Ears to
Star mouse is big in our
1928 debut, Steamboat Willie
Sketches unearthed from the Disney archives have been revealed for the first time to mark Mickey Mouse’s milestone birthday and illustrate just why the world fell in love with him.
It was 90 years ago today that Mickey starred in his first big screen encounter – Steamboat Willie. A star was born... well, drawn. Now Disney has released a string of other unseen original sketches from Mickey’s early years.
Most of the pencil drawings are from the 1930s – including the classic torch-carrying Mickey in 1930 adventure The Gorilla Mystery.
But wind the cine reel forward and, in 1941, a new-look Mickey has emerged.
In a still from The Nifty Nineties he is clutching a cane and leaning forward after animator Fred Moore swapped his circular design for a pear-shape.
NERVOUS
Walt Disney, the rodent’s creator, was initially nervous about the change.
But he liked the new design so much that he told Moore: “That’s the way I want Mickey to be drawn from now on.”
Similar changes were made to Mickey’s longtime partner Minnie Mouse. The big ears stayed, of course.
And yet it could have all been so different... and there might not have been a Mickey at all.
Disney’s original character was a longer-eared creature called Oswald – a rabbit who started life in 1927.
Walt was then working as an animator at Universal Pictures.
But he lost the rights to the bunny during a dispute with a business partner.
So it was farewell Oswald and hello Mickey as Walt came up with a fresh character with the help of his oldest friend, animator Ub Iwerks.
The ears were shortened and made round, turning the rabbit into a distinctive mouse that Walt originally Mickey hoists pal Pluto in the 1931 rib tickler Fishin’ Around Creator Walt with sketch of beloved Mickey in 1955 named Mortimer. His wife Lillian was most unimpressed by the moniker and urged him to change it to Mickey.
Walt obliged, Mickey was born and the rest is history.
Reflecting on Mickey’s creation, Walt once said the mouse appeared in his imagination in 1928 when “disaster seemed right around the corner” and he feared losing everything.
Walt, who died in 1966 aged 65, said: “He popped out of my mind on to a drawing pad on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood.”
Other sketches now seen for the first time include a classic still from 1931 cartoon Fishin’ Around – where a sheriff finds Mickey defying an angling ban.
The mouse hoists his rod up and reveals pal Pluto on the end of his line Nora and Ella, right
One Mickey cartoon could include 10,000 drawings for seven-and-a-half minutes and take from six months to two years to finish – with a “No fishing” sign in his mouth. Another sketch shows Mickey at a concert hall curtain in the 1936 classic Mickey’s Grand Opera – also featuring Donald Duck, Clara Cluck and Pluto. By 1937 colour is TWINS aged 94 have told of their lifelong obsession with Mickey. Ella Hutchinson and Nora Bartley met a costume version of Mickey and Minnie at Blythe Carnival, Northumberland, when they were just five. Ella said: “When we saw Mickey we just fell in love with him. I also loved Minnie’s
Throughout his career Mickey Mouse has worn more than 175 outfits Poking curtain in Mickey’s Grand Opera, in 1936 evident on some of the original sketches. One from the animation Mickey’s Amateurs shows him with yellow hands.
Mickey was aged nine by then and had long been a superstar. After frilly knickers. They are both so friendly and colourful. They used to come and give you cuddles.”
Nora added: “When I found out the people who dressed up as Mickey and Minnie lived next to my grandma, I was gutted as I thought he was real!”
The twins, who live in neighbouring bungalows in Longbenton, Tyneside,
Maximum height for any actor wanting to play Mickey at Disneyland. Minimum is 4ft 8ins