Mickey Mouse 91st Birthday: Lesser Known Facts About Disney's Most Famous Cartoon Character

Tuesday, November 19, 2019, 9:50

If you go around and ask people about their favourite cartoon character or the character they enjoyed watching in their early childhood then its high chance that you will get to hear the name of Mickey Mouse. It is a cartoon character that almost all of us would have loved to watch in our early childhood. The character had a universal and emotional appeal and was successful in creating a huge fanbase across the world. On 18 November 1928, Mickey Mouse came into existence and since then it has been entertaining us.

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Today on the birth anniversary of the famous and adorable Mickey Mouse, here we have listed down some unknown facts about the same.

1. Mickey Mouse came into existence with the release of Steamboat Willie, a short animated film. This was a black and white film and the first synchronised soundtrack animated film. The release date of the film was 18 November 1928.

2. The cartoon character was brought to replace Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit when Walt Disney lost his rights to Universal Studios. Then Walt Disney had to think of a character that would lead the Disney company in the future.

3. Interestingly, Mickey Mouse first appeared on 15 May 1928 in a test screening of Plane Crazy, a cartoon show. However, Mickey couldn't impress the audience and it also received some criticism. This happened because Walt Disney couldn't find a distributor.

4. Walt Disney was quite disappointed by the failure of Mickey in Plane Crazy but he went on to produce another shot Of Mickey named 'The Gallopin Gaucho. Due to the lack of any distributor, this movie couldn't be released.

5. Releasing Mickey in the Steamboat Willie was the third attempt of Walt Disney but this time with synchronised soundtrack and the film became a huge success. It was widely praised and accepted.

6. Initially, Mickey Mouse was known as 'Mortimer Mouse' but it was Walt's wife Lilian who suggested that 'Mortimer' doesn't fit the character and therefore, she came up with 'Mickey' which signified humbleness and fun.

7. It was in the year 1978 when on the 50th birth anniversary of Mickey Mouse, the character got an honour of Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mickey thus became the first animated character to get this honour.

8. Disney's product licensing business began in 1929 when Walt Disney accepted a deal with a stationery company for the right to imprint Mickey Mouse on school writing tablets.

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9. Mickey Mouse brought unexpected fame to Walt Disney which made him receive a special Academy Award in the year 1932 for creating such a unique and entertaining cartoon character.

10. It was in the year 1935 when Mickey featured in 'The Band Concert' which was its first appearance in color. The premier was on 23 February 1935.

11. 1955 was the debut year of Mickey Mouse on the television through 'The Mickey Mouse Club' show. The show went on to become a huge success.

13. In 1930, Mickey Mouse started featuring in comics too and people appreciated this too.

14. Once Walt Disney quoted: "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing-that it was all started by a mouse." He spoke this after Mickey Mouse brought a huge success to Walt Disney.

15. After 1983, Mickey Mouse enjoyed a perfect cinema comeback after featuring in movies like 'The Prince and the Pauper' and 'Mickey's Christmas Carol'.

16. In the year 2013, Mickey Mouse again appeared in movies through 'Get a horse' movie. It was later nominated in the Oscar Academy Awards.

So these were some of the lesser-known facts about Mickey Mouse.
We hope you enjoyed reading it.