At age 75, Mickey Mouse represents American culture, consumerism

Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2003

By Mike Schneider
Associated Press
Mickey and Minnie Mouse wave to cheering spectators at the Tokyo Disneyland's
Christmas Parade near on Nov. 4

Photos

Katsumi Kasahara/AP
ORLANDO, Fla. - Mickey Mouse arrived on the world's cultural stage 75 years ago today
as a scrawny but buoyant black-and-white product of the Jazz Age.
He was a symbol of American pluck in his screen debut, ''Steamboat Willie,'' on Nov. 18,
1928. The film at New York's Colony Theatre showed an irreverent rodent who takes
Captain Pete's steamboat on a joyride and woos Minnie Mouse by making music on the
bodies of various farm animals.
The years have dulled Mickey's personality, a result of him becoming the corporate face of
a multibillion-dollar entertainment empire. In the process, Mickey also has become a
cultural Rorschach test - a symbol of American optimism, resourcefulness and energy or an
icon of cultural commodification and corporate imperialism.
''There are a number of qualities Mickey represents on which people like to stick their
particular view of the world,'' said Janet Wasko, a University of Oregon professor and
author of ''Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy.''
For Roy E. Disney, whose uncle, Walt Disney, created the character, Mickey Mouse is
'''this friendly little guy,' which were Walt's words for describing him.''
For Penn State professor Henry Giroux, however, Mickey Mouse represents the vast reach
of American cultural power, symbolizing a company that has turned childhood into a
function of consumerism as children feel obligated to purchase the latest ''Finding Nemo''
DVD or Mickey Mouse watch.
''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,'' said Giroux, author of ''The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of
Innocence,'' a cultural critique of the company.
Mickey wasn't always so complex.
Walt Disney started his animation career in Kansas City, Mo., producing films that were a
combination of cartoon and live action and starring an inquisitive little girl named Alice.
Hoping for greater success, he moved to Los Angeles in 1923, joining his brother, Roy.
Once the creative possibilities with the Alice series were exhausted, Disney started
producing films for a new animated character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, in 1927.
Mickey Mouse was conceived the next year during a cross-country train ride. Walt Disney
had just been forced to give up the Oswald rights to his ruthless New York distributor, who
had exercised copyright control over the character.
On the ride back home to Los Angeles, Disney conjured up a little mouse named Mortimer.
His wife, Lillian, thought the name too pompous and suggested Mickey.
Disney and animator Ub Iwerks initially produced two silent cartoons for Mickey Mouse,
''Plane Crazy'' and ''The Gallopin' Gaucho.'' But in the wake of the success of the nation's
first ''talkie,'' Al Jolson's ''The Jazz Singer'' in 1927, Disney decided to produce a cartoon
that would be synchronized to songs, music and sound effects.
''Steamboat Willie'' was an instant hit, arriving at a time when technological advances in
motion pictures, radio and the phonograph were transforming mass culture. By the end of
the 1930s, Mickey had starred in more than 100 cartoons.
Mickey gradually transformed both physically and spiritually. His face was rounded out
and his eyes went from black ovals to white eyes with pupils in the late 1930s. His face
became friendlier, less rat-like.
Mickey Mouse became the face that launched a thousand merchandise products. Watches.
Pencils. Bedsheets. Alarm clocks. Telephones. He is one of the most merchandised faces
ever, said Wasko, although his sales are currently second to Winnie the Pooh for the Disney
company.
Mickey's personality became less edgy, duller and less subversive. Toward the end of the
1930s and the start of the 1940s, Disney animators found it harder to create story lines
around Mickey as the character became the face of the company.
''Donald (Duck) became easier to write stories around because his personality was more
varied. Often in that period, they would start a cartoon with Mickey and it wouldn't work
and someone would say 'Use Donald,''' said David Smith, archives director for the Walt
Disney Co. ''You didn't want to do naughty things with your corporate logo. He suddenly
became sacrosanct.''
Mickey's popularity may have waned in the 1940s, but he gained new life in the 1950s
with the airing of TV's ''Mickey Mouse Club'' and the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim,
Calif.
''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.''
In the succeeding decades, Mickey has been used in less than a dozen theatrical releases,
but is a regular presence on television in ''House of the Mouse'' on the Disney Channel and
is photographed daily alongside thousands of tourists at theme parks in California, Florida,
France and Japan.
''Mickey Mouse speaks an international language,'' 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.''
- Associated Press Writer Bob Thomas in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, November 18, 2003.

