Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is a comic animal cartoon character who has become a symbol for The Walt Disney Company. Created in the 1920s by Ub Iwerks, the 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.

Mouse in transition

Mickey entering the Depression Era

The twelfth and last Mickey short released during the year was Jungle Rhythm, first released on November 15, 1929. Mickey is seen in a safari somewhere in Africa. He rides on an elephant and is armed with a shotgun. But the later proves to be problematic soon after Mickey finds himself standing in between of a lion and a bear. Mickey proceeds to play music to calm them down. During the rest of the short, various jungle animals dance to Mickey's tunes. The tunes vary from the previously mentioned "Yankee Doodle" and "Turkey in the Straw" to Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne" (1788), Johann Strauss' "The Blue Danube" (An der schönen, blauen Donau - 1867) and Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii's Aloha `Oe - 1878. This was the first Mickey short to be released during the Great Depression. Mickey's efforts as an entertainer to the jungle can be seen as representative of a function often credited to him: to provide relatively cheap but much needed entertainment to the audiences of the period.

Related Topics:
Jungle Rhythm - November 15 - Safari - Africa - Elephant - Shotgun - Lion - Bear - Jungle - Robert Burns - Auld Lang Syne - 1788 - Johann Strauss - 1867 - Liliuokalani of Hawaii - 1878 - Great Depression - Entertainer

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First comic strip appearance

By this point Mickey had appeared in fifteen commercially successful animated shorts and was easily recognized by the public. So Walt Disney was approached by King Features Syndicate with the offer to licence Mickey and his supporting characters for use in a comic strip. Walt accepted and Mickey made his first comic strip appearance on January 13, 1930. The comical plot was credited to Walt Disney himself, art to Ub Iwerks and inking to Win Smith. The first week or so of the strip featured a loose adaptation of Plane Crazy. Minnie soon became the first addition to the cast. The strips first released between January 13 and March 31, 1930 have been occasionally reprinted in comic book form under the collective title "Lost on a Desert Island".

Related Topics:
King Features Syndicate - Supporting character - January 13 - 1930 - Walt Disney - Ub Iwerks - Win Smith - Plane Crazy - March 31 - Comic book

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Classical music performances

Meanwhile in animation, two more Mickey shorts had been released. The first of them was The Barnyard Concert, first released on March 3, 1930. It featured Mickey conducting an orchestra. The only recurring characters among its members were Clarabelle as a flutist and Horace as a drummer. Their rendition of the Poet and Peasant (Dichter und Bauer), an overture written in 1846 by Franz von Suppé (April 18, 1819 - May 21, 1885), is humorous enough; but it has been noted that several of the gags featured were repeated from previous shorts. The second was originally released on March 14, 1930 under the title Fiddlin' Around but has since been renamed to Just Mickey. Both titles give an accurate enough description of the short which has Mickey performing a violin solo. It is only notable for Mickey's emotional renditions of the finale to Gioacchino Rossini's William Tell Overture - 1829, Robert Schumann's Träumerei (Reverie), which is a notable extract from Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood - 1838), and Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, written after 1839.

Related Topics:
The Barnyard Concert - March 3 - 1930 - Conducting - Orchestra - Flutist - Drummer - Poet and Peasant - Overture - 1846 - Franz von Suppé - April 18 - 1819 - May 21 - 1885 - March 14 - Fiddlin' Around - Just Mickey - Violin - Gioacchino Rossini - William Tell Overture - 1829 - Robert Schumann - 1838 - Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody - 1839

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Departure of a co-creator and consequences

They were followed by Cactus Kid, first released on April 11, 1930. As the title implies the short was intended as a Western movie parody. But it is considered to be more or less a remake of The Gallopin' Gaucho set in Mexico instead of Argentina. Mickey was again cast as a lonely traveler who walks into the local tavern and starts flirting with its dancer. The latter is again Minnie. The rival suitor to Mickey is again Pete though using the alias Peg-Leg Pedro. For the first time in a Mickey short, Pete was depicted as having a peg-leg. This would become a recurring feature of the character. The rhea of the original short was replaced by Horace Horsecollar. This is considered to be his last non-anthropomorphic appearance. The short is considered significant for being the last Mickey short to be animated by Ub Iwerks.

