Mickey Mouse is very old, the mouse survived these scandals | Movies & Series
“Mickey Mouse was born out of revenge,” Disney fan and radio DJ Michiel Veenstra told NU.nl. By this he means that the rights to an earlier Walt Disney character were snatched from Disney’s hands by the distributor. Walt Disney thought to extend his contract, but the distributor turned out to be already working on a takeover of Disney’s popular character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Walt Disney was living off his last pennies when he made up Mickey Mouse on the train.
Perhaps literally: the shape of Mickey’s head consists of not much more than two dimes and a quarter. The simple mouse, who is always in a good mood, was soon brought to life in an animated film. Which completely flopped. Mickey Mouse has had to overcome a lot of hurdles to become the Disney figurehead he is today.
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‘Disney is a master at brushing off scandals’
Billion-dollar company Disney turned out to be very good at building Mickey Mouse’s reputation. Jeff Malmberg made a documentary about it: Mickey: The Story of a Mouse. The film can be seen worldwide on streaming service Disney + since Friday. In addition to rave reviews, the work also received criticism, namely that it “evades the big questions about Mickey and Walt Disney’s past” and is “a blatant display of Disney’s self-aggrandizement”.
“Disney is a master at that,” Veenstra explains. “Hiding scandals so that they can hardly be found anymore. But everything they don’t want to show is online somewhere. And these things did happen.” He lists a few Mickey Mouse riots for NU.nl.
That time Mickey Mouse abused animals, was homophobic and racist
“Mickey used to do a lot of things that really are no longer acceptable,” says Veenstra. In the very first Mickey Mouse movies, the mouse pulls on the tails and necks of various animals to make noise. “It was funny then, now we just think it’s animal abuse.”
Veenstra knows many more examples of Mickey Mouse films that have not kept up with the times. “Movies in which he smokes, kicks a homosexual character or wears blackface, for example. Or the countless attempts to seduce Minnie, by forcing herself with kisses and hugs. Back then, that was still possible, because the people who took offense were ignored. But you really don’t find those things on Disney+ these days.”
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That time Mickey Mouse spread war propaganda
“Mickey Mouse is the symbol of Walt Disney, and therefore of America,” Veenstra continues. The mouse was therefore depicted by Germany as the source of all evil during World War II. This image war was also waged the other way around. “During several wars, Mickey Mouse was deployed along with other well-known Disney characters to support American troops.” Minnie Mouse, for example, made explosives from bacon grease in her kitchen.
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That time Mickey Mouse sued a kindergarten teacher
It’s not just Mickey’s own actions that have caused a stir. The real-world events surrounding the popular character also generated controversy. “In the late nineties, there were three kindergartens where Mickey Mouse stood life-size on the window,” says Veenstra. “Probably the kindergarten teacher just enjoyed drawing it. Very innocent.” Disney didn’t think so. The company threatened legal consequences if the drawings were not removed immediately.
“As a symbol of a gigantic billion-dollar company, copyrights are very important,” says Veenstra. Nevertheless, this action Disney came in for a lot of criticism. Veenstra: “The character Mickey Mouse was already very successful and profitable. Now he became a symbol of stinginess in the business world.”
That time Mickey Mouse had to share his underwear
The scandals don’t stop. In 2001, it emerged that a number of Disney’s Mickey Mouse entertainers were not allowed to wear their own underwear when performing their jobs. They were obliged to put on the common underwear that was washed by the amusement park. But the latter was doubted by the workers. The employees claimed that the underwear smelled foul and that it gave them pubic lice and scabies. It took two months of consultation before it was decided that the employees could wear their own underwear.
Veenstra understands why the public has received so little from this side of Mickey Mouse. “Mickey is a born optimist, conceived at the end of the roaring twenties and just in time for the great economic crisis in America. So he was a welcome, almost necessary distraction from the start.” This ensured that Mickey Mouse could not know any negativity from birth.
“You can actually see that when you walk into a Disney park. Large grassy hills have been built on all sides of the park, so that you do not see the outside. It is a perfect dream world. And Mickey Mouse is the host.”
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