Oh, boy! Our most favourite rodent (and we say it with love) is 90 today. Happy birthday, Mickey Mouse!
Most parents would never let rodents near their kids, unless, of course, it’s everyone’s favourite, and seemingly immune-to-ageing Mickey Mouse. One of the most iconic and recognisable cartoon characters of all time, Mickey Mouse has been bringing smiles and joy to kids and adults alike, ever since his big-screen debut in Steamboat Willie on November 18, 1928.
Mickey Mouse was inspired by the pet mouse Walt Disney had as a child. Walt had intended for Mickey Mouse to be the new star character to replace Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit after he lost the rights to the character. The first two Mickey Mouse flicks, Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho, had failed to impress audiences and gain a distributor.
While there was never an onscreen wedding, ‘in private life, Mickey is married to Minnie’. Like any loving couple would want, Mickey and Minnie shared their big screen debut together in Steamboat Willie. And, since then, they get to celebrate their birthdays together.
Looking for a job or like being a Mickey Mouse mascot at Disneyland? There’s a strict height restriction. The theme park requires you to be between 4’ 8 to 5’ 2. All Mickey Mouse mascots have to practice the ‘Mickey’ signature so that it looks uniform regardless of who is inside the costume. No easy feat, especially with those big white gloves on.
And Mickey doesn’t wear those white gloves for fashion. These actually help distinguish his hands from the rest of his body. And poor Mickey. He was given only 4 fingers because Walt Disney felt that five fingers resembled a ‘bunch of bananas.’ He also wanted to save time and money. A 6.5-minute short film needed around 45,000 drawings. In total, that comes to a lot of fingers not being drawn.
Of his more than 130 film appearances since his debut, Mickey Mouse has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards. Walt Disney earned an honorary Academy award in 1932 for creating Mickey Mouse. On his 50th birthday in 1978, Mickey Mouse became the first cartoon character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Mickey Mouse ‘represents the world of animation’, and a poll found he was more recognisable than Santa Claus. In the US, and to talk of election, Mickey Mouse’s name is often used as a protest vote. Instead of people ticking none of the above (NOTA), they often opt to write in his name.
Mickey Mouse’s new birthday portrait titled ‘Spreading Happiness Around the World’ honours Mickey’s 90th anniversary. As the world celebrates all things Mickey and walks through the evolution of reimagined Mickey moments, from his Steamboat Willie days to the icon we know today, go and grab those special Mickey merchandise and be part of the celebration! And, don’t forget to hashtag #Mickey90 on social media.
Welcome to Nutty’ Infotainment. YAYS! Your time starts NOW!
The rodent we’ve all come to know and love as Mickey was originally known by another name. Walt Disney’s wife, Lillian, told him she thought it sounded pompous and suggested the more kid-friendly ‘Mickey’. What was the name Walt wanted to give him initially?
Mortimer. American actor, Mickey Rooney, has claimed that Mickey Mouse was in fact named after himself, following meeting Walt Disney in the 1920s as a child.
Mickey Mouse was the first cartoon character to ever speak. It was in the 1929 film The Karnival Kid. What were his first words?
Hot dogs!
Whom did Barack Obama once jokingly refer to as ‘the world leader who has bigger ears than me’?
Mickey Mouse
If one inpissates a soup, what is he doing to it?
Thickening it
New York’s official state motto is an inspiring word which means ‘ever upward’. This was also the catchphrase of Stan Lee, the American comic book writer, editor, and publisher who co-created numerous popular fictional characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and Ant-Man. What is this word or catchphrase?
Excelsior!
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. He wanted to refuse it outright, but accepted at his wife’s behest. He did, though, reject the monetary award. He said, “I can forgive Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize.” Identify this Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist.
George Bernard Shaw
Hollywood leading man Michael Douglas married Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones at a lavish ceremony in New York’s Plaza Hotel on this day in 2000. It had an estimated £1.5 million expense. Because of exclusive deal with a magazine, the bride and groom paid only half a million towards it. Name this magazine.
OK!
In 1961, he became the first American to travel into space, just 23 days after the historic flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Name this person who was born this day (November 18), 95 years ago and he is the only person to play golf on the moon.
Alan Shepard
What score is denoted by the term ‘bed and breakfast’ in a game of darts?
26.
If you took the photograph below, where were you? The colourful row of buildings is called ‘Nyvavn’, which means ‘new harbour’.
(Answer next week. Answer to last week’s photo-quiz: Yasser Arafat)
1. What is Didaskaleinophobia?
Fear of going to school.
(Maricar Tamayo, Brent International School, Manila)
2. Morris Michtom was a Russian-born businessman and inventor, who with his wife Rose, invented the Teddy Bear in 1902. They founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which after Michtom’s death became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Name the American president after whom he named Teddy Bear.
Theodore Roosevelt
(Ihab Karim, Hamad General Hospital, Doha)
Do you have some interesting bytes to share? And, does your vibe attract you to the ‘Tribe NI.yays!’ Every week two of your best questions will be featured here. Please do write to us at [email protected]
What’s the Good Word?
1. Illude: (a) point (b) bluff (c) image (d) scorn
2. Vex : (a) mollify (b) puzzle (c) annoy (d) extract
3. Abstruse: (a) difficult to understand (b) lucid (c) obvious (d) imaginary
4. Munificent: (a) negligent (b) stingy (c) dull (d) very generous
5. Turpitude: (a) elude (b) wicked behavior (c) transparent (d) refined
6. Capitulate: (a) conquer (b) surround (c) surrender under agreed conditions (d) circumscribe
7. Toady : (a) meddlesome (b) independent (c) amazing (d) sycophant
8. Veracity: (a) laudatory (b) accuracy (c) infidelity (d) vastness
9. Zap: (a) destroy (b) overlap (c) strengthen (d) invigorate
1-. Deasil: (a) clockwise (b) fuel (c) sky-blue (d) devastating
Answers: 1 (b); 2 (c); 3 (a) 4 (d); 5 (b) 6 (c); 7 (d); 8 (b); 9 (a); 10 (a)
DEBUT: Mickey Mouse has been bringing smiles and joy to kids and adults alike, ever since his big-screen debut in Steamboat Willie on November 18, 1928. RIGHT: HONOURED: George Bernard Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. He wanted to refuse it outright, but accepted at his wife’s behest. However, he did, though, reject the monetary award.
