Mickey Mouse History, Essay Example

Introduction

Early YearsIt is difficult to think of a more recognizable character than Santa Claus yet Mickey Mouse holds that distinction. Mickey Mouse is so popular around the world that it will not be surprising if some people may think of it as the first live cartoon character in the world. The surprising thing about Mickey Mouse is that ‘Mickey’ was not the first name chosen for the character as there are rumors of other names such as Mortimer. Similarly, the cartoon Steamboat Willie (Figure 1) which made Mickey Mouse famous was not Mickey Mouse’ first appearance before the public. In fact, Mickey Mouse made appearances in two shorts including Plane Crazy before Steamboat Willie came out in 1928 (Suddath, 2008).

Early Years

When Mickey Mouse was introduced, there was little variation in the design of animated characters. One could see the resemblance of Mickey Mouse to other characters such as mice in Aesop’s Fables or Felix the Cat (Cawley & Korkis). Mickey Mouse was not the first cartoon character created by Walt Disney that gained nationwide popularity in the U.S. In fact, Walt Disney had also created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit while he was still at Universal Brothers (Universal) but disagreement over contract led Walt Disney to part ways with Universal and set out on his own. In fact, Mickey Mouse was merely a slight variation over Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as evident from Figure 1 and Figure 2. The major differences were shorter ears for Mickey Mouse and slightly different body frame (Suddath, 2008).

Steamboat Willie touches upon the concept of travel and interestingly, the concept of the character was also conceived by Walt Disney in quite similar circumstances. The idea of Mickey Mouse first occurred to Disney during four-day train trip in early 1928. Disney already had a falling out with Universal Studios by the time of the trip and was looking to repeat his success with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, owned by his former employer. Disney also provided voice for Mickey Mouse until 1946 when he transferred Mickey Mouse’ sound and vocal responsibilities to Jim McDonald. McDonald did the job until 1974 after which Wayne Allwine took over (Holdridge).

Even though Mickey Mouse gained fame through Steamboat Willie, his first introduction to the world came through Plane Crazy. Plane Crazy failed to leave the same mark as Steamboat Willie because Disney lacked distribution channels. In those days, the world didn’t use to get introduced to cartoons through televisions but through theaters. Steamboat Willie also benefitted from the fact that it had synchronized sound editing which Plane Crazy lacked. The success of Steamboat Willie led to formation of Walt Disney Productions the very same year. Steamboat Willie also gave Disney a formula for success by proving the importance of sound and Disney reissued even earlier animated shorts with sound. Not long after in 1932, Disney received its first Academy Award for creating the character of Mickey Mouse (Doyle).

Mickey Conquers

Mickey Mouse also benefitted from the marketing genius of Walt Disney who wasted no time in commercially exploiting the popularity of the character by introducing character merchandise as well as creating Mickey Mouse Club. Soon after, Mickey Mouse achieved his trademark looks at the hands of a young animator named Fred Moore whose illustration is shown in Figure 3. 1935 didn’t only see the introduction of Mickey Mouse’ new look but also witnessed the first color animated movie with Mickey Mouse character named Fantasia (Suddath, 2008). Even though Fred Moore’s changes have withstood the test of time, these changes such as the addition of pupil were not the only ones. Other short-lived experiments in appearance include three dimensional ears and tail hidden in the pants (Cawley & Korkis).

One of the reasons public associated with Mickey Mouse was the character’s cheerful nature as the nation was still dealing with the Great Depression. Mickey Mouse reminded them of the strength of the human spirit and gave them hope for a better future (Hubert). Mickey Mouse would often be portrayed in leadership positions and as having a pure heart. Most of his stories would also revolve around his family such as Minnie and his dog. In addition, he was a hard worker as well as adventurous who would always try to help others. All of these characteristics made it easier for everyone to relate to Mickey and contributed towards his universal appeal (Cawley & Korkis). Mickey Mouse’ ability to bring smile and joy continues to live and it’s not a surprise that it is the most reproduced image in the world, even ahead of religious and celebrities including Jesus and Elvis Presley (Bellis).