Walt Disney: 7 Things You Didn't Know About the Man & the Magic
In anticipation of Walt Disney's 'Get a Horse!' and the biographical film 'Saving Mr. Banks,'
we take a look at seven lesser-known facts on the man and the institution.
look at seven lesser-known facts on the man and the institution.
MICAH WHITE
NOV 26, 2013
For almost 100 years, the name Walt Disney has been so synonymous with animated films,
television channels, and child-friendly theme parks that its easy to forget that, at one time,
the moniker referred to an actual person. Born in 1901, Walter Elias Walt Disney grew to
be one of Americas most preeminent business tycoons by the time he died in 1966. Within
this short time, he also became a beloved animator, producer, director, screenwriter, and
voice actor (who just happens to have more Academy Awards and nominations than anyone
else in history). Not too bad for a cartoonist from Chicago. Although Walt Disney died
almost 40 years ago, the mass media stronghold of his eponymous company remains as
strong as ever. The voluminous canon of Walt Disney Studios, not to mention the work of
all of its subsidiaries, often overshadows the life of its founder.
Soon, however, the voice of Walt Disney himself will be pumped into movie theaters
throughout the country. On November 27th, the Walt Disney Animation Studios will
release Get a Horse!, a 7-minute animated film featuring the studios quintessential stars,
Mickey Mouse and his favorite lady friend Minnie Mouse, who embark on a jubilant
musical wagon ride (that is, until Peg-Leg Pete arrives and tries to ruin all the fun). Get a
Horse! will accompany the studios new feature film, Frozen, and will include archival
recordings of Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse. In honor of the short films
release and the resurgent voice of the companys creator, here are seven facts you may not
have known about both the man and the studio named Walt Disney.
1. Mickey was almost Mortimer. On a train ride following a less than fruitful business
meeting in 1928, Walt Disney, then only 27 years old, sketched a mouse. This mouse would
eventually become the official mascot of a multinational corporation worth tens of billions
of dollars, but Walt, of course, didnt know this at the time. He called the sketch Mortimer
Mouse and showed it to his wife, Lily. After deeming the name Mortimer much too
pompous, Lily suggested giving the mouse a cuter name, such as Mickey. Thankfully, Walt
agreed with her, and a star was born.
Watch Walt Disney's mini bio:
2. Walt was anti facial hairwith one exception. It took almost 60 years, but, as of this
year, employees at Walt Disneys two U.S. theme parks can finally show up at work with a
stylish beard or goatee (but only if they are neat, polished, and professional, according to
the official memo). However, at Disneyland in the 50s and 60s, even guests with facial hair,
not to mention longhaired hippies, were turned away, as they were told they unfortunately
failed to meet the standards of Disneylands dress code. Even Jim McGuinn, the future
frontman of The Byrds, was once denied admittance for sporting a provocative Beatle cut.
The company eventually relented on this policy, though, and allowed all hirsute patrons to
enjoy The Happiest Place on Earth. Now, the peculiar double standard: Think of any
picture of Walt Disney that you have ever seen. What exists in almost all of them? A
mustache.
3. The final words ever written by Walt Disney were Kurt Russell.Really, no joke. In
1966, as Disney was suffering from lung cancer and nearing the end of his life, he scrawled
the name Kurt Russell on a piece of paper and died soon after. At the time, Kurt Russell
was a child actor for the studio and had just signed a lengthy contract. To this day, no one
knows what Disney meant or intended, including Russell himself.
4. Walt still has a home at Disneyland. During the construction of Disneyland in the
1950s, Walt moved into a one-bedroom apartment above the theme parks Fire Station on
Main Street in order to work and watch his dream come to life. The apartment still exists
and has been left largely untouched. During his stay there, Walt lit a lamp in the window to
alert the staff of his presence. This lamp is now permanently ablaze in his honor.
Watch Disney's dream of the Magic Kingdom come to life:
5. Dont be surprised if you experience Disney dj vu. When you first watched
Disneys Robin Hood, did you wonder if you had seen it all before? If so, theres no need to
worry. In 1915, an animation technique called rotoscoping was invented. This technique
involves drawing over film footage of live actors, which allows animators to capture
realistic human movement. It also lets animators recycle animated movements for use on
characters in different films. So, the next time you watch Disneys Robin Hood, just
remember that large parts of it were, thanks to the studios use of rotoscoping, gathered
from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Jungle Book, and The Aristocats.
6. Mickey and Minnie Mouse actually got married. Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor are
not well-known names, even among Disney aficionados, but their animated personas are
seared into most peoples minds. In 1991, Allwine, who was the voice of Mickey Mouse for
32 years, married Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse, and the couple remained happily
married until Allwines death in 2009.
7. Nobody, including Walt Disney, is perfect. While Walt Disney was an innovative and
successful man, he was also the subject of many controversies, most of which involved
rumors that he was anti-Semitic and racist. These rumors were, and still are, hard to dispel.
In the 1930s, Disney attended meetings of a pro-Nazi organization, the German American
Bund. He also hosted a known Nazi propagandist and filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, and
gave her a tour of Disney Studios. To make matters worse, Disney was also accused of
perpetuating black stereotypes in his films. But, for all of his critics, Disney also had scores
of supporters who claimed he was far from being either anti-Semitic or racist. The debate
on Disneys alleged discrimination and racism continues to this day.

http://www.biography.com/news/walt-disney-biography-facts-video
http://www.skewsme.com/walts_youth.html