A Mouse Is Born...

Happy birthday to you... 

A famous celebrity was born today...


Even though there would be no Mickey with Oswald, there would be no Walt without the Mouse.

Happy Birthday, Mickey...

The Other Half Passed...

Drawing angles for four decades...


Forty years ago today, Ub Iwerks passes away in Burbank, California...

With the exception of Walt Disney, he was the one person most responsible for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Iwerks was a legendary animation pioneer and helped Walt turn the animation medium into the art form it is today. Animation fans in general and Disney fans in particular, truly owe this great man a world of gratitude.

Animation and Disney itself would look very different without his fingerprints...

Epic Out...

Mickey power...





Today Disney Interactive's highly anticipated "Epic Mickey" is released...

Created by game god, Warren Spector, this inventive and fun game creates hours of fun for gamers and Disney fans with its inventive levels and shout outs to classic and forgotten shorts and characters. If you get it, spring for that swanky cool Epic Mickey Wii Controller as well.

Now if it was just available for PS3...

Miscast Member...

What happened? Did Paul Pressler suddenly become in charge of Disney Entertainment...




Someone at Disney Entertainment did not get the memo...

You know the one? About the retheming of the park into period-centric areas. The last time I looked, the Hollywood Backlot, soon to be Hollywoodland, was themed more to a studio with plans to slowly turn the theming more towards the 40's and the Golden Era of movies. Debuting the new blinking eyes/talking mouth technology is an important step in evolving entertainment in the parks. Putting Mickey here to do a dance show is a great idea. Theming him to hip-hop/gangsta culture is a terrible mistake. I can't see how this got past so many people that had to sign off on it. I mean, taking classic songs and hearing the lyrics altered to a variation of: "Drink up my gangstas, yo ho!" Someone actually thought that this was good? You're kidding me, right?

Shows should reflect the place they're in as well. Look at the Mickey and Minnie "Over the Waves" show over in the American Waterfront port of Tokyo DisneySEA. It's perfect for the area and totally blends in with the theme of the port. There was no attempt to "contemporarize" this cultural icon. Mickey isn't supposed to be hip. He is square. He is safe. He is the friend that you know you can count on to be there for you in times of trouble. He is not meant to symbolize whatever cultural fad is of the day (Disco Mickey, anyone?). He's an example of American Exceptionalism and a model for how others could be. He's not a thrill seeker looking for acceptance from a fickle public. For that, please see Donald Duck. But don't just listen to my rantings. Judge it for yourself.

After seeing this you might want to go (or contact) see Guest Relations and let them know your opinion of this move...

Epic Release...

So we now know when Disney Interactive's "Epic Mickey" game will be released on the Wii...

With that release date comes the final trailer for the game. The game looks quite fun and has the detail and narrative one would expect from Junction Point's Warren Spector. When you watch it, take a look at that Partners statue and notice the clever difference. Very clever.

I believe this will be a great holiday hit for the Mouse and Nintendo users as well. The expansive nature of the game is very interesting, if the gameplay is as good, it'll be fun to sit back and enter this new world.

Now, if I could only find someone with a Wii...

Small Beginnings...

Mic...


To imagine him not being a part of the American consciousness...

Eighty-one years ago, Walt Disney applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a trademark to a new character he had created to replace Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, whom he lost in a shady business deal with his former distributor. He doesn't intend that to happen again with his new one, Mickey Mouse.

And the rest was history....

Epic Proportion...

Remember a while back we talked about the Disney Interactive/Junction Point's new game "Disney Epic Mickey" that had been rumored...

Well, Gameinformer magazine's November issue is going to be filled with all the secrets about it. Check out the cool cover online and keep an eye out on the website as new information is put up throughout the month. It's going to be interesting to see what they've come up with after reading some of the details spilled at Eurogamer.

Developing...

The Next Echo...

The fourth voice of Mickey Mouse has been found...

Chapman Recording & Mastering announced that Bret Iwan, a former illustrator of Hallmark greeting cards has landed the coveted job of portraying the Walt Disney Company's moniker/standard bearer. It's been reported that Iwan has recorded several spots as the famous character already, although none are believed to have been released yet.

So now we know who's the leader of the club...

A Fourth Echo...

With the sad news of losing Wayne Allwine comes the realization that now someone else will be doing the voice of Mickey Mouse...

While it's been known that Wayne was suffering from diabetes, it wasn't known by most of us that it was as bad as it turned out to be. I've talked to several sources around the lot and it's interesting how things have/are developing.

It's been known around the lot that Wayne's been coming into work with a walker. Everyone thought he was in bad health but no one expected it to be that bad. The people in Disney Character Voices, knowing that he wouldn't last forever with his health deteriorating, had begun screening for the fourth voice of Mickey Mouse months ago. They wanted to find an understudy for Wayne to mentor like Jimmy MacDonald did to him. They've cast a wide net inside the company's creative departments. Anyone inside Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios or Disney Toon Studios who is interested are being tested to see who does the alter ego of Walt best.

A decision hasn't been made yet, but possibly later this year we'll find out who takes the character onward and further into the 21st Century. Remember whoever gets these gigs tends to last 25 to 30 years. It's strange, but nothing last forever.

