Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is a fictional character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He is an anthropomorphic mouse with round ears, red shorts, white gloves, and yellow shoes. He is traditionally characterized as a sympathetic underdog who gets by on pluck and ingenuity.

Mickey made his first public appearance on November 18, 1928, in the short film Steamboat Willie. He has appeared in over 130 films, and is frequently seen with his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, friends Donald Duck and Goofy, as well as his pet dog Pluto.

Mickey is one of the world's most recognizable and universally acclaimed fictional characters of all time, and is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

Physical appearance
Mickey Mouse is a mouse with two round ears. Typically, he wears red shorts with two white buttons at the front, white gloves, and large yellow shoes.

Personality
Mickey is a sweet, easy going, care free guy. Despite being care free, he's often bothered by his friend Donald's temper, and Goofy's clumsiness. He can be a bit irresponsible at times and foolish, which annoys his girlfriend Minnie.

Creation and debut (1928)
Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier cartoon character that was created by the Disney studio but owned by Universal Pictures. Charles Mintz served as a middleman producer between Disney and Universal through his company, Winkler Pictures, for the series of cartoons starring Oswald. Ongoing conflicts between Disney and Mintz and the revelation that several animators from the Disney studio would eventually leave to work for Mintz's company ultimately resulted in Disney cutting ties with Oswald. Among the few people who stayed at the Disney studio were animator Ub Iwerks, apprentice artist Les Clark, and Wilfred Jackson.

On the train ride back to California, Walt desperately brainstormed ideas for a new cartoon character, in order to keep his studio afloat. He would eventually conceive a mouse character. Disney believed that a mouse would make for a cute and sympathetic character. He also felt that mice hadn't been overused in motion pictures, allowing for Mickey to stand out against the competition of the time. Walt would name his new character "Mortimer Mouse". His wife, Lillian Disney, disliked the name and instead suggested "Mickey Mouse".

Walt created a sketch to get the basic idea of the character, and later shared it with Ub, who refined it. Mickey's model greatly resembled that of Oswald and other animal characters of the time, such as Otto Messmer's Felix the Cat. Iwerks would explain, "Pear-shaped body, ball on top, a couple of thin legs. You gave it long ears, and it was a rabbit. Short ears, it was a cat. With an elongated nose, it became a mouse." Along with Ub and a few other loyalists, Disney worked on the first two Mickey cartoons in secret, while simultaneously abiding to his contractual obligation to complete his final Oswald cartoons for Universal.

Mickey was first seen in a test screening of the cartoon short Plane Crazy, on May 15, 1928, but it failed to impress the audience and Walt could not find a distributor for the short. Walt went on to produce a second Mickey short, The Gallopin' Gaucho, which was also not released for lack of a distributor.

Mickey officially debuted with the short film Steamboat Willie, released on November 18, 1928, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Disney served as the original voice actor for Mickey.

Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoons (1928-1953)
In 1935, Mickey appeared in the short film The Band Concert, the first Mickey Mouse film to be produced in color, albeit Mickey does not speak.

Film and television appearances (1953-2000)
In the 1950s, Mickey became more known for his appearances on television, particularly with The Mickey Mouse Club. Many of his theatrical cartoon shorts were rereleased on television series such as Ink & Paint Club, various forms of the Walt Disney anthology television series, and on home video. Mickey returned to theatrical animation in 1983 with Mickey's Christmas Carol, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in which Mickey played Bob Cratchit. This was followed up in 1990 with The Prince and the Pauper.

Throughout the decades, Mickey Mouse competed with Warner Bros.' Bugs Bunny for animated popularity. But in 1988, the two rivals finally shared screen time in the Robert Zemeckis Disney/Amblin film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Disney and Warner signed an agreement stating that each character had the same amount of screen time in the scene.

New image and recent years (2000-present)
From 2001 to 2003, Mickey appeared in the animated series House of Mouse, where he is the owner of the eponymous popular night club in downtown Main Street. Mickey strives to keep the club profitable to keep safe from its villainous landlord, Pete. All the while, he must maintain the stability of both his madcap crew. Like his previous series, Mickey's mischief often gets the club into hot water, such as in "Rent Day", where he spent the club's rent on a large order of cheese.

From 2006 to 2016, Mickey and his friends appeared in the Playhouse Disney animated series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the first Mickey Mouse-related series aimed at preschoolers. In this show, he serves as the host in which he uses brains and teamwork to solve problems. Mickey is the leader of the clubhouse gang and often going on various adventures to help and/or save his friends.

In 2009, Bret Iwan succeeded Wayne Allwine as the voice of Mickey Mouse following the latter's death. Later that same year, The Walt Disney Company announced that they will begin to re-brand the Mickey Mouse character by moving away from his pleasant, cheerful image and reintroducing the mischievous and cunning side of his personality.

In 2013, Mickey and his friends had a redesign for the Mickey Mouse shorts, designed by Paul Rudish. The look incorporates elements of Mickey's late twenties-early thirties look with a contemporary twist. Chris Diamantopoulos took over as the voice of Mickey, as the producers wanted Mickey's voice to sound closer to Walt Disney's.

2017 saw the return of Bret Iwan as the voice of Mickey Mouse, with the animated series Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures and Mickey Mouse Funhouse.

Voice actors

 * Walt Disney (1928-1947, 1955-1962, Get a Horse!)
 * Carl W. Stalling (1929)
 * Jimmy MacDonald (1947-1977)
 * Wayne Allwine (1977-2009)
 * Bret Iwan (2009-present)
 * Chris Diamantopoulos (2013-present)