100 Mickey Mouse Facts That You Will Find Interesting

Mickey Mouse is one of the most famous cartoon characters.

This cartoon character was created by Walt Disney. Mickey Mouse has been loved by kids and adults alike.

Disney started their journey with Mickey Mouse back in 1928 and has not looked back since. About 40% of the sales of their merchandise today come from Mickey Mouse merchandise. It has become so famous over the years that the image of Mickey Mouse became even more recognizable than Santa Claus in 2008. Read on to know more facts about Mickey Mouse.

Who is Mickey Mouse?

Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character created by Walt Disney in 1928. It became famous instantly among children and adults alike.

Mickey Mouse is a mischievous and cheerful anthropomorphic mouse that became a cult figure worldwide by starring in over 100 cartoons.

Back in the '50s, the TV show for children, Mickey Mouse Club, became one of the most popular ones.

Main stars of the show wore signature black caps, which became Disney merchandising history's most widely distributed item in the '50s.

In the early '30s, Mickey appeared in many comic books and strips quite extensively.

These comic strips of Mickey Mouse were mainly drawn up by Floyd Gottfredson, and these strips ran for 45 long years.

Mickey Mouse has also been featured in many comic books, like Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine, Mickey Mouse, Wizards of Mickey, and Disney Italy's Topolino.

Other than print media, Mickey has appeared in Mickey Mouse Club on TV, in video games, and more.

As per Time, Mickey Mouse is one such recognizable character around the world that he became more recognizable than Santa Claus in 2008.

Mickey and Minnie are married in private life in the stories.

In the beginning, Mickey and Minnie were depicted to be regular-sized mice who lived with a community of mice in a home as pests.

As the show evolved, Mickey and Minnie were shown to be human-sized, but when they appeared with humans, they were shown to be around 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) high.

Mickey wears his white gloves to keep his hands distinguishable from the rest of his body.

Mickey Mouse's name wasn't initially decided to be Mickey. Walt Disney decided on the name 'Mortimer Mouse' for his character.

Walt's wife was the one who gave Mickey his name. Walt's wife, Lillian Disney, didn't feel like the name was proper for the character, so she suggested 'Mickey'.

Mickey has a much bigger name than just 'Mickey Mouse'. His complete name is Michael Theodore Mouse.

Mickey has many more names, like Topolino in Italy, Mi Lao Shu in China, and Musse Pigg in Sweden.

Original voice of Mickey, in the beginning, was of Walt Disney's, the founder of The Walt Disney Company himself.

Between the years 1929-2009, only three people voiced Mickey, Walt Disney, Jimmy MacDonald, and Wayne Allwine.

Walt Disney voiced Mickey from 1929, then Jimmy MacDonald started in 1946, and finally, Wayne Allwine took over in 1983.

Bret Iwan started to voice the character in 2009 when Wayne Allwine died, while Chris Diamantopolous voiced the eponymous Mickey Mouse television show.

The voice of Minnie was provided by Walt Disney himself and other staff members of the company in the early cartoons.

Marcellite Garner, the ink and paint artist started to voice Minnie Mouse in 1930-1939.

Russi Taylor started to voice Minnie Mouse in 1986 and kept at it until she died in 2019.

The artists who provided voices for Mickey and Minnie for the longest time - Russi Taylor and Wayne Allwine were married in real life.

There are four fingers on each of Mickey's hands, unlike real mice because Walt Disney thought that five fingers would have looked weird like a banana.

The History Of Mickey Mouse

Since Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse back in 1928, there have been many changes and improvements that have made its name into history.

Before Mickey Mouse, there was 'Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'. Walt lost the rights of Oswald, which led to the creation of Mickey Mouse.

The resemblance between Mickey and Oswald is uncanny, with both wearing shorts, having four fingers, and a black body.

One story from the Kansas City Public Library says that Walt found the inspiration for Mickey from a mouse that lived in a desk drawer at his Laugh-O-Gram studio.

Another story states that the inspiration for Mickey came to Walt from the pet mouse from his younger days.

The idea of Mickey came to him on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood.

