Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Mouse's Rodent Problem...


The Walt Disney Company's had a pest problem for a long time. Decades even. You'd think that they would have called an exterminator after they first noticed the problem.

Have you seen how many rodents there are there? First they had mice, then more mice and finally rats... It's getting downright crowded in Burbank. Heck, they've even found them in other parts of the company... Emeryville for example.

But the problem all started back in 1928 when Walt was just starting his studio. The first one to show up was this little rascal of a rodent named...

Mickey Mouse.



It didn't end there either. It turns out this Mickey had a mate...

Minnie Mouse.



And then there was the time Walt went to the circus for research for his movie "Dumbo". That brought in this other mouse named...

Timothy.



Oh, and when Walt had that castle built for that princess she brought along a bunch of mice. Even though there were supposed to be no pets...

Helper Mice.



Of course when Disney told the story of Robin Hood it was hard to keep them out as well. Those church mice...

Saxton and Wife.



And speaking of church mice, I seem to remember Walt finding that church mouse that helped out Ben Franklin. I think his name was...

Amos.



Then there was the ones the company found down in that swamp. Of course, I'm sure if they'd gotten rid of them it would have been bad publicity with them rescuing that girl and all...

Bernard & Miss Bianca.



Then there was those mice that found themselves involved in a mystery of some sort...

Basil & Dawson.



Of course, not all these mice work together. Some of them are downright enemies. That Basil just didn't get along with this one rat...

Ratigan.



And just when you think they've got it under control, the new branch up in Emeryville has an infestation. Luckily, at least one of them knew how to cook. Unfortunately the other one liked to eat...

Remy & Emile.



I'm sure there are more. It's hard to keep count after all...

The only conclusion I can come to is that they like them. Walt must have found something about this Mickey that he liked and everyone else sort of was won over as well.

I guess I'll call off the exterminator... they're starting to grow on me too.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is adorable!I'm a consultant who specializes in non-lethal rodent control---exclusion, repellents, etc.
I'm putting a link to this up on my site at GeorgeRotramel.com. My readers will get a kick out of this.
George

Anonymous said...

God bless you, George! We've had rats for years as pets...mostly handicapped ones from abuse/lab use that we took in. They were the most gentle, sweet creatures you could ever meet. I'm glad someone is handling rodent infestations humanely.

Great post, too! :)

Liz

disneynorth said...

You forgot about this wonderful piece of history that Walt uncovered.... When Benjamin Franklin was helping write the Declaration of Independence, he had the help from a small church mouse by the name of Amos Mouse. Amos also helped discover electricity, create bifocals and helped Ben heat his home.

Anonymous said...

This is another one of those posts where you spent more time in Photoshop than actually thinking about the article.

t said...

^oh please,
it was meant to be fun.

Anonymous said...

Want to see a stop-motion video about a couple of mice in search of food in their new place? I made this video recently. Please check it out and comment. Thanks.

Blemish and Pittance: The New Place