Mickey Mouse is perhaps the world's most recognizable pop culture icon. He's been part of most people's lives from the day they were born.
However, many aspects of this character would horrify even his biggest fans. What weird secrets has Disney kept about the
House of Mouse? Let's find out!
1
By 1932, Mickey Mouse had lost his edge since becoming a role model for children. Disney wanted to create a character to portray more negative character traits, which could no longer be bestowed on Mickey. That’s when Disney started working on a short-tempered character named Donald Duck.
-u/doozersworkhard9
2
The earliest surviving graphic novel depicting the Holocaust was created in an internment camp in 1942 and starred Mickey Mouse.-u/BardBardia
3
Because the USA is unlikely to extend its copyright term again, Disney has been extensively using the "Steamboat Willie" Mickey Mouse in its marketing to keep the character indefinitely protected under trademark law instead.-u/SacKingsRS
4
Warner Bros. allowed Bugs Bunny to appear in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' under the stipulation that he only appear opposite Mickey Mouse, and that the two receive the same amount of screen time. The resulting scene is the only time in film history that the two have shared the screen together.-u/dabams23
5
Adolf Galland, one of the top-scoring German aces of WWII, often flew missions in just his swimming trunks, smoking a cigar, and with a plane emblazoned with Mickey Mouse art. "I've always liked Mickey Mouse," he said when asked about the strange behavior.-u/NordyNed
6
Mickey Mouse's predecessor was a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who had to be replaced because his rights were owned by Universal Studios.-u/BigOldQueer
7
Jim Henson is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as both himself and "Kermit The Frog". Only three other people have received this honor. Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse; Mel Blanc and Bugs Bunny; and Mike Myers and Shrek.-u/thevernanator
8
The last thing on BBC Television before it was switched off on the eve of the Second World War was a Mickey Mouse show which was aired at around 12.35pm on 1st September 1939. Seven years later BBC Television returned with a repeat of the same Mickey Mouse program.-u/MistressGravity
9
The Malcolm in the Middle theme song and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song were written by the same people, They Might Be Giants.-u/honestbobiii
10
Walt Disney and his wife Lillian invented Mickey Mouse during a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood. Much later on they'd also make an animated short “Mickey’s Choo-Choo”, where Mickey is a train engineer.-u/bemmu
11
Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie (1938) was one of the first sound cartoons. Mickey was voiced by Walt Disney himself.-u/Jimbos013
12
Walt Disney based movements of Mickey Mouse and of animatronic characters in Disneyland rides on the captured dancing and walking of Buddy Ebsen, later TV's Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones.-u/L0st_in_the_Stars
13
In 1935, Mickey Mouse was banned in Romania, since authorities believed children would be scared seeing a giant mouse on the screen.-u/thk_
14
When Jim Henson died, Disney Imagineers sent a drawing of Mickey Mouse consoling Kermit the Frog to his mourning company.-deleted user
15
Minnie Moo is a real cow owned by Disney World that had spots that looked like Mickey Mouse.-u/fuzzypurplestuff
16
Walt Disney helped the Army design a Mickey Mouse gas mask in the '40s to make chemical warfare less frightening to kids.-u/abigillygal
17
Emperor Hirohito of Japan was a huge fan of Mickey Mouse. He was given a Mickey Mouse watch as a gift during his special tour of Disneyland in 1975. For years, even on formal occasions, His Majesty was observed wearing the watch.-u/sraynor
18
Disney was planning on making a short film featuring Mickey Mouse as Christopher Colombus discovering America. It got canceled because the animation team was unsure how to animate the native people Mickey would have to encounter in a non-offensive way.-u/Tsukamori
19
Disney created a short called The Sorcerer's Apprentice to boost Mickey Mouse's fading popularity. As production costs began to mount, they decided to include it as part of a feature film set to classical music. This became the classic Disney film, Fantasia.-u/EtOHMartini
20
Walt Disney was once filmed physically performing the role of Mickey Mouse as a reference for the animators of a 1930s short. Sadly, no known copies of the footage exists.-u/-Paraprax-
21
There is a Mickey Mouse-shaped solar farm at Disney World, Florida.-u/footyDude
22
Mickey Mouse once broke up with Minnie and made multiple suicide attempts.-u/quivorian
23
Hitler admired Disney cartoons. He was delighted when Joseph Goebbels gifted him eighteen Mickey Mouse films as a Christmas present in 1937.-u/chillmaticx
24
The reason Mickey Mouse wears gloves is so that his hands can be seen when they're in front of his body.-u/gerryhanes
25
"The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening made a deliberate attempt to follow in the footsteps of Walt Disney. Groening said, "I made Bart like Mickey Mouse in the sense that he would always be recognizable in silhouette."-u/gmcl86
