Proving that nothing is sacred these days, they’re messing with Mickey Mouse.

In a story deemed so significant it merited front page display in The New York Times last week, the Walt Disney Company has confirmed Internet speculation that the most famous rodent that never lived is about to get a new persona.

After more than 80 years of mostly mild mannerisms Meek Mickey will become Macho Mickey. Maybe even Mean Mickey.

The Mickey Mouse makeover is — like all things Disney — motivated by money.

Although he’s still a $5 billion merchandising monster around the world, today’s American kids prefer more mayhem in their entertainment. They’re playing video games that, according to their self-descriptions, allow them to “unleash fearsome magic on your foes,” imagine themselves in a time in which “the world will face a new menace” and use their tiny fingers to “blast encroaching enemies.”

Against competition like that, how to you market a mouse who meanders through life whistling and squeaking? So, Disney has decided, if you can’t blast ’em, join ’em.

Available next fall will be “Epic Mickey,” a video game designed for Nintendo’s Wii console. The game is set in what is described as a cartoon wasteland inhabited by the evil Phantom Blot, the Mad Doctor, a disemboweled Donald Duck and an embittered Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

There still are some details to be worked out in the Mickey Mouse metamorphosis, which has been in the works for five years. Online video game sites and bloggers speculate that he’ll undergo everything from a mere attitude adjustment to a radical makeover. The Times reported that, depending upon how the game is played, he could begin to physically resemble a rat.

But, according to one of the game’s developers, “Mickey is never going to be evil or going around killing people.” That’s reassuring. Even in this increasingly violent cartoon world, I don’t think we’re ready for Murdering Mickey.

However they change him, lots of gamers say they can’t wait to get their hands on “Epic Mickey.”

“That’s it,” one posted. “I’m buying a Wii just to play this game.”

Not me, because I never was a fan of Mickey Mouse, even though he was responsible for introducing many wonderful things to our lives, especially Annette Funicello. I always thought he was a bit testosterone-challenged, though. So my personal favorite always was Donald Duck, who never hesitated to get into a fight, even though he hardly ever won any of them.

So however they change him, I have no intention of rushing out to buy “Epic Mickey.”

But I might be tempted if they ever come out with a video in which Mary Poppins disintegrates the Banks family with death rays from her umbrella.

Contact D.L. Stewart at dlstew_2000@yahoo.com.