Mickey Mouse
Who’s the leader of the club that kick-started character merchandising
and turned Disneyana into a multi-billion-dollar industry? M-I-C-K-E-Y
M-O-U-S-E!
It’s good to be the mouse. Star of cartoons, comic strips and comic
books, idol of the silver screen, one of the most-recognized faces (and
set of ears) on the planet… Mickey Mouse
conquered the toy world just as quickly and surely as he did every
other medium, turning everything he touched into a treasured plaything
and an instant collector’s item.
After his 1928 appearance in the first-ever sound cartoon,
“Steamboat Willie,” Mickey Mouse went on to become one of the biggest
stars in the movies. Created by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks,
Mickey had a face every kid could love, and love him they did. Starting
in 1930, the kids were able to take a little bit of that love home with
them. Charlotte Clark designed the first stuffed Mickey doll that year,
and the first Mickey Mouse Book took the round-eared rodent into the publishing world around the same time.
By 1932, Mickey was the star of his own newspaper comic strip, and
Walt Disney decided to maximize his star creation’s potential by
signing a merchandising arrangement with Herman Kay Kamen. Throughout
the decade, Mickey and best girlfriend Minnie appeared on everything
from tea sets to sleds to flashlights, banks, sand pails, figurines,
night lights, pocket watches, puzzles, games, toothbrush holders, dolls
and more. A deal with Lionel Trains
led to the famous Mickey and Minnie wind-up handcar in 1934 (along with
future favorites like the Lionel Circus Train and 1977’s Mickey Mouse
Express), and that same year, Mickey became the first licensed
character to appear on a cereal box, gracing the front and back
cardboard of Post Toasties.
Mickey’s popularity in the toy world never dimmed in the ensuing
decades, as fellow Disney characters joined the mouse on products large
and small, simple and ornate. The term “Disneyana” was coined to
describe this abundance of licensed merchandise, and the ranks of
Disneyana collectors eventually grew so large that conventions were
held. Mickey’s line of toys and other products became a huge business,
drawing in thousands of Disneyphiles well out of their kid years, many
willing to pay top dollar for a lost memento of their childhood or the
missing capstone to their collection.
But none of this collectable-collecting frenzy should overshadow
the reasons behind it. Kids loved (and still love) that ever-popular
mouse, and though his look and design may continue to evolve, there’s
no mistaking that smile, that high-pitched laugh, and most of all,
those famous ears.
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