent fascination with technological growth.
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| The "Partners" statue, a representation of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California |
The Walt Disney Company continued to churn out cartoons featuring their beloved mouse until 1953's "The Simple Things"; at this point Mickey Mouse took a back seat for a few decades. The past library of his cartoons and his presence in the idealised Disneyland were enough to get him by in this period, he was already one of the greatest known fictional figures of all time, even overtaking Santa Claus at times.
In his 1970 work "The Unembarrassed Muse: The Popular Arts in America", Russel B. Nye made the following observations about Mickey Mouse and his relevant media: "Mickey’s is a child’s world, safe (though occasionally scary), nonviolent, nonideological, where all the stories have happy endings. Characterization is strong and simple....No Disney strip ever gave a child bad dreams or an adult anything to ponder. Mickey’s whole existence is predicated on love and security for all....The roots of Mickey’s appeal lie in his continual reassurance that all’s right with the world, that the meek will inherit, the innocent triumph."
Mickey Mouse didn't make any new screen appearances until 1983's Christmas special titled Mickey's Christmas Carol. After another few years of hiatus, Mickey Mouse made a cameo alongside Warner Brothers' Bugs Bunny in 1988's cult classic, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?".
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| Bob Hoskins free-falling with Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, now there's a sight to behold! |
What was and and continues to be the appeal of the films, theme parks and merchandise associated with Mickey Mouse and the Disney brand? The logical assumption would be marketing aimed towards children, however, Walt Disney himself suggested that his properties were aimed towards adults too, with the following comment: "When does a person stop being a child? Can you say that a child is ever entirely eliminated from an adult? I believe that the right kind of entertainment can appeal to all persons, young or old.". Ex-Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, also claimed that Disney entertainment is geared towards "the child within us.".
Mickey Mouse himself encapsulates and represents every image that the Walt Disney Company works to portray: happiness, joy, fun and the ability to bring families together. In a fantasy world, Mickey is the embodiment of good and fights to stop evil. In reality, he still represents all things good and speaks to people of all cultures and backgrounds in a way that symbolises the magic that the Disney brand bases itself upon. ''Mickey Mouse speaks an international language,'' Marty Sklar said. ''When I go to Tokyo and see how kids react to Mickey Mouse the same way they do in Paris. It's reassuring that there are some things that cross international boundaries.''.
Because the mouse is such a faithful representation of the company's values, he is pushed to the forefront of Disney marketing on a regular basis. Mickey's family friendly image is gravitational, non-offensive and will always have an audience. On the flip side, if an individual cannot afford to buy Disney products, the mouse can suddenly have a negative meaning; an unattainable source of happiness. The documentary "Mickey Mouse Monopoly" discusses the theory that the Disney company has created a monopoly under the guise of innocence and fun. Henry Grioux also suggests something similar in his book 'The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence': ''Mickey Mouse offers up a ... symbol of innocence while hiding the role it plays in commodifying children's dreams and extending the logic of the market into all aspects of their lives.''.
Regardless of your stance on it, it's undeniable that Mickey Mouse has had a colossal cultural impact. Every year since 1932, mayoral elections across America have had the animated mouse as a write-in candidate, in 2012 Elections Supervisor Gail Whitehead even went so far as to say, "Mickey always gets votes. If he doesn't get votes in our election, it's a bad election.".
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| If you don't want to vote for any running party members, the mouse will always be there for you |
In February of 2006 something quite incredible happened within The Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger took over as CEO and made an eye-catching move. He traded off sport commentator Al Michaels from ESPN to NBC in return for the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. That's right! After nearly 80 years, Disney got their first creation back.
During his time at Universal, Oswald's design had been revamped by Walter Lantz, the creator of Woody Woodpecker. I feel that this design, which was featured in a short run of comics, was detrimental to Oswald as it stripped him of the personality he previously had, in favour of a more generic happy-go-lucky one. Aside this, he had been left in the sidelines a little bit and, as a result, hadn't gone through the same kind of marketing growth as Mickey had.
"They are not too far apart in their physical characteristics, but I think in personality they were more alike in the beginning," says Becky Cline, the director of the Walt Disney Archives, in reference to Mickey and Oswald, "Mickey was a little more naughty and frisky then than he was now. Mickey is more of a gentleman than Oswald was. Oswald was kind of a rogue. He was a lothario."
Oswald was a mischievous character and a lover of slapstick humour: "He represents that optimistic era of early animated cartoons, but doesn't come with the 'family friendly' baggage of Mickey Mouse. We have no expectations for Oswald, so the studio can use him in new ways.". This was proven in 2010's Epic Mickey, a video game that takes on a more classic visual style for the characters and re-introduced Oswald to the public in a big way. Epic Mickey is an interesting concept, the game follows Mickey Mouse into the "Wasteland", this was Oswald's vision of Walt Disney World, for all the characters who were forgotten; Oswald became jealous of Mickey's fame and how he was never forgotten and has it out for the mouse throughout the game.
With this in mind, I feel that Mickey was always going to be a better candidate than Oswald for globalisation, "For many people [Mickey's] image is tied to the sensation of childhood." said Dr Todd James Pierce, who co-runs the Disney History Institute website, "There is something intrinsically marketable about Mickey Mouse, but it's not easy for people to put their finger on exactly what that is. Walt Disney himself was at times confused by the enduring popularity... In its purest sense - freed from his corporate owners - Mickey Mouse is an icon of the generosity and good spirits." Characters like Mickey have blanker personality slates, but perhaps the key to a timeless mascot character is one whose ideals are relatable to a majority of the public, rather than being inherently "interesting": Mickey represents goodness through and through and is without fault; while a character like Oswald is almost like an anti-hero with his mischievous personality quirks, these make him arguably more unique and edgy but his marketing presence is fleeting as a result.
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| Concept art of Mickey and Oswald from Epic Mickey |
References:
The Unembarrassed Muse: The Popular Arts in America - Nye, R. B. (1970) https://goo.gl/6HexHm - Fishwick, M. (June 1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rYmt0tybi8 - Picker, M. (March 2002)
https://goo.gl/NQSQVo - Verrier, R. (July 2003)
Word & World, Volume 23 - Forbes, B. D. (July 2003)
https://goo.gl/9xL4pm - Schneider, M. (November 2003)
https://goo.gl/3Wdjci - Friedman, P. (June 2008)
https://goo.gl/341Nc8 - Suddath, C. (November 2008)
Walt Before Mickey - Susanin, T. S. (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGdLkl1Alpc - WatchMojo (May 2011)
https://goo.gl/moaxpp - Hubert, K. (July 2011)
https://goo.gl/DskNzV - Gluck, K. (November 2012)
https://goo.gl/CNRGXF - Rigsby, G. G. (November 2012)
https://goo.gl/YsPKdg - Anon. (December 2012)
https://goo.gl/zN11Ko - Anon. (October 2013)
https://goo.gl/T19S8t - Fuller, J. (November 2013)
Walt Before Mickey (Documentary) - Le, K. (August 2015)
https://goo.gl/UPeKwM - Van Luling, T. (November 2015)
https://goo.gl/iP4dDp - Anon. (September 2016)
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