Related Topics:
Cactus Kid - April 11 - 1930 - Western movie - Parody - The Gallopin' Gaucho - Mexico - Argentina - Tavern - Anthropomorphic - Ub Iwerks

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Shortly before its release, Iwerks had left the Studio in an attempt to create his own. The result of his early efforts was the Flip the Frog series. His departure is considered to mark a turning point to the careers of both Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. The former lost the man who served as his closest colleague and confidant since 1919. The latter lost the man responsible for his original design and for the direction and/or animation of several of the shorts released till this point, and some would argue Mickey's creator. Walt Disney has been credited for the inspiration to create Mickey, but Iwerks was the one to design the character and the first few Mickey Mouse cartoons were mostly or entirely drawn by Iwerks. Consequently some animation historians have suggested that Iwerks should be considered the actual creator of Mickey Mouse. It has been pointed that advertising for the early Mickey Mouse cartoons credit them as "A Walt Disney Comic, drawn by Ub Iwerks". Later Disney Company reissues of the early cartoons tend to credit Walt Disney alone.

Related Topics:
Flip the Frog - 1919 - Disney Company

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In any case, Walt and his remaining staff continued the production of the Mickey series. Mickey continued to appear regularly in animated shorts until 1943 and again from 1946 to 1953. But back in early 1930, Walt had another matter to attend to: the creation of the comic strip after Iwerks' departure. At first Walt was content to continue scripting it and assigning the art to Win Smith. However, Walt's focus had always been in animation and Smith was soon assigned with the scripting as well. Win Smith was apparently discontent at having to script, draw, and ink a series by himself. This became evident by his sudden resignation. Another reason might be that Walt Disney was a very impossible man, and Win Smith got sick of this lack of freedom to create in.

Related Topics:
1943 - 1946 - 1953 - 1930 - Win Smith - Walt Disney

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Walt proceeded to search for a replacement to Smith among the remaining staff of the Studio. For uncertain reasons he chose Floyd Gottfredson, a recently hired employee. At the time Floyd was reportedly eager to work in animation and somewhat reluctant to accept his new assignment. Walt had to assure Floyd that the assignment was only temporary and that he would eventually return to animation. Floyd accepted and ended up holding this "temporary" assignment from May 5, 1930 to November 15, 1975.

Related Topics:
Floyd Gottfredson - May 5 - 1930 - November 15 - 1975

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Appearances in comics

Floyd at first had to work on the continuation of a storyline which his predecessors had started on April 1, 1930. The storyline was completed on September 20, 1930 and was later reprinted in comic book form as Mickey Mouse in Death Valley. This early adventure contributed to the extension of the comic strip cast which by this point only included Mickey and Minnie. This story would bring the first comic strip appearances of Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar and Black Pete as well as the debuts of corrupted lawyer Sylvester Shyster and Minnie's uncle Mortimer Mouse. The story was followed by Mr. Slicker and the Egg Robbers, first printed between September 22 and December 26, 1930, which introduced Marcus Mouse and his wife as Minnie's parents.

Related Topics:
April 1 - 1930 - September 20 - Clarabelle Cow - Horace Horsecollar - Black Pete - Lawyer - Sylvester Shyster - Mortimer Mouse - September 22 - December 26 - Marcus Mouse

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Starting with this two early comic strip stories, Mickey's versions in animation and comics are considered to have diverged from each other. While Disney and his cartoon shorts would continue to focus on comedy, the comic strip effectively combined comedy and adventure. This adventurous version of Mickey would continue to appear in comic strips and later comic books throughout the 20th and into the 21st century.

Related Topics:
Cartoon - Comedy - 20th - 21st century

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