Mickey Mouse was the first cartoon character that received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.

'The Opry House' was the first Mickey short where Mickey wore his iconic white gloves.

Since 'The Opry House' Mickey wears them in all his appearances, and the gloves were added to many other characters too.

Every United States President since Harry Truman has been seen in a picture with Mickey Mouse, except Lyndon Johnson.

There was a disco album released by Mickey back in the '70s which even acquired double platinum.

Walt Disney once held the patent for Technicolor for two years which meant that only they could make animations in color.

The first-ever appearance of Mickey Mouse in color was in 'Parade of the Award Nominees', created for the 1932 Academy Awards. It was never shown to the general public.

Disney lost their Technicolor patent in 1935, but they released their first official colored Mickey Mouse short 'The Band Concert' in the same year.

Mickey Mouse's last appearance in a black and white cartoon was 'Mickey's Kangaroo', which surprisingly was released two months after the first colored cartoon.

Throughout the history of Mickey, he has worn more than 175 outfits, and Minnie has been seen in over 200 outfits.

Mickey's birthday had changed many times over the history of the cartoon, but according to Walt Disney himself, Mickey's birthday was on October 1, 1928.

Early animators of Mickey found inspiration to draw Mickey Mouse's movements in comedic film stars like Charlie Chaplin.

A Mickey comic strip that was drawn up by Ub Iwerks in 1930 was printed across 22 countries in 40 newspapers.

Walt Disney didn't land on the name 'Disneyland' for their theme park in the beginning. He even considered 'Mickey Mouse Village'.

Mickey, in 1934, was honored with his own entry into the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Speaking about his accomplishments, Walt Disney once said that he never wishes to lose sight of the fact that all of their successes started with a mouse.

When Allied forces invaded Normandy back in 1944 on D-Day, a secret password that the intelligence officers used between them was 'Mickey Mouse'.

Walt Disney got the medal from League of Nations back in 1935 because Mickey Mouse had become a symbol of goodwill internationally.

Minnie appeared for the first time alongside Mickey in the short 'Barn Dance' (1929).

The first-ever Mickey cartoon in its style that we know today was 'The Pointer', which was released in 1939.

Mickey Mouse In TV And Films

Mickey has appeared in over 100 cartoon shorts and in more than 130 films since it started in 1928.

Mickey Mouse has appeared in more than 121 theatrical releases that include featurettes and shorts.

Mickey Mouse appeared in the Mickey short, 'Plane Crazy' for the first time ever.

Mickey's first-ever official film debut was in the film 'Steamboat Willie' on November 18, 1928.

There were only two silent Mickey Mouse cartoons made - 'Plane Crazy' (1928) and 'Gallopin' Gaucho' (1928).

The first two and also the only two silent movies cost the Walt Disney Company $2500 to make at that time.

Ub Iwerks, the Disney legend, was the only animator for 'Plane Crazy', and he produced 700 drawings every day for the cartoon.

The first-ever Mickey Mouse production with sound was its third-ever production, 'Steamboat Willie' (1928), but Mickey didn't speak until 'The Karnival Kid'.

'Steamboat Willie' was actually first made as a silent movie, but it was only released after they added sound to it.

Walt Disney found the inspiration for adding synchronized sound to 'Steamboat Willie' after watching the movie 'The Jazz Singer'.

'Steamboat Willie' was intended to be a parody of 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.', which starred Buster Keaton and was released in the same year.

'Steamboat Willie' was the first-ever Mickey production to find a distributor, so the Disney Company considered it as Mickey's debut.

Walt was paid $1000 for a two-week run of 'Steamboat Willie'. Back then, it was the highest ever amount paid on Broadway for a cartoon.

Mickey's first appearance in a feature film was a two-hour film, 'Fantasia', which was released in 1940.

Disney introduced stereophonic sound with 'Fantasia' to motion pictures. This was done through a sound system named 'Fantasound', which cost them $2.28 million to make.

Mickey didn't speak in 'Steamboat Willie', but he whistled a tune which was the song 'Steamboat Bill' by Arthur Collins.

