10 Things You Never Knew About: Mickey Mouse

"I hope that we never lose sight of one thing--that it was all started by a Mouse." - Walt Disney


Fact One: Mickey was not the first-choice name for Walt Disney’s soon-to-be-epic character. In fact, when Disney first sketched him on a train with his wife Lillian, he envisioned him being called ‘Mortimer Mouse.’ However, his wife didn’t like the name and thus, ‘Mickey’ was born.


Fact Two: Ironically, Walt Disney was actually terrified of mice, but somehow always felt they were sympathetic creatures despite his phobia.


Fact Three: In 1935, the League of Nations presented Walt Disney with a medal on account of the fact that ‘Mickey Mouse’ was an international symbol of ‘goodwill.'


Fact Four: The military mission during which Allied Forces invaded Europe in 1944 was given the code name ‘Mickey Mouse.’


Fact Five: In 1950, Walt Disney started the Mickey Mouse Club TV show on which different children would star each week. These kids were called ‘mousketeers.’ Several of today’s big celebrities were once mouseketeers including Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera!


Fact Six: Mickey was the first cartoon character to actually speak. His first ever words in the 1929 episode, ‘The Karnival Kid,’ were, "Hot dogs!" Walt Disney himself became the voice of Mickey Mouse and remained so till 1946. Since then, only 2 other men have had this honour, Jim MacDonald and Wayne Allwine.


Fact Seven: The only Mickey Mouse short to ever receive an Academy Award was ‘Lend a Paw’ in 1941. Strangely enough, Mickey wasn’t the protagonist in this film--Pluto was! Walt Disney not only got a special Oscar for creating Mickey Mouse, but he even managed to amass a total of 22 Academy Awards--that's the most in history!


Fact Eight: Mickey Mouse made his debut way back on November 18th, 1928 at the Colony Theatre in New York.


Fact Nine: Mickey’s ears have become a symbol for all things Disney. It all began in 1978, which marked Mickey’s 50th birthday.


Fact Ten: In 1935, Mickey became the first ever cartoon character to have the honour of leading the famous ‘Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.’ He was 55 feet tall!