In honor of Mickey's special day, noted film historian and author, J.B. Kaufman, penned this ode to everyone's favorite mouse:
Thursday, the 18th of November, marks an important birthday in Disney history: the birthday of Mickey Mouse. Today, the venerable mouse turns 82 years old.
Over the years, other dates have been put forward as Mickey’s birthday. For a time during the 1930s, the 28th of September was selected as the big day. The Disney studio was not only aware of this claim, but actually encouraged it, because their distributor, United Artists, used it as the basis for a promotional campaign. During “Mickey Mouse Birthday Week” in September, United Artists encouraged theaters to book multiple Mouse cartoons, as many as six or seven in a single program. Mickey was at the height of his popularity during those years, and the press obligingly picked up the story each September, noting the significance of his birthday.
Today, however, we recognize 18 November as the official date. That’s because, on that date in 1928, Steamboat Willie opened at New York’s Colony Theater. It wasn’t the first time Mickey had appeared on a theater screen—Plane Crazy, the first Mickey Mouse short, had been previewed in theaters as early as the previous spring—but neither Plane Crazy nor the followup picture, The Gallopin’ Gaucho, had succeeded in finding a distributor.
Steamboat Willie was different. It was Walt Disney’s first sound film, and it marked a significant advance over the sound cartoons made by other producers. Walt and his team hadn’t just tacked a soundtrack onto their film; they had planned Steamboat Willie as a sound film from the ground up, with comedy business that used sound effects and music in an integral way. The result was a fresh, original cartoon with clever musical gags. It culminated in Mickey’s makeshift performance of “Turkey in the Straw” on the deck of the boat, using livestock and kitchen utensils as his “instruments.” It was a star-making performance.
That fact was made abundantly clear on 18 November 1928, whenSteamboat Willie opened at the Colony as part of a program with the sound feature Gang War. Delighted audiences and reviewers took note of this unusual cartoon. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times wrote: “It is an ingenious piece of work with a good deal of fun.” Variety called it “a wow” and noted: “Giggles came so fast at the Colony they were stumbling over each other.”
This was only a beginning, of course, and most cities across America would not see Steamboat Willie until months later in 1929. But it was clear from the beginning that this cartoon was something original and different, and so was its star. Mickey’s personality—cheerful, clever, resourceful—was unmistakable from the start, and once his success story began, there was no stopping it. Small wonder we observe that historic occasion as his birthday!
By the next November, Mickey was well known from coast to coast—and overseas as well, since by then a European distributor had contracted to distribute the Mickey Mouse series. He had also been joined by a second series of Disney shorts, the Silly Symphonies.
By November 1930, Mickey’s worldwide success was firmly established. Mickey Mouse character merchandise had started to appear, leading off with storybooks, dolls, and other toys. A Mickey Mouse comic strip was appearing in daily newspapers. A chain of Mickey Mouse Clubs, started as an impromptu stunt by a California exhibitor, was rapidly spreading to other states. And Walt’s rival cartoon producers had begun paying Mickey the ultimate tribute: imitation. From one studio after another came cartoons featuring mice that were blatant ripoffs of Mickey.
Around this time, Mickey’s second birthday, the Disney studio started work on a special short to mark the occasion: The Birthday Party. In this cartoon Minnie and the rest of the gang conspired to throw a surprise party for Mickey. The party featured gifts, music, dancing, and of course a cake adorned with two candles. The Birthday Party was not completed and released until January 1931—a fact which probably didn’t seem important at the time, since hardly anyone outside the studio knew when Mickey’s “birthday” actually was. But this may have contributed to uncertainty and confusion over the date later on.
Today it’s a different story: Disney fans around the world are well aware of Mickey’s big day. As the date approaches, it seems only fair to point out that the same day, 18 November, is also Minnie’s birthday. After all, Minnie was there at Mickey’s side in Steamboat Willie—and, for that matter, had also appeared with him in the two previous pictures, Plane Crazy and The Gallopin’ Gaucho. This year, we’re wishing “happy birthday” to both of the world’s most famous mice. They’ve been making the world a happier place for 82 years, and they’re still going strong.
