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Happy 80th birthday, Mickey Mouse!
Today is Mickey Mouse’s 80th birthday, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at Disney’s main Web page.
Oh, sure, “the boss,” as Disney employees like to call him, is all over there, but no more than he would usually be. Understandably, Disney’s main objective this week is to sell its new movie Bolt, out in theaters Friday, and to sell the DVD of WALL-E, which arrives on shelves today. (Everybody buy it, it’s the best film of the year - animated or otherwise.)
Still, I find it a shame there’s not much hoopla over such a milestone, by Disney or by anyone else. The DDN has put together this package of stories, but scanning across Google News, the few news stories I see include a nice package in The Kansas City Star, because Kansas City lays claim to being Mickey’s birthplace.
Why isn’t there more of a to-do about this? I remember Disneyland made a big deal out of the mouse’s 50th birthday when I went there back in 1978, why not now? Heck, Mickey is only the most iconic cartoon character ever created, although Bugs Bunny or Snoopy could justifiably make the same claim. (Mickey came before either of them, though.) Outside of his status as a corporate symbol, however, Mickey seems more and more like a sideman in his own company these days.
And I think I know partly why. He wasn’t the funny one.
Oh, in his earliest days, Mickey was a real rascal - a masher even. Check him out in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy. Minnie would never give him a second chance these days. (For the record, it’s her birthday as well.)
Why, he even drinks BEER in his second short, “The Gallopin’ Gaucho!”
He was so insanely popular in those early years, that “What? No Mickey Mouse?” became a national catchphrase. Walt Disney won the first of his 22 (!) Oscars specifically for creating Mickey. But as his wilder, sillier friends Donald Duck and Goofy gained popularity, Mickey settled down and became the proverbial nice guy, the straight man to everyone else’s antics. A brilliant 3D movie at the Magic Kingdom in Florida is called Mickey’s Philharmagic, but Donald is really the star. Something that suits him just fine, I’m sure.
Yet maybe I’m wrong about Mickey’s appeal these days. I had gotten the impression that among today’s kids, princesses and Pooh were the stars. However, my friend Angela Allen, who works in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the Magic Kingdom, assures me that while princesses rule among girls, Mickey is still the favorite of the boys, perhaps because of exposure to the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - though many of the boys do say Jack Sparrow. And Mickey does still make everyone go nuts in the theme parks.
So maybe I’m underestimating the appeal of the little guy. Perhaps Disney is saving their big party for when he turns 100 in 2028. But I’ll say Happy Birthday to him today.
Why? Because I like him!
M-O-U-S-E
What are your feeling about Mickey Mouse? Is he your favorite? If not, who is? Who do your kids favor?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Celebrities
Comments
By Melanie
November 18, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this
I absolutely LOVE Mickey Mouse (I even have a huge crush on him), and I was very sad to find out that Disney wasn’t doing anything to celebrate his 80th birthday. I didn’t let that slip, however! I wrote him a fan letter with birthday wishes, which I hope he received today, and opened my Mickey fan site in honor of the occasion. Even if there’s no celebration, he should know that he is loved by his fans! At least by me and some good friends of mine. :)By Brother Phil
November 18, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
Mickey Mouse had just turned 21, but had to wait until the first election day of my life in order to be of legal voting age (1950). Mickey was probably much more of a staple of my parents childhood, when the Mickey Mouse wristwatch was near the top of childrens’ Christmas gift lists - like iPods and PlayStations are today. My introduction to Mickey was primarily due to the Mickey Mouse Club television program in the Fifties - where I saw the first episode on my parents’ 10-inch circular Crosley TV set. Personally, Goofy and Donald Duck were my favorites, but Mickey Mouse is such an incredible cultural icon known throughout the world. But tonight, in honor of Mickey’s 80th birthday, I will pour myself a frosty cold mug of beer and make a toast to my dear old friend.