Who created Mickey Mouse?
Paul Joseph Mitchell
A short while ago, someone posted a message up here saying that Mickey
Mouse was really created by Ub Iwerks. Now according to Walt's story,
he came up with Mickey Mouse during a train ride. But I've also read
information from several sources that say that Ub Iwerks, Walt's right
hand man and animator, actually designed Mickey Mouse after Walt lost
the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. I also seem to recall something
about Iwerks leaving the Disney studios in Burbank soon after the
creation of Mickey Mouse (?).
If Iwerks did indeed create Mickey Mouse, this could mean that Walt in
fact lied all his life about being the creator of Mickey Mouse, wrongly
received awards for the creation of Mickey Mouse, etc, etc. This could
be a major black mark on Walt's character. I don't want to believe this
is true.
Now maybe by creating Mickey Mouse, Walt meant he designed the actual
character (ie how Mickey acts), while Iwerks designed the drawing
represntation that we all know and love.
Any comments on this from anybody out there?
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Paul J. Mitchell Carnegie Mellon University
pm...@andrew.cmu.edu Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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"Pain is temporary...Pride is forever."
"Success is not a destination...it's a journey."
"Try not...do or do not...there is no try." - Yoda
"I'm going to Disney World!"
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The views expressed are those of the author only.
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Jon Nadelberg
>
> A short while ago, someone posted a message up here saying that Mickey
>Mouse was really created by Ub Iwerks. Now according to Walt's story,
>he came up with Mickey Mouse during a train ride. But I've also read
>information from several sources that say that Ub Iwerks, Walt's right
>hand man and animator, actually designed Mickey Mouse after Walt lost
>the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. I also seem to recall something
>about Iwerks leaving the Disney studios in Burbank soon after the
>creation of Mickey Mouse (?).
Ub Iwerks created MM in collaboration with Walt Disney. If you look
at pictures of Oswald, you'll see that Mickey is Oswald with round ears
instead of long rabbit ears and a rodent like tail for a bunny tail.
Even the pants they both wear are pretty similar. Supposedly, the story
really goes that Ub Iwerks came up with the drawing, and Walt Disney
came up with the personality. Walt Disney really wasn't the very
best artist, but had quite an imagination.
The first Mickey Mouse short, Plane Crazy, was entirely animated
by Ub Iwerks, alone. This is an amazing feat.
Similarly, the story where Mrs. Disney came up with the name Mickey
instead of Mortimer is also not true. The name change was suggested
by film distributors.
Ub Iwerks sold his one third stake in the studio in 1930 to start his
own studio, and produced some animation for other film studios. He
returned to the Walt Disney studio in 1940, to pursue research in
animation, and later devleoped the use of Xerography as a method
of duplicating the animators drawings to cels (first in a full length
animated film in 101 Dalmations). He died in 1970.
> If Iwerks did indeed create Mickey Mouse, this could mean that Walt in
>fact lied all his life about being the creator of Mickey Mouse, wrongly
>received awards for the creation of Mickey Mouse, etc, etc. This could
>be a major black mark on Walt's character. I don't want to believe this
>is true.
If it weren't for Walt Disney, there would be no Mickey Mouse. For whatever
that's worth.
> Now maybe by creating Mickey Mouse, Walt meant he designed the actual
>character (ie how Mickey acts), while Iwerks designed the drawing
>represntation that we all know and love.
That's pretty much how things are. No one will probably ever know the
exact truth. And what difference does it make anyway? After all,
no one can do everything all the time at a company, but generally one
guy does take credit for the ultimate creation. They are either the
guiding force, or the impetus behind the creation. For example, when
someone each year wins best picture at the Oscars, that person wins
it alone, but in fact there were probably hundreds of people who
actually worked towards making that film what it was.
--
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- Jon Nadelberg -
- aeus...@csunb.csun.edu -
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Per Starb{ck
pm...@andrew.cmu.edu (Paul Joseph Mitchell) writes:
> If Iwerks did indeed create Mickey Mouse, this could mean that Walt in
>fact lied all his life about being the creator of Mickey Mouse, wrongly
>received awards for the creation of Mickey Mouse, etc, etc. This could
>be a major black mark on Walt's character. I don't want to believe this
>is true.
I agree with Jon Nadelberg (aeus...@csunb.csun.edu) that no one will
probably know the exact truth behind this. But it's obvious that Walt
hasn't told the exact truth all the time, as his story has varied a
bit. I recommend the section "Mouse Myths And Mouse Facts" in Richard
Holliss's and Brian Sibley's _Mickey_Mouse_His_Life_And_Times_
(p.12ff) on this. (I like that book a lot more than the books on
Donald and Goofy in the same series.)
It says among other things that Ub Iwerks later in an interview
recalled an animators' meeting in Hollywood shortly after Disney's
return from New York where Mickey was created. Unfortunately MMHLAT
seldom gives any references. Does anyone know where to find that
interview?
Does it matter anyway? Mickey Mouse became such a big thing that his
birth seems to have some importance, but I can't see that Oswald
couln't have reached the same heights. The great thing was that Walt
was able to stay in business after the Oswald controversy, not that
his new star was a mouse.
(Is the next subject going to be the birth of Donald Duck? That issue
also has its fair number of conflicting myths...)
--
Per Starback, NAFS(k), Sweden, email: star...@emil.csd.uu.se
"Green, Irish, Mickey! I have it! Mickey Mouse shall be your name!"
Samuel Stoddard
>
>(Is the next subject going to be the birth of Donald Duck? That issue
>also has its fair number of conflicting myths...)
Oh? Let's hear 'em!
--
Sam s...@kepler.unh.edu
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English Law prohibits a man from marrying his mother-in-law.
This is our idea of useless legislation.
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John Canning
I just watched the video that comes with Fantasia about how it was made. In
this video, they show the opening sequence of Steamboat Willy. The title
clearly says:
Walt Disney presents
Steamboat Willy
by Ub (whatever his last name is)
John Canning ...uunet!uvm-gen!banzai!john
The People's Computer Company ...attmail!banzai!john
Williston, Vermont jo...@banzai.pcc.com
802-864-0747