Disney fans cheer as M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e roars to 90th birthday
The face of Walt Disney Co. is an orchestra conductor, a global superstar, a sorcerer, a squeaky goodwill ambassador and the icon of an entertainment empire. But he’s no spring chicken. Mickey Mouse officially turns 90 years old on Sunday.
The date that Disney designates as Mickey’s birth — Nov. 18, 1928 — marks the premiere of “Steamboat Willie.” It was the public’s first exposure to the character, who became an overnight sensation, said Becky Cline, director of Walt Disney Archives.
“People just freaked over it,” she said. “He was immediately successful. Within days, he was the rage.”
Then came another development that continues to resonate.
“Walt started merchandising him, and that made him even more popular,” Cline said.
Mickey’s creator and company worked to keep him relevant, even as subsequent characters such as princesses and superheroes moved to the forefront, said Robert Thompson, who teaches pop-culture courses at Syracuse University.
“It’s probably, I would say, above Coca-Cola and the golden arches, that Mickey Mouse is probably the greatest branding coup in the history of America,” Thompson said.
This year, there are a slew of products tied to Mickey’s 90th, ranging from designer purses to Oreos. Major brands such as Levi’s, Campbell’s Soup, Pez, Target, Goldfish and Evian have introduced celebratory products for the occasion.
“I’ve lost count of how many Disney and Mickey Mouse shirts I’ve bought this year,” said Amy VanderBoogert, who lives in Clearwater. She grew up in a Disney-centric household, she said.
“I still have my first Mickey Mouse doll from when I was a baby,” she said. “It’s completely torn up and, like, his nose is missing … but I still have it.”
Eventually, VanderBoogert and family came to meet Mickey at Walt Disney World. At Magic Kingdom, they went to see the “Mickey Mouse Revue” show.
“The curtains close, and all of a sudden little 3-year-old me says ‘Mickey, Mickey, don’t go!’ The entire audience erupted in laughter,” she said. “My parents basically wanted to crawl under the seats and die.”
Jeremy Stein, a Disney World annual passholder from St. Augustine, remembers bringing his 18-month-old daughter to meet Mickey. She embraced him quickly, with open arms.
“I look over and my wife is in tears. And then standing next to her is her mom, who’s in tears, and next to her is my mom,” Stein said. “So the three of them are standing there, happy-crying as my daughter meets Mickey for the first time.”
That moment changed the way the family felt about Disney, Stine said. They have made monthly visits, staying in Disney hotels, for 36 consecutive months, he said.
“We are who Disney loves because we’re buying the holiday gear and the Halloween gear and now this Mickey’s 90th stuff,” Stein said.
Mickey’s popularity earned him a recent twohour birthday celebration on Disney-owned ABC and a pop-up art exhibition in New York City. Disney has introduced a retro line of clothing inspired by the 1950s “Mickey Mouse Club,” and it continues to produce dozens of variations of the famed mouse-ear hat.
Love for Mickey has been handed down from generation to generation, Thompson said.
“The biggest thing is that he stands for all the other things we love about the Disney universe,” he said.
“Mickey is enough of a blank slate — he’s vague enough … I hesitate to say this but bland enough — that he could actually be the representative, the kind, the boss, the brand of this entire world of animals and princesses … and he doesn’t take away from any of that,” Thompson said. “Mickey doesn’t upstage Anna and Elsa.” Today’s children find Mickey to be a “kindred soul,” Cline said.
“People can relate to him — his risk-taking, and his naughtiness and his mischievous nature,” she said. “But they also see his sweet side and his sentimentality and his more romantic persona.” Even grown-ups. “He makes it feel like nothing is impossible. At the end of the day, everything’s going to be OK,” VanderBoogert said. “And he’s just so cute. He’s timeless.”