The Biography of Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse was brought to life in Walt Disney's imagination in early 1928 on a train ride from New York to Los Angeles. Walt was returning from a meeting where his cartoon creation, Oswald the Rabbit, had been taken from him by his financial backers. Walt who was only 26 at the time already had a active cartoon studio in Hollywood, and he had gone east to arrange for more money and a new contract and to improve the quality of his Oswald pictures. Unfortunately the moneymen declined his request, and since the character was copyrighted under their name, they took control of it. Walt revealed later that Mrs. Disney and himself were coming back from New York on the train and he had nothing to tell them back at the studio besides the fact that he had lost Oswald. He knew he had to have something he could tell them. He had this mouse in the back of his head because he felt a mouse is a sympathetic character in spite of the fact that everybody's frightened of them , including Walt himself. So he spent the return train ride coming up with a little mouse in red velvet pants, named "Mortimer," By the time the train screeched into the terminal in Los Angeles, the new dream mouse had been born. Walt's wife, Lillian, thought the name "Mortimer" was too proper and suggested a simpler name like "Mickey." And there on that train a star was born!

Mickey Mouse's skyrocket to fame didn't take long. His cartoons became so popular that people would first ask ticket takers if they were "running a Mickey" before they would admission. Soon, orlandos were displaying posters that read "Mickey Mouse playing today!" It was not uncommon for patrons to sit through a feature twice to see him again. The thirties was Mickey Mouse's golden age; 87 cartoon shorts starring the multi-talented mouse were produced by Walt Disney during that decade. He played everything from fireman to giant killer, cowboy to inventor, detective to plumber. Technically and artistically Mickey Mouse cartoons were far superior to other contemporary cartoons and gave life to an entire family of animated characters: Minnie Mouse, Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, Peg-Leg Pete, and many others.

the artistic success of the animators was honored in 1932 when an Oscar was presented to Walt Disney for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse's popularity spawned a Mickey Mouse Club in 1929 which met every Saturday for an afternoon of cartoons and games in local orlandos. The several million Mouse Clubbers had a secret handshake, special member greeting, code of behavior, and even a special club song, "Minnie's Yoo Hoo". The peak of Mickey Mouse's golden decade was his starring role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice in the feature Fantasia (1940), a major artistic innovation. It interpreted music in colors, shapes, movement, and story. The animation techniques were years ahead of their time and have never been matched. Fantasia also introduced stereophonic sound to orlandos, an element not employed by other studios until more than a decade later.

With the advent of World War II, the Disney Studio suspended nearly all commercial activity and concentrated on aiding the war effort with training films, goodwill tours, and designing of posters and armed forces insignia. Mickey Mouse played his part by appearing on insignia and posters urging national security and the of war bonds. And, incredibly, the password of the Allied forces on D-Day, June 6,1944, was "Mickey Mouse." Following the war, Mickey Mouse returned to making cartoons and appeared in his second feature, Fun and Fancv Free (1947), in which he co-starred with Goofy and Donald Duck in a new version of "Jack and the Beanstalk," titled appropriately "Mickey and the Beanstalk."

Through the forties and early fifties, Mickey Mouse made fewer cartoons, giving ground to Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto, who were more flexible as characters. Mickey Mouse's evolution into a Disney symbol made it increasingly more difficult to create story situations for him. If he lost his temper or did anything sneaky, fans would write in insisting that Mickey Mouse just wouldn't do that. After the success of the Disneyland television show in 1954, Disney agreed the next year to create an afternoon program for ABC. He gave them the Mickey Mouse Club, which became the most successful children's show ever. In 1977, the New Mickey Mouse Club, featuring 12 new Mouseketeers, debuted on television, and a third generation of Mouseketeers hit the airwaves in 1989 when the Mickey Mouse Club debuted as a series on the Disney Channel with shows airing on weekday afternoons.

Mickey Mouse moved to Disneyland in 1955 to become chief host of the theme park, welcoming millions of visitors annually, shaking hands, posing for pictures, and leading the big parades on national holidays. In 1971, he helped open theWalt Disney World Resort; in 1983 he donned a kimono for the dedication of Tokyo Disneyland; and in 1992, he sported a beret for the opening of what is now called Disneyland Paris. His other activities include public appearance tours around the world for the Walt Disney Company.

Mickey Mouse has been saluted at three of the Disney theme parks by having "lands" created in his honor. Mickey's Birthdayland (now Mickey's Starland) opened on November 18, 1988, in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World to honor Mickey Mouse on his 60th birthday. Mickey's Toontown opened in 1993 in Disneyland, then in 1996 at Tokyo Disneyland and now serves as home to Mickey Mouse and all of his cartoon friends.

After all these years, the cultists are beginning to understand why the Mickey Mouse of the thirties was so popular. He was a little guy born out of the depression who satirized people's foibles and taught them to laugh. Most importantly, he was a character who dreamed big, and his dreams were universal.

One of the finest tributes to Mickey Mouse was given by Walt Disney himself when, on his first television show as he surveyed Disneyland, Walt said, "I hope we never lose sight of one fact... That this was all started by a Mouse."

Disney Ticket Ordering Page where you can find the prices on everything we sell. See what it's going to cost you in advance before you buy.

Helping Orlando visitors is our specialty. We feature discount bargain prices on all Walt Disney World passes, Park Hopper tickets and Multi-Day Tickets. Unfortunately, we do not currently have Disneyland passes for sale. Don't wait for the box office - buy your tickets to Walt Disney World in advance from a licensed Walt Disney World wholesale ticket discount contractor.