MICKEY MOUSE
Name: Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a comic animal cartoon character who has become an icon for The
Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub
Iwerks and voiced by Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Company celebrates his
birth as November 18, 1928 upon the release of Steamboat Willie. The
anthropomorphic mouse has evolved from being simply a character in animated
cartoons and comic strips to become one of the most recognizable symbols in the
world.
Mickey was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier
cartoon character created by the Disney studio for Charles Mintz of Universal
Studios.
When Disney asked for a larger budget for his popular Oswald series, Mintz
announced he had hired the bulk of Disney's staff, but that Disney could keep
doing the Oswald series, as long as he agreed to a budget cut and went on the
payroll. Mintz owned Oswald and thought he had Disney over a barrel. Angrily,
Disney refused the deal and returned to produce the final Oswald cartoons he
contractually owed Mintz. Disney was dismayed at the betrayal by his staff, but
determined to restart from scratch. The new Disney Studio initially consisted of
animator Ub Iwerks and a loyal apprentice artist, Les Clark. One lesson Disney
learned from the experience was to thereafter always make sure that he owned all
rights to the characters produced by his company.
In the spring of 1928, Disney asked Ub Iwerks to start drawing up new character
ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of frogs, dogs and cats, but none of these appealed
to Disney. A female cow and male horse were also rejected. They would later turn
up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. Walt Disney got the inspiration
for Mickey Mouse when he saw a dead mouse on the traintracks. In 1925, Hugh
Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. These
inspired Ub Iwerks to create a new mouse character for Disney called Mickey
Mouse.
"We felt that the public, and especially the children, like animals that are
cute and little. I think we are rather indebted to Charlie Chaplin for the idea.
We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that
would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin a little fellow trying to
do the best he could."
"When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it's because he's so human; and that is the
secret of his popularity."
"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing that it was all started by
a mouse." Walt Disney
Name: Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a comic animal cartoon character who has become an icon for The
Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub
Iwerks and voiced by Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Company celebrates his
birth as November 18, 1928 upon the release of Steamboat Willie. The
anthropomorphic mouse has evolved from being simply a character in animated
cartoons and comic strips to become one of the most recognizable symbols in the
world.
Mickey was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier
cartoon character created by the Disney studio for Charles Mintz of Universal
Studios.
When Disney asked for a larger budget for his popular Oswald series, Mintz
announced he had hired the bulk of Disney's staff, but that Disney could keep
doing the Oswald series, as long as he agreed to a budget cut and went on the
payroll. Mintz owned Oswald and thought he had Disney over a barrel. Angrily,
Disney refused the deal and returned to produce the final Oswald cartoons he
contractually owed Mintz. Disney was dismayed at the betrayal by his staff, but
determined to restart from scratch. The new Disney Studio initially consisted of
animator Ub Iwerks and a loyal apprentice artist, Les Clark. One lesson Disney
learned from the experience was to thereafter always make sure that he owned all
rights to the characters produced by his company.
In the spring of 1928, Disney asked Ub Iwerks to start drawing up new character
ideas. Iwerks tried sketches of frogs, dogs and cats, but none of these appealed
to Disney. A female cow and male horse were also rejected. They would later turn
up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. Walt Disney got the inspiration
for Mickey Mouse when he saw a dead mouse on the traintracks. In 1925, Hugh
Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. These
inspired Ub Iwerks to create a new mouse character for Disney called Mickey
Mouse.
"We felt that the public, and especially the children, like animals that are
cute and little. I think we are rather indebted to Charlie Chaplin for the idea.
We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that
would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin a little fellow trying to
do the best he could."
"When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it's because he's so human; and that is the
secret of his popularity."
"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing that it was all started by
a mouse." Walt Disney