Except maybe Mickey Mouse...

Mickey Has Lost His Voice, Minnie Has Lost Her Love...

Sadly, news I would like to not be reporting...

Wayne Allwine, the man that voices Mickey Mouse(and only the third man to do so) passed away yesterday from complications due to diabetes. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Russi Taylor(the voice of Minnie Mouse), his family and their friends.

Somewhere in heaven there are a trio of voices chatting together in a familiarly sweet, innocent tone...

Owning A Piece Of History...

On this day...

Eighty years ago, Walt Disney applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a trademark to a new character he had created to replace Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, whom he lost in a shady business deal with his former distributor. He doesn't intend that to happen again with his new one, Mickey Mouse.

And the rest was history....

The Most Popular Disney Character In Tokyo...

Think Mickey Mouse is the most famous character at the Tokyo DisneySEA park? You'd be wrong. That little teddy bear that he's holding up just happens to be the most popular character among the Japanese.




Duffy.

Created originally for the Walt Disney Resort as "The Disney Bear," he's now known as Duffy at the Tokyo Resort. Duffy has evolved into sort of a cultural phenomenon there. He's even got his own website on the the Tokyo Disney Resort's site. His meet and greets are where you see long lines of Japanese fans gathered just to snap a picture with him. And is the case, they've developed a back story for him. Remember, everything should have a back story at Disney. This is something the Suits forgot when building parts of DCA(Maliboomer, anyone).



Anyway, back to the back story. It appears that since this is Tokyo Disney"Sea" and everything is related to the ocean, exploration and such, Mickey was headed out to sea. The night before he goes, Minnie gave him a teddy bear as a gift of companionship. Duffy is a bear of magic and great luck and spread happiness and cheer throughout Tokyo DisneySEA.

Next time you get to TDS(you lucky bum), why don't you pick up one of these plush teddies, or a Duffy outfit, or a key chain or a...

Well, at least get in line to have a picture taken with him.

One Mouse, One Vote...

While I realize it's important for people to exercise their right to vote, I really have to draw the line at registering Mickey Mouse to vote. It appears that the nonprofit group ACORN has signed Walt Disney's famous creation up to vote in the coming election...

Florida has had problems counting hanging chads before, do we really want to see them counting characters too? No matter who you vote for in November, I think we can all agree that Mickey shouldn't be allowed to vote.

Trading Images...

On this date, seventy-nine years ago...

Walt Disney is issued his trademark for the image of a little mouse named...

Mickey.

Runaway Released...

Thirteen years ago today, Walt Disney Pictures releases "Runaway Brain", the first Mickey Mouse short in over thirty years. While not the sweet, innocent shorts Mickey is known for, the animation is pure Disney... the antics may be Warner Bros., but the short has a charm that has grown on me over time and will tide us over until a new Mickey short goes up on the silver screen...

There Is A Light That Will Never Go Out...

Thirty-seven years ago today, Ub Iwerks passes away in Burbank, California. With the exception of Walt Disney, he was the one person most responsible for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Iwerks was a legendary animation pioneer and helped Walt turn the animation medium into the art form it is today. Animation fans in general and Disney fans in particular, truly owe this great man a world of gratitude. Animation and Disney itself would look very different without his fingerprints...

The Changlings...

The New York Times has an interesting article by Brooks Barnes that's an example of what we discussed about Mickey Mouse a few days ago. It focuses on how Warner Bros., Disney and others are trying to keep their franchise characters relevant to modern audiences and how difficult it can be sometimes to stay fresh and makes one think about the problems of trying to not destroy a character entirely...

Good read.

Perfect Timing...

On this day...

Seventy-five years ago, the first Mickey Mouse watch was introduced to the world by Ingersoll-Waterbury.

Classic and understated, don't you think?

Re(de)fining Mickey...

As WDAS slowly morphs into a Pixar-like environment there are always interesting and strange things happening...

With Lasseter and Catmull now in charge of almost all Mouse animation it has become introspective in what it creates and what it has already created. Such an example would be the decree that Lasseter put down about not having anymore cheapquels. The latest example of the redefining of what Walt Disney Animation (Studios) is happened in the middle of last week without much notice.

There was a get-together over in the Valley. A sort of meeting like the Brain Trust at Pixar has, or the Story Trust at Disney has been having. But being as Suits are "persona non grata" with John in charge there was simply a gathering of animators, story people and such. The focus was on the reemergence of Disney's most famous creation...

Mickey Mouse.

There was a brainstorming as to how can he become more relevant. How can he be brought back into the consciousness of a 21st Century America and even a 21st Century world? What format would be best to present him in? Where should the largest amount of energy be spent on doing this(Shorts, Movies, the Web, etc.)?

Creative people trying to come up with solutions and not a Suit in sight...

Nice. I like it. From what I've heard there are several top animators that have some exciting ideas they want to move forward and get greenlit. I'm crossing my fingers that they succeed. One thing is for sure, though. The marketers and bean counters didn't have much, if any say in what route Mickey takes in this. No soulless demographic slide show or pie charts saying what they felt the public needed or wanted(ala: DCA), just good old fashioned creativity thrown out into the arena of ideas.

Let the winner now be determined...

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.