Jim Korkis - 22 Sept

2018 Jim Korkis

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Dedicated to David Gerstein who for decades has preserved and shared the history of Mickey Mouse and in so doing has enriched Disney history for all of us.

I love Mickey Mouse. He is loyal, brave, compassionate, funny, optimistic, adventurous, and so much more.

I still have my well worn How to Draw Mickey Mouse booklet that I got as a kid at the Art Corner at Disneyland. I still wear my vintage Mickey Mouse wristwatch that was the only inheritance I was bequeathed by my late uncle decades ago who had worn it proudly for years. I cant remember any time of my life where Mickey was not a part of it in some way, either through comics, cartoons, or the parks.

Mickey Mouse will celebrate his 90th birthday on November 18, 2018, and yet he remains timeless. Mickey Mouse is a unique pop-culture phenomenon embraced by audiences of all ages around the world. While he physically resembles a three-foot-tall black mouse, spiritually he is a clever and appealing young boy. He was created by Walt Disney in 1928.

Mickeys instantaneous popularity was due to a number of factors: the artistic skill of Ub Iwerks, the storytelling ability of Walt Disney, the novelty of sound on film, and the perfect timing of appearing as a scrappy everyman whose indomitable spirit and good humor overcame challenges at the beginning of the Great Depression.

In addition to being a popular animated cartoon star, Mickey is a significant presence in everything from comics to video games to theme parks to toys to food items to just about anything else imaginable.

The Disney company officially described Mickey Mouse for the copyright infringement case Walt Disney Company v. Transatlantic Video Inc., U.S.D.C., Central District of Ca., Case No. CV-91-0429 (1991) in the following way:

Disneys copyrighted character Mickey Mouse is perhaps the most universally known and loved cartoon character in the world. For generations, children and adults alike have been entertained by Mickey Mouse, who has appeared in hundreds of Disney animated motion pictures, television shows, video cassettes, comics, books, and in various other media. Indeed, the Mickey Mouse character identifies and symbolizes Disney itself.

Mickey Mouse shared the same philosophy of life as Walt Disney and transitioned at the same time from a rural background into a more sophisticated Hollywood environment. Walt was the original voice for the character and was the acknowledged keeper of the Mouse when it came to decisions about his creation.

Mickey is more than merely a corporate icon, more than a costumed character at theme parks, and more than just another well-known cartoon personality. He is uniquely ingrained in the DNA of several generations of fans all around the world. He transcends time and is forever young and a symbol of optimism that everything will turn out all right in the end.

In the following pages youll find a lighthearted but informative chronicle of Mickey Mouse including rarely told, never told, and previously mis-told stories in self-contained chapters to celebrate the Happiest Mouse on Earth.

Why? Because we like you!

Walt Disney went to his film distributor, Charles Mintz, in New York to ask for more money to produce the second series of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. Mintz offered less money. He had set up his own animation studio and had secretly hired Walts staff. Walt did not own the character.

Walt and his wife boarded the train back to Los Angeles on March 13, 1928.

Walt told interviewer Tony Thomas in 1959:

So I had to get a new character. And I was coming back after this meeting in New York, and Mrs. Disney was with me, and it was on the trainin those days, you know, it was three days over, three days from New York. Well, Id fooled around a lot with little mice, and they were always cute characters, and they hadnt been overdone in the picture field. Theyd been used but never featured. So, well, I decided it would be a mouse. Well, thats how it came about. I had [his name as] Mortimer first and my wife shook her head, and then I tried Mickey and she nodded the other way and that was it.

Roy E. Disney, Walts nephew, said:

[The train story] has been told so many times that you dont know whats true. The name part Im sure of. I often heard my father and Walt say, Thank God we didnt name him Mortimer!

Walts wife, Lillian told Don Eddy in the August 1955 issue of The American magazine:

[Walt] was a raging lion on the train coming home. All he could say, over and over, was that hed never work for anyone again as long as he lived. Hed be his own boss. I was in a state of shock, scared to death. He read the script [for Plane Crazy] to me, but I couldnt focus on it. I was too upset. The only thing that got through to me was that horrible name, Mortimer.

Horrible for a mouse, at least. [Lillian actually told Walt it was a sissy name.] When I blew up, Walt calmed down. After a while, he asked quietly, What would you think of Mickey? Mickey Mouse? I said it sounded better than Mortimer and thats how Mickey was born.

There had been plenty of mice in the Alice Comedies and even the Oswald the Rabbit cartoons. While Walt may have thought of a mouse character and a possible storyline on that train trip, it is more likely that once he arrived in Los Angeles he spent time with his brother, his wife, and animator Ub Iwerks coming up with the character.

Essentially, Mickey was a mouse-ified version of Oswald the Rabbit (originally designed by Iwerks) with mouse ears replacing rabbit ears and a mouse tail replacing the small rabbit tail. Even the shorts remained the same.

Iwerks said:

Pear-shaped body, ball on top, couple of thin legs. You gave it long ears and it was a rabbit. Short ears, it was a cat. Ears hanging down, a dog. With an elongated nose, it became a mouse.

Iwerks later told his sons who asked if he had any resentment that he didnt get enough credit for designing Mickey Mouse, It was what Walt did with Mickey that was important, not who created him.

Disney animator Frank Thomas, one of Walts fabled Nine Old Men, put it this way:

Ub Iwerks was responsible for the drawing of Mickey, but it was Walt Disney who supplied the soul. The way Mickey reacted to his predicaments, how he tried to extricate himself from a situation he could not control, never giving up and eventually finding a solution. That was all Walt.