Mickey Mouse (universe)
| Mickey Mouse (universe) | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Developer(s) | Various |
| Publisher(s) | Disney |
| Distributor(s) | Disney |
| Genre(s) | Various |
| Console/platform of origin | Film (Debut) Game & Watch (Video Game debut) |
| First installment | Steamboat Willie (Original Debut, 1928) Mickey Mouse (Video Game Debut, 1981) 
|
| Latest installment | Epic Mickey Rebrushed (2024) |
| Article on Wikipedia | Mickey Mouse (universe) |
The Mickey Mouse universe (ミッキーマウス, Mickey Mouse) is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto as the primary members (colloquially known as the "Sensational Six"), and many other characters related to them, most of them being anthropomorphic animals. The universe originated from the Mickey Mouse animated short films produced by Disney starting in 1928, although its first consistent version was created by Floyd Gottfredson in the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip. Real-world versions also exist in Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, called Mickey's Toontown. The term "Mickey Mouse universe" is not officially used by The Walt Disney Company, but it has been used by Disney comics author and animation historian David Gerstein. The Walt Disney Company typically uses terms such as Mickey & Friends or Mickey & the Gang to refer to the character franchise.
Many of the Mickey Mouse characters appear in the Kingdom Hearts series, ranging from large roles in the story, to background characters.
Franchise Description[edit]
The history of Mickey Mouse is directly connected to the story of Walt Disney himself. After opening the first Burbank-based animation studio in 1923, Walt and his team would create several successful projects. Examples include the Alice Comedies starting in 1923, and the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series in 1927. While on a business trip to New York City, Walt and his producer Charles Mintz could not come to an agreement to renew their contract. Due to a loophole in said contract, Mintz and distributor Universal Pictures retained the rights to Oswald. Now with an entire studio out of work, many being poached by other studios like Mintz's Winkler Productions, Walt spent the rest of the trip frantically trying to come up with a replacement.[1] Alongside suggestions from his brother Roy, wife Lillian, and long time creative and business partner Ub Iwerks, Walt was able to come up with a mouse character named Mortimer, which was renamed to Mickey at the behest of Lillian.[2] These efforts culminated on November 18, 1928 with the release of Steamboat Willie. While not the first Mickey Mouse short to enter production, it was the first to be released, and was also the first theatrically released animation to be properly synchronized to sound. The meteoric success of Mickey Mouse inspired other animators and studios to copy the formula popularized by Disney. This includes former Disney animators Hugh Harmon, Rudolph Ising, and Isadore "Friz" Freling, who initially defected to Charles Mintz but left with several others due to creative differences, and as a group found a home at Warner Bros. and created Looney Tunes. Animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would join this group but then leave for Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer to create Tom and Jerry, later starting their own independent studio with television shows like The Flintstones and Scooby Doo. Japanese artists and mangaka Osamu Tezuka would take inspiration from Disney for several of his works that would lay the foundation for modern anime, such as Jungle Emperor and Mighty Atom, respectively known as Kimba the White Lion and Astro Boy in the US.
The Mickey Mouse universe effectively starts with the release of Steamboat Willie. That being said, elements of the universe were introduced earlier, such as the character of Pete debuting in the Alice short Alice Solves the Puzzle in 1925. Oswald was retroactively included in this universe when ownership of the character was reclaimed by Disney in 2006 and properly integrated in the 2010 video game Epic Mickey.
The Mickey Mouse universe is not a universe in the traditional sense, as it technically includes many entirely unrelated projects that are only connected through shared characters and settings. While the continuity of this universe is borderline nonexistent by virtue of existing for so long and story never being a strong priority, a rule of thumb is that any piece of media that focuses on Mickey or a character closely associated with him is part of this universe, and any original character that debuted in said media exists within it. While some media that meet this criteria are decisively not in the Mickey Mouse universe, the deciding factor is typically tone and how the characters are portrayed, such as a world that is zany at all times and suspension of disbelief being necessary for the plot to work.
In 1930, Disney began a Mickey Mouse comic strip, which greatly expanded Mickey's world. The stories then became a work of collaborative fiction with writers working in different media and different countries. This sometimes caused continuity discrepancies. For example, while Mickey and his friends largely live in the same contemporary setting, they sometimes appear in exotic settings, including period pieces (Brave Little Tailor, The Nifty Nineties) and fantasy films (Fantasia, Fun and Fancy Free).
The comics writers explained this discrepancy was to present the characters as "real" cartoon characters who are employed by Disney as actors. Walter J. Ong in his cultural research of Mickey Mouse and Americanism also agreed with this opinion. In short, characters are more human-like, featuring fewer animal features in their characteristics.[3] This understanding of the characters leading separate lives was welcomed by Walt Disney. This also explains how Mickey and his friends can be seen in our world within Disneyland and the other Disney theme parks, as they are canonically playing roles for the entertainment of the park guests. When asked whether or not Mickey and Minnie were married, Disney replied that the mice were indeed married in their "private lives", but that they sometimes appear as boyfriend and girlfriend for "screen purposes."[4] Also, in the World War II propaganda film The New Spirit (1942), Donald Duck fills out his income tax and lists his occupation as "actor", and the film Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004) includes a DVD bonus feature of the characters reminiscing on their experience filming the feature.
Animation historian David Gerstein has noted that, although the characters will appear in different settings and sometimes even change their names, the characters are still themselves and behave in a way consistent with their natures.
Initially, Disney comics were produced in the United States. Over the years, demand for these comics eventually became so intense that stories were created in the United States exclusively for foreign consumption. Disney licensed its characters to foreign publishers. As a result, many Disney comics stories have been created by European or Latin American authors, resulting in more continuity discrepancies and local variations of the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck universes. Some characters have become more popular abroad than in the United States, while some appeared and were used solely in foreign stories.
Gallery[edit]
Screenshot from Steamboat Willie
GIF of Mickey
Media with elements appearing in the Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
The Mickey Mouse universe has media represented throughout the Super Smash Bros. series with a total of 2 medias. The latest media represented in this universe is The Band Concert, released on February 23, 1935.
Steamboat Willie[edit]
- Playable Character
Sora's Keyblade bears the Mickey Mouse emblem, which first appeared in this short.- While not strictly from this short, one of Sora's costumes is based on his appearance in Timeless River, a world in Kingdom Hearts II based on this short and others.
The Band Concert[edit]
- Playable character
- Sora's default costume is inspired by Mickey Mouse, the colors of which first debuted in this short
Trivia[edit]
- In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Chronicle lists several Mickey Mouse games: both Mickey Mouse and Mickey and Donald for the Game & Watch, and, exclusively in the Japanese release, Mickey's Speedway USA, Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey and Minnie, and Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse.
- With a debut year of 1928, the Mickey Mouse franchise is the oldest IP (technically) featured in the Smash series.
References[edit]
- ^ Mickey Mouse's Magic
- ^ Fact Check: Walt Disney Was Going To Call Mickey Mouse 'Mortimer.' Mrs. Disney Had a Better Idea
- ^ Ong, W. J. (October 4, 1941). MICKEY MOUSE AND AMERICANISM [Editorial]. America 65(26), 719–720.
- ^ Holliss, Richard (1986). https://archive.org/details/waltdisneysmicke00holl Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: His Life and Times. New York City: Harper. ISBN 0-06-015619-8.