Mickey spoke his first words, 'Hot dog! Hot dog!', in the short 'The Karnival Kid' (1929).

As Mickey spoke his first words, he became the first cartoon character ever to speak in the history of television.

Mickey Mouse has only ever appeared in two Academy Awards in 1988 and 2003. Both times, he presented the award for Best Animated Short film.

Walt Disney himself won an honorary Academy Award for his creation of Mickey Mouse back in 1933.

Even a Mickey Mouse short has won an Academy Award in 1941 for 'Lend A Paw'. The short was actually centered around Pluto, not Mickey.

When Mickey turned 90, ABC television announced a prime-time special of two hours to honor Mickey's 90th birthday.

ABC television's two-hour primetime special featured short videos that were never seen before. Celebrities shared their memories of Mickey and performed Disney songs.

Disney Company said that Mickey's four fingers instead of five saved them millions of dollars.

A 6.5 minute Mickey short required Disney and its animators to draw up 45,000 drawings.

The first-ever song used in a Disney movie or short was the song 'Minnie's Yoo Hoo' in 'Mickey's Follies'.

Fun Facts About Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse has been one of the most fun cartoon characters on television. There are also many hidden fun facts that can fascinate you.

Mickey Rooney, the renowned American actor, claimed that his name actually influenced Mickey Mouse's name.

Mickey Mouse's name has appeared on the voter registration lists fraudulently many times, like in the U.S. Presidential Election in 2008.

Walt Disney Company released the game Epic Mickey to rebrand Mickey's image from squeaky clean to mischievous.

The three lines of Mickey's gloves represent the typical design of that era and darts in the fabric of his gloves that extend from between his fingers.

Mickey Mouse appeared in 'Macy's Santa Claus Parade', which is now known as 'Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade' for the first time in 1934.

The 40 ft (12.2 m) tall Mickey balloon of 1934 'Macy's Santa Claus Parade' was hand-painted and guided by women and men dressed in Mickey Mouse characters.

Harry Woodin, a theater manager, devoted afternoons of every Saturday in his theater to show only Mickey Mouse shows.

Seeing Harry Woodin's efforts, Walt Disney partnered with him to build more Mickey Mouse Clubs in movie theaters worldwide.

Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears got breaks in their career owing to the '50s Mickey Mouse Club revival.

Since Disneyland park opened first in 1955, Mickey Mouse has been featured as one of the most important parts of Disney theme parks.

The famous 'Partners Statue' of Disneyland Park, which is a sculpture of Mickey and Walt Disney holding hands, debuted in 1993.

The second 'Partners Statue' debuted in 1995 at Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom Park.

You can find many Mickey Mouse images hidden in Disney films or merchandise like Easter eggs. These are known as 'Hidden Mickeys'.

You can also find many Mickey Mouse spread all around Disneyland theme parks. Searching for these can be quite fun.

All Mickey Mouse mascots that work at Disneyland are required to practice the 'Mickey' signature, which can be hard, especially owing to the big white gloves.

All Mickey Mouse mascots that work at a Disneyland theme park also need to be at least 54-62 in (1.3-1.6 m) height.

The first-ever Mickey Mouse merchandise was actually a tablet of paper that was designed for children and featured Mickey.

The first-ever Mickey Mouse doll that was designed was back in 1930.

The first-ever Mickey Mouse book, published in 1930 by Bibo-Lang, was named 'Mickey Mouse Book'.

An iconic Mickey Mouse wristwatch was first produced in 1933 by Ingersoll-Waterbury company. Back then, they were sold at $2.95.

Ingersoll-Waterbury company sold the 25-millionth Mickey Mouse wristwatch in 1957. This later became the foundation for the brand we now know as 'Timex'.

Mickey Mouse's birthday is celebrated on November 18 every year, commemorating the day 'Steamboat Willie' was released.

Mickey and Minnie are just not married, but they also have the same birthday - November 18.

According to Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse weighs about 23 lb (10.4 kg).

According to the drawings of Mickey, his ears seem to be a perfect circle at all times, no matter where he's looking.

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