User blog:QueenMouse/On Mickey Mouse

What’s interesting about our good pal Mickey is that, when you think about it, we don’t really know much about him. I am a huge Disney fan, and when asked to describe their most famous character’s personality, I draw a blank.

He’s nice… I guess? His girlfriend is Minnie Mouse and he has a yellow dog named Pluto. But then, his best friend is also a dog. How does that make any sense? And what is Mickey really like?

I think this has a lot to do with the limited amount of screen time Mickey has gotten in the past few decades. That’s not to say that there’s a shortage of Mickey Mouse in the world (it’s nearly impossible to go more than a day without seeing his likeness on some sort of advertisement). After 1953, Mickey Mouse cartoons stopped entirely stopped production. It wasn’t until the 80’s that he made any sort of screen appearance, playing Bob Cratchit in “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”. Apart from that and a few other minor movies and TV shows, however, Mickey is virtually non-existent in any form other than an advertisement.

Today, Mickey Mouse is one of the most well-recognized images to children, many of which have never even seen a Mickey Mouse cartoon. I feel this is an excellent example of the impact advertising and merchandising has on kids. They beg for clothes with his image and dream of visiting him at Disneyland when in reality, he’s a total stranger.