Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves. Mickey is one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world and is the mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

Mickey debuted in November 1928 in the cartoon short Steamboat Willie, after initially appearing in two test screenings earlier that year. He went on to appear in about 120 films including The Band Concert (1935), Brave Little Tailor (1938), and Fantasia (1940). Mickey appeared primarily in shorts, but also in feature-length and direct-to-video films. Nine of Mickey’s cartoons have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of which won the award, Lend a Paw, in 1942. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Beginning 1930, Mickey has also been featured extensively as a comic strip character. His self-titled newspaper strip, drawn primarily by Floyd Gottfredson, ran for 25 years. Mickey has also appeared in comic books and in television series such as The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1996). The character continues to appear regularly as toys, in computer games, and as a meet-able character at the Disney parks. Read the rest of this entry »