Great Depression and WWII

It is not an understatement to claim that Mickey Mouse is one of the unsung heroes of the Great Depression. Not only did Mickey Mouse provided joy and optimism to the masses but also contributed towards national economy in his own little ways. Even The New York Times could not help but notice that Mickey Mouse had become a marketing phenomenon. Journalist H.L. Robbins noted in the journal’s March 1935 issue, “The fresh cheering is for Mickey the Big Business Man, the world’s super-salesman. He finds work for jobless folk. He lifts corporations out of bankruptcy. Wherever he scampers, here or overseas, the sun of prosperity breaks through the clouds.” Almost every kind of item could be found with Mickey Mouse’ image including soap, candy, hairbrushes, chinaware, table covers, napkins, and alarm clocks. Even food product manufacturers also jumped in by offering Mickey Mouse biscuits, breakfast cereal, and dairy products. Luxury brands were also not far behind, with New York’s Fifth Avenue selling Mickey Mouse charms and bracelets including gold, platinum, and diamond ones. Similarly, Cartier offered a diamond Mickey Mouse bracelet for $1,200. Some shops even went for Mickey Mouse window displays at a cost of $25,000 per display (Doyle).

Mickey Mouse even helped save few companies from going out of business of which Timex is probably the most famous example. Timex started its operations as Ingersoll-Waterbury Clock Company of Waterbury, Connecticut and was struggling financially before it started offering Mickey Mouse watch in mid-1933. After the company reduced the price of Mickey Mouse watch from $3.25 to $2.95 and accompanied the price reduction with an ambitious marketing campaign, sales soared and helped the company survive the Great Depression. Ingersoll-Waterbury eventually became Timex in the 1960s (Doyle).

Later, more of Mickey Mouse’ friends such as Donald Duck and Pluto were introduced and popularity of other Disney productions such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as well as competitors’ offerings led to some loss of focus on Mickey Mouse. But Mickey Mouse had already provided the company with a strong foundation and also provided inspiration for other projects such as The Mickey Mouse Club and Disneyland (Suddath, 2008). But if it were not for the revenues being generated by Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney would not have taken off the way it did and taken on ambitious projects. By 1934, Mickey Mouse merchandise was earning the company $600,000 per year. Thus, Disney produced the courage to invest time and money in the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Figure 4) which took years and $2 million to produce. Some even feared the investment in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will doom the company but the full-length animated feature surpassed all expectations and played for five weeks at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, which was a record at the time. By the spring of 1939, the animated movie had earned about $10 million worldwide while sales of movie-related merchandise alone had surpassed the production budget of $2 million (Doyle).

WWII didn’t only affect other industries but also Disney. Only two cartoons starring Mickey Mouse were made in 1942 and the next ones would only be made in 1947. Donald Duck’s character seemed a better fit into military’s image, thus, Donald Duck also became a little more popular than Mickey Mouse during this period. Mickey Mouse’ return in 1947 was in a family named Mickey and the Beanstalk which also starred Goofy and Donald Duck (Cawley & Korkis).

50s and Beyond

Disney also found a great success outside animated productions and the most notable early example was The Mickey Mouse Club. The Mickey Mouse Club became the most successful children’s program in the late 1950s. The show created several superstars who came to be known as The Mouseketeers and led to the popularity of Mouse Ears as shown in Figure 5 (Cawley & Korkis).

When Disneyland theme park opened in Anaheim, California in 1955, Mickey Mouse was the official host of the Magic Kingdom. Mickey Mouse took his role to Orlando, Florida when Walt Disney World opened there in 1971 and similarly to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney-MGM Studios (Cawley & Korkis).

Mickey Mouse remained popular in the following decades which saw a major introduction of the character in TV program The Mouse Factory in 1972. 1978 saw Mickey Mouse turning 50 as well as the approval of official birth date of November 18, 1928. This particular date was chosen because it marked the first official screening of Steamboat Willie in New York. It won’t be an understatement to argue that the year 1978 belonged to Mickey Mouse due to extensive media coverage in print and electronic media. One of the highlights of the celebrations was whistle stop train (Figure 6) tour around the country from Los Angeles to New York. Even the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Library of Congress paid tribute to the national icon. NBC ran a 90-minute special program titled “Mickey’s 50” featuring Bob Hope, Gene Kelly, Edgar Bergen, Dick Clark, Johnny Carson, and even former President Gerard Ford. Hollywood also recognized the star status of Mickey Mouse by honoring it with a star in Hollywood’s Walk of Fame (Cawley & Korkis).

Mickey Re-emerges

Mickey Mouse made a strong comeback after almost three decades of disappearance in the full-length animated feature Mickey’s Christmas Carol. This movie was a variation on Charles Dickens’s famous novel. 1987 saw Mickey Mouse appearing on a $1 bill for the first time when Disneyland introduced Disney Dollars (Figure 7). Mickey Mouse also made appearance in the popular 1980s animated-live action movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. In 1989, Mickey Mouse made his appearance as a presenter at the Academy Awards and presented the award for “Best Animated Short” (Cawley & Korkis). 

