When Walt Disney began working in Kansas City on little animation pieces in the 1920s, I hardly think he imagined he would become one of the biggest household names in the world. Disney wanted to make it big; of course, that is what anybody with ambitions wants. It took quite some time for Walt Disney to create the iconic mouse that most people associate the Walt Disney Company with, but with his determination and passion for art he soon became a revolutionary of the world of animation.
Early in his animation career, Disney funneled all of his money into The Alice Comedies, a series of animated cartoons featuring a live action Alice traveling an animated landscape with an animated cat, and after going bankrupt he decided to move to California to create an animation studio with his brother Roy. The brothers were able to get new Alice Comedies distributed by the owner of a production company, Margaret Winkler. The success of The Alice Comedies allowed the two brothers to create Disney Brothers’ Studios in 1923 and thus began the start of their long and fruitful career.
After The Alice Comedies ended in 1927, Disney started work with a new character he and his best friend Ub Iwerks created for Charles Mintz, husband of Margaret Winkler, named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The subsequent series of shorts created by Disney and animated by Iwerks were distributed by Universal, and Oswald became a huge success. With that success came conflict between Mintz and Disney, leading to Disney losing most of his animation staff and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Universal. Disney’s luck did not run out when he lost Oswald, though. The animator only became more determined to create a new character that belonged wholly to Disney Studio and could blow Oswald out of the water.
Disney tasked Iwerks to create a new character while Disney finished his work with Oswald and Universal, which lead to the creation of Mickey Mouse. The character made his first appearances in Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho, two unsuccessful silent animated shorts that failed to amaze audiences or get picked up by a distributor. As they always say "the third time's the charm," and Mickey Mouse finally made his official debut on November 18th 1928 in the animated feature Steamboat Willie. The animated feature became critically acclaimed around the world, known for being the first cartoon with successful synchronized sound. This also lead to the Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho being reproduced with sound, and Mickey Mouse’s popularity skyrocketed.
For 84 years Mickey Mouse has evolved with the times, charming his way into the hearts of children and adults alike through the hundreds of works he has been featured in. No matter if Mickey is piloting a steamboat, conducting a band, serving as a sorcerer’s apprentice, or working as a host of his own nightclub, there is always some form of him to enjoy.
Fans of the Kingdom Hearts series are familiar with Mickey Mouse as King Mickey, who is absent for most of the first game’s events and mentioned only by name. It is not until the end of Kingdom Hearts where we see a shadowy outline of King Mickey as Sora and Riku close the door to the Realm of Darkness. The entire scene remains to be a favorite moment by many fans due to how elusive Mickey Mouse was throughout the game. Even if the iconic mouse’s moment in the game’s spotlight was brief, it was the start of something new and revitalizing.
By giving Mickey a keyblade, he became a warrior in a fight against the Darkness that threatened the Kingdom Hearts universe. His badass and cool attitude, especially when wearing Organization XIII's sleek black coats, coupled with the wise advise he gives to Riku and Sora throughout their journey was something novel and rarely seen in other media featuring the mouse. For many of us, it has become hard to separate Mickey Mouse from the image of him fighting Heartless alongide Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy. Hopefully we'll continue to see him in this way for as long as Kingdom Hearts continues.
Happy birthday, Mickey Mouse!
