On November 18th 1928 a spunky little mouse burst onto the scene and would
change animation and family entertainment forever. He's grown a lot
over the years, but he's still that lovable mouse from our childhood.
Today we set out to remember and celebrate the lives of those who brought Mickey Mouse
to life 90 years ago today.
"Personality, and good looks? Mickey Mouse, you are one lucky guy!"
"He popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from
Manhattan to Hollywood, at a time when the business fortunes of my brother Roy
and myself were at lowest ebb, and disaster seemed right around the corner."
That's how Walt Disney recounts the origin of the idea of Mickey Mouse, the
character that would save and eventually define the Walt Disney Company.
But there's much more to the story, and the only place to begin is with Walt Disney
himself, who was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Glendale near the Freedom Mausoleum.
In 1928 Disney was riding high on the success of their cartoon, a rabbit named
Oswald, which was distributed through Universal. He made a trip out to New York
to negotiate a raise, but instead was informed that Universal was taking
control of Oswald, hiring away most of his staff, and actually cutting his budget.
Walt was crushed, and on the train ride home, at the edge of ruin, he knew he
had to come up with a new character, fast. The accounts from this point vary
slightly, but the essence is that Walt worked with one of his animators who
remained loyal to him, Ub Iwerks, to create and design a new character.
The mouse was similar to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,
but with shorter ears, a longer nose, and a tail. They named him Mortimer, but
Walt's wife, Lillian, was not a fan of the name, and urged him to change it.
And so he became Mickey Mouse.
The first Mickey cartoon produced was Plane Crazy
in May of 1928, followed by Gallopin' Gaucho, but these were put on the back
burner as Steamboat Willie was being produced with the novelty of
synchronized sound.
Mickey Mouse made his debut in Steamboat Willie in New York on
November 18th 1928, 90 years ago today, and a star was born.
In the years that followed Walt would also provide the voice of Mickey Mouse.
The success of all things Disney is owed to the success of this little mouse.
When Disneyland opened in 1955 Walt said, "I only hope that we never lose sight of
one thing - that it was all started by a mouse."
Walt was an idea man, a storyteller,
a visionary, but it was his right-hand man, Ub Iwerks, who held the pencil.
As mentioned earlier, Ub was the co-creator of Mickey Mouse, gave him his first design,
and almost single-handedly drew every frame of the early Mickey cartoons.
He was renowned for his speed. Ub was laid to rest here at Forest Lawn in the
Hollywood Hills, across the street from the Disney studio.
While Ub pretty much
single-handedly drew the first Mickey Mouse cartoons he wasn't alone and had a
little help from two young artists who had come out from Kansas City as well:
Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising are best known as the creators of the Looney
Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons (plays off of Disney's and Silly Symphonies) but
they began their careers working for Disney, and Ising, buried here at Pacific
View in Orange County, was an assistant animator on the very first Mickey short
produced: Plane Crazy in 1928. It's also been said that Walt and Ub were
inspired to use a mouse as their new character from a drawing that Hugh
Harman had done of mice around a photo of Walt.
Mickey has gone through several
design changes from his very first appearance in 1928. Disney animator Fred
Moore, buried here at Forest Lawn Hollywood, was one of the men who
contributed to and helped define the distinctive Disney look in the 30s and
40s. He specialized in Mickey Mouse and was responsible for Mickey's redesign in
1938 for his landmark role in Fantasia, which is Mickey's official look today.
When Walt saw the redesign he said, "That's the way I want Mickey drawn from now on."
The voice of Mickey Mouse, that familiar
friendly falsetto, has also undergone several personnel changes over the years.
When Walt became too busy to record the voice of Mickey the role went to sound
effects artist, Jimmy McDonald, the second to officially voice the character,
beginning around 1946 until his retirement in 1977.
"Well here we are, Pluto. Boy, what a dream place!
Ah, smell that air!"
He's buried here at Forest Lawn Glendale.
At the bottom of Jimmy's marker you'll see the inscription,
Thank You Jimmy, Wayne.
Jimmy was the mentor of the third man to voice Mickey Mouse,
Wayne Allwine, to whom he passed on the torch with
these words of advice: "Remember, kid, you're only filling in for the boss,"
referring to Walt.
Wayne Allwine is also buried here at Forest Lawn Glendale.
In fact, fittingly, he's just a few feet from Walt Disney, near the Freedom Mausoleum,
though his grave is unmarked. Allwine voiced Mickey Mouse for 32 years,
beginning in 1977 until his death, making him the longest
to voice the character. During that time he voiced Mickey for everything from
Mickey's Christmas Carol to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
"Jumpin' without a parachute? Kinda dangerous, ain't it?"
"Yeah, you could get killed!"
"You guys got a spare?"
"Uh, Bugs does."
"Yeah, but I don't think you want it."
"I do, I do, give it to me!"
"Gee, better let him have it, Bugs."
"Okay, Doc, whatever you say. Here's the spare."
"Thank you."
Allwine was married to Russi Taylor, who
has been the voice of Minnie Mouse since 1986.
While Walt, Jimmy, and Wayne were the
first three to officially voice Mickey, there was actually one man before all of
them who spoke Mickey's first words ever. Here at Hollywood Forever is the crypt
of Carl Stalling. He's best known for his work as a composer for the Looney Tunes
and Merrie Melodie cartoons, but before that he worked for Disney writing music
for their Silly Symphonies and the very early Mickey Mouse cartoons, including
Plane Crazy and Gallopin Gaucho. When it came time for Mickey to speak his very
first words, "Hot dogs," in the 1929 film The Karnival Kid, it was actually Carl
Stalling who provided the voice.
"Hot Dogs! Hot Dogs!"
Clarence Nash, buried here at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, is best known
as the voice of Donald Duck. But in 1934 Walt was in Europe and couldn't record
his lines for Mickey in the cartoon The Dognapper. So Clarence filled in just
this once, voicing both Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.
"Hands up, you viper!"
At Valhalla Cemetery we find the man who composed what would become the
theme of the Walt Disney Company, "When You Wish Upon a Star." Leigh Harline
composed music for films like Snow White and Pinocchio, but throughout the 1930s many
of the Mickey Mouse short cartoons were scored by Harline, including Two-Gun
Mickey and Mickey's Service Station.
Mickey wasn't just popular on screen. Beginning in the 1930s he was featured
in a daily newspaper comic strip, which helped increase Mickey's reach and
popularity immensely. The man who helmed the Mickey comics for
over four decades was Floyd Gottfredson, who has since been named a Disney Legend
and was introduced into the comic book Hall of Fame in 2006.
He's buried here at Forest Lawn Hollywood, across the street from Disney studio.
In this same Cemetery,
one section north, is the man who made Walt's visions, including Mickey Mouse, possible.
While Walt was the creative, his older brother, Roy, was the business man.
Roy kept the company financially stable, allowing Walt to continue to create
Mickey Mouse cartoons, Fantasia, Disneyland, and more.
Happy birthday, Mickey!