Mickey Mouse or the Birth of an Icon: The Brand that Struck Gold – Solène Barsanti
Regardless of whether you are a Disney fan yourself or not, it is undeniable that Mickey Mouse has, after almost a century of existence, become the icon of one of the most popular media empires worldwide, as arguably the most recognizable cartoon character ever created.

Fig. 1: A frame from “Steamboat Willie”, DISNEY, Walt, 1938. “Steamboat Willie – Excerpt.” Archive.org, https://archive.org/details/07184p.
In 1928, on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood as the story goes, and after losing the rights to his character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Universal distributor Charles Mintz, Walt Disney knew he needed to recover fast, and have a renowned character of his own, if he wanted his animated cartoons to stand out in the industry. Truth is, after working for so long on his Alice Comedies, he had grown bored of the live-action genre and wanted to try new things. So, he went right back to the drawing board and thanks to the help of his creative partner Ub Iwerks, and of his apprentice Les Clark[1], the jolly anthropomorphic mouse we know and love today was born. Originally given the name ‘Mortimer’ by Walt, the character was quickly renamed Mickey, upon the suggestion of his wife Lillian, who found the former dreadful.
To create his design, it is likely that Disney took inspiration from other popular mice characters from media at that time, cartoons most notably but not only. One figure he seemed to hold dear in particular, and referenced quite heavily, was Milton Mouse, from the 1920s Aesop’s Fables cartoon series, by Van Beuren Studios. Interestingly enough, in 1930, Milton would be featured alongside his girlfriend Mary Mouse, a couple dynamic that is not without reminding us of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Likely, this caused legal trouble, prompting the complete removal of the mouse couple by Van Beuren in 1932[2]. Another source of inspiration, though one often denied by Disney, is that of the wooden toy “Micky the mouse”, patented by Rene Grove for Performo-Toy Company, a small toy manufacturer based in Middletown, Pennsylvania, created by Torrence Leroy Dietz in 1925. Although the toy came first, its relevance could not come anywhere near to outweighing that of Disney’s Mickey, which had already reached “superstar status” by the year 1931, granting Walt the Honorary Academy Award in only 1932[3]. Still, both remained rivals, with toys being mass produced and distributed for both parties by the George Borgfeldt Company, up until the Great Depression, which ended Performo-Toy as a business entirely. Whether legal action was taken on either side is debatable, and to this day, the mystery surrounding this coincidence, as innocent or as voluntary as it may have been, lives on.
The famous mouse first appeared in the animated shorts Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho the same year he was created, but it’s in a third cartoon, Steamboat Willie, still in 1928, that his debut really caught on with the public. What was so special about this specific cartoon was that it was possibly the first cartoon to ever include synchronized sound, a technological feat for its time. Still, it would take another year for Mickey to gain speech abilities, being voiced by none other than Walt Disney himself in Karnival Kid (1929)[4].
Unlike Oswald, who had to be reworked multiple times to be able to stick by audiences, Mickey knew an immediate relevance that surpassed even Walt Disney’s own expectations and understanding. Still, throughout the years, the character did evolve, both in terms of personality and of physical appearance. Initially rather mischievous, his demeanor gradually softened into a brave, kind, endearing figure, embodiment of the optimism the population needed during the violence of the Great Depression and wartime that soon followed, providing both a source of comfort and entertainment, and a sense of good-spirited relatability. In terms of appearance, Mickey of course gained his staple outfit, complete with the white gloves, yellow shoes, and red shorts, but his face changed also, taking on progressively rounder features, as well as the iconic “pie cut eyes[5]”, which mark an era of Disney animation entirely, based upon a genre of rubber hose animation and often nonsensical gags of slapstick comedy. Soon enough, Mickey was even the centerpiece of a well-balanced group, composed of his girlfriend Minnie, his friends Goofy and Donald Duck, and his dog Pluto, formerly “Rover[6]” – characters who all come in to complement him in his various mishaps and adventures.
Featured in far more than just cartoons, Mickey Mouse continues to reach all sorts of audiences through his presence in books, shows, video games, merchandise of any kind, and so on.
The Disney Company actually managed to get back the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, in February 2006,[vii] but still, he could never become so celebrated as Mickey Mouse, whose likeness is identifiable from the vague silhouette of three circles, and whose ears we are sure to continue seeing on its signature caps and headbands for many years to come.
Solène Barsanti – Master 1 Etudes anglophones
1 “The Evolution of Mickey Mouse.” WaltDisney, 2020. www.waltdisney.org/blog/evolution-mickey-mouse.
2 BULLARD K., “The Strange Tale of Mickey and Micky Mouse.” HubPages, 14 September 2023. discover.hubpages.com/entertainment/The-Strange-Tale-Of-Mickey-and-Micky-Mouse, to which article, this essay will make special reference.
3 “Mickey Mouse.” Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/Mickey-Mouse.
5 “The Evolution of Mickey Mouse.” 2020, id.
7 “Could Oswald the Lucky Rabbit have been bigger than Mickey?” BBC News, 3 December 2012. www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19910825.
Bibliography
- BULLARD K., “The Strange Tale of Mickey and Micky Mouse”, HubPages, 14 September 2023. https://discover.hubpages.com/entertainment/The-Strange-Tale-Of-Mickey-and-Micky-Mouse. Accessed 9 April 2025.
- “Could Oswald the Lucky Rabbit have been bigger than Mickey?”, BBC News, 3 December 2012.
- “The Birth of a Mouse” WaltDisney, 18 November 2012, https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/birth-mouse#:~:text=Everything%20was%20not%20okay.%20Walt,his%20name%20by%20my%20mother. Accessed 9 April 2025.
- “The Creation of Mickey Mouse”, PBS, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/creation-mickey-mouse/. Accessed 9 April 2025.
- “The Evolution of Mickey Mouse”, WaltDisney, 2020. https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/evolution-mickey-mouse. Accessed 9 April 2025.
- “Mickey Mouse”, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mickey-Mouse. Accessed 9 April 2025.
- WALKER, J., “The Twisted Tale of the Real Mickey Mouse”, Messy Nessy Cabinet of Curiosities, 2 February 2023. https://www.messynessychic.com/2023/02/02/the-twisted-tale-of-the-real-and-first-mickey-mouse/. Accessed 9 April 2025.
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mastersfdl (29 septembre 2025). Mickey Mouse or the Birth of an Icon: The Brand that Struck Gold – Solène Barsanti. Investigatio. Consulté le 18 avril 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/14rts

