Search Results for: blog how was mickey born

Mickey’s Toontown Farewell

While the Fantasyland expansion means the creation of some fantastic new attractions in the Magic Kingdom, it also indicates the closing of some old Disney World standards. Tomorrow, February 12, sees the shutdown of Mickey’s Toontown Fair. I can’t be overly nostalgic about the Toontown Fair because I’ve never been to it, nor is it one of the attractions I can herald as a Disney World original. But Mickey’s Toontown Fair has been in Orlando since 1988, and as such it’s an integral part of the Magic Kingdom for many. In some ways it might feel more special than other … Continue reading →

Mickey and Minnie Go High Fashion

My 3-year-old daughter will be the first to remind any one that Mickey is a mouse—-not a rat. As such, he should never be confused with Remy, the rat from Ratatouille (despite the fact that the people who made Remy—-Disney PIXAR–are the same ones who breathe life into his popular bi-coastal rodent cousin). My daughter’s rodent lecture came about when I shared with her the news that Mickey and Minnie Mouse just got “new, fancy clothes for Chinese New Year.” I should have just stopped there. But I made the mistake of adding that according to the Chinese Zodiac, 2008 … Continue reading →

Is Mickey Mouse Being Used Fraudulently?

Posted on by

Diane Disney Miller is upset and she’s not worried about anyone knowing it. Miller is the only surviving child of Walt Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse and so much more. What has Ms. Miller so upset? A recent article in the Daily News reported that the Islamic group Hamas is currently using this iconic figure as a teaching tool for Islamic radicalism. Seriously? Yes, seriously. Farfur the Mickey Look Alike Hamas’ Al-Aqsa television station began airing a program called Tomorrow’s Pioneers in April. The show features Farfur, a Mickey Mouse look alike right down to the tuxedo and the … Continue reading →

How Was Mickey Born?

Early in his career, Walt’s studio got the contract to produce Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. This gave Walt and Roy a sense of security. As the popularity of the cartoon grew, Walt decided to renew the contract, for a better price, and he and Lilly headed to New York to discuss a new deal. There was so much that Walt did not know as he headed back east though. Charlie Mintz and Universal Pictures legally owned the legal rights to Oswald. Charlie Mintz had also offered Walt’s employees more money and freedom if they’d leave Walt and come to … Continue reading →

Uncertain Fate for Walt Disney’s Birthplace

First the Laugh-o-Gram and now the house in which he was born and lived until he was four: the significant buildings of Walt Disney’s early life all seem to be in the news lately. The Chicago Tribune has a story about 2156 N. Tripp Avenue, Walt Disney’s first home. It’s nothing special, just another building on a street with others that look kind of like it. Two-flat, new windows, hardwood floors, and it’s been on the market for over a year. It’s not an official historic landmark and it doesn’t even have a bronze plaque. Yet this is the building … Continue reading →

Rare Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon Discovered

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit has been getting more attention lately than he’s had in over 50 years. Now that the Disney Company bought him back so he could have a major role in the “Epic Mickey” video game, one could say this is the best Oswald’s career has been since its start. It’s fitting, then, that one of the early shorts featuring him has just been discovered in a film archive in the United Kingdom. The Reuters news agency reports that employees from Huntley Film Archives, one of the U.K.’s largest, discovered the old cartoon this year when doing a … Continue reading →

The Key to a Happy Baby

Forget about a safe and loving home, extra-soft blankets, a warm bottle and doting parents, it seems the key to your baby’s happiness is all in his name. According to the moms behind the uber-popular baby naming website, Namberry.com, an optimistic, peppy moniker goes a long way to insure that your newborn will project a positive aura in a society that drips of doom and gloom. If you are about to bring an innocent child into this world filled with headlines featuring mass murderers, a dismal economy, international terrorism and cheating politicians, consider choosing a name which connotes happiness, hope … Continue reading →

Infants: The Hottest New Market

We all know that Disney will market to absolutely anyone it thinks it can get to buy its merchandise. We also know that Disney will pursue its advertising targets till the ends of the earth, producing any conceivable product (and some hitherto inconceivable) to ridiculous and often extreme ends. So really, Disney ought not to surprise anyone with whatever new marketing schemes it rolls out. Despite all of that, I just can’t help it; Disney’s got my eyebrows raised with this one. What’s the Mouse House’s latest marketing target? Infants. Pushing products towards the just-out-of-the-womb isn’t entirely new territory for … Continue reading →

Turner Classic Movies Film Festival

Fans of Disney and classic films alike should consider attending this year’s Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival. Stitch Kingdom reports that for 2011 TCM joined up with D23, the official Disney fan group, to dedicate a portion of the festival to the works of Walt Disney. The Disney films and shorts presented all fit into this year’s theme of Music and the Movies. Thus the only feature length Disney movie shown at the festival will be a recently restored copy of 1940’s “Fantasia.” The four-day event will also include a screening of select Silly Symphonies shorts introduced/curated by film … Continue reading →

Bizarre Disney Merchandise

How’s this for bizarre Disney merchandise: scratch and sniff Mickey Mouse Popcorn Ears. That’s right, you read it. I’d repeat it if I were speaking aloud so you could hear it again, but in this instance, you can just head back to the previous sentence and reread. If only I had a picture I could show you here. Instead, I’ll have to describe it: picture the typical Mouseketeer hat, the simple black felt cap with two round black ears on either side. Instead of the felt cap being black, it displays, the whole way around its base, an image of … Continue reading →