Video Games – The Next Frontier

Mickey Mouse first appearance in a video game came about in 1988 when Nintendo released Mousecapade. SEGA also introduced Mickey Mouse in Castle of Illusion in 1990 and other sequels. But the first memorable role probably occurred in Kingdom Hearts series (Miller, 2009). There have many other games throughout the years in which Mickey Mouse has made appearance such as World of Illusion, Legend of Illusion, and even SEGA’s adaptation of Fantasia (Thomas, 2010). But Kingdom Hearts was the first serious effort to develop Mickey Mouse franchise in the world of video games. But even in this game, users mostly controlled Donald and Goofy while Mickey Mouse acted on his own whim. The first episode got a huge response and prompted the sequel in 2005. After Kingdom Hearts series, the next serious effort to establish Mickey Mouse video games brand was Epic Mickey which came out in 2010 as Wii exclusive (Thomas, 2010).

Competition

Mickey Mouse is the world’s most recognizable cartoon character though it has been eclipsed by other characters in popularity, many from Disney’s own archive. But Mickey Mouse’ greatest competition from a rival company may be Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny (Figure 8). The rivalry has been so intense that both Disney and Warner Bros. signed a contract that Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny will share equal screen time in the famed movie Who Framed the Roger Rabbit?. Other characters from the competition that have been engaged in popularity contest with Mickey Mouse include Kermit the Frog (NationMaster).

Conclusion

The list of Walt Disney’s achievements is endless such as starting the first theme park, first full-length animated feature, and first multimedia company but Disney knew that Mickey Mouse was the beginning point of all great things to come. Not surprisingly, he remarked, “I hope that we never lose site of one thing: that it was all started by a Mouse.” (Bellis).

The history of Mickey Mouse almost reads like the history of video animation itself. Video animation also started as silent features and most animated characters used to have similarities. But the introduction of sound revolutionized the animation industry and also revealed the importance of quality and innovation. Mickey Mouse also proved that a fictional character could be a huge celebrity and even a powerful brand in itself as demonstrated by its marketing success which helped save entire companies during the Great Depression.

Mickey Mouse popularity around the world was also due to the character’s ability to connect with an ordinary citizen and suit the needs of the time. Mickey Mouse was introduced to the audience around the time of Great Depression and provided them hope and optimism through his cheerful personality. Similarly, he exhibited traits valued by an average person such as love for family, pure heart, and strong work ethics.

Mickey Mouse timeless appeal has not been merely an accident but the outcome of careful brand management by the company. Disney has worked hard to cultivate a particular image and protect it. Not surprisingly, Mickey Mouse has rarely shown a mischievous or villainous side because audiences do not expect such personality traits from him. In addition, it has become the company’s primary spokesperson and face of its various assets including theme parks.

References

Bellis, M. (n.d.). Walt Disney – Multiplane Camera. Retrieved April 10, 2013, from http://inventors.about.com/od/dstartinventors/a/Walt_Disney_2.htm

Cawley, J., & Korkis, J. (n.d.). Mickey Mouse. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://www.cataroo.com/cst_MICKEY.html

Doyle, J. (n.d.). Disney Dollars. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=mickey-mouse-history

Holdridge, C. (n.d.). Mickey Mouse History. Retrieved April 10, 2013, from http://www.oldwax.com/mickey_mouse.htm

Hubert, K. (n.d.). Disney – Transforming Imagination to Reality. Retrieved April 10, 2013, from http://www.magicalkingdoms.com/blog/2011/07/08/disney-transforming-imagination-to-reality/

Miller, M. (2009, October 9). Rise of an Icon: A Pictorial History of Mickey Mouse. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://www.gameinformer.com/games/disney_epic_mickey/b/wii/archive/2009/10/09/cover-rise-of-an-icon-a-pictorial-history-of-mickey-mouse.aspx

NationMaster. (n.d.). Mickey mouse. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/mickey-mouse

Suddath, C. (2008, November 18). A Brief History of Mickey Mouse. Retrieved April 10, 2013, from http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1859935,00.html

Thomas, L. M. (2010, October 1). Mickey’s Epic Gaming History. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/10/02/mickeys-epic-gaming-history?page=1