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Secret Stories of Mickey Mouse
Untold Tales of Walt's Mouse
by Jim Korkis | Release Date: September 19, 2018 | Availability: Print, Kindle
Mickey Mouse! This Is Your Life...
In this one-of-a-kind "biography," Disney historian Jim Korkis chronicles the animated life of Mickey Mouse, from his birth on a train to proud parents Walt and Lillian Disney, to his upcoming 90th birthday bash. It's the full and complete story of Disney's forever-young mouse.
Most Disney fans nowadays experience Mickey as a costumed character in the theme parks. He has no TV show, no franchise of feature films. His heyday was before most of us were born. But Mickey has endured as a uniquely American symbol, and the best way to "meet" Mickey is not with an autograph book but with a fun look back at both his public and his private life.
In over 100 short chapters, Korkis covers every noteworthy event in the mouse’s life, including Mickey’s cartoon career, where he lives, whether he’s married, his suicide attempt, hidden Mickeys, the “men behind the mouse,” and much, much more.
No hype, no studio-approved narrative: it's all here, the good and the bad, the highs and the lows.
100% GENUINE MICKEY!
Table of Contents
Introduction
How Was Mickey Mouse Created?
Foreign Names of Mickey Mouse
Mickey Cartoons: Mickey and the Oscar
Talking Mickey: Celebrities
Where Does Mickey Live?
Mickey Cartoons: Three Mickey Cartoons Disney Banned
Mickey Music: What? No Mickey Mouse?
Talking Mickey: Walt on Mickey’s Birth
Mickey Easter Eggs
Mickey Imposter: 'Air Pirates'
Mickey Cartoons: Why Isn’t It Called 'Steamboat Mickey'?
Mickey Mouse As A Derogatory Term
Mickey Imposter: Evil Mickey Attacks Japan
Little Mouse on the Prairie
The Magic of Mickey’s Circles
Husband Possessed by Mickey Mouse
Mickey Imposter: Milton Mouse
How Tall Is Mickey?
Talking Mickey: Animator Ward Kimball
Mickey Cartoons: The Horrifying Mickey Cartoon
Mickey Cartoons: Mickey’s Two Benefits for Orphans
The Charlotte Clark Mickey Mouse Doll
Mickey’s 50th Birthday
Peg Leg Pete’s Ever-Changing Peg Leg
Mickey Mouse NOT Named After Mickey Rooney
Floral Mickey
Mickey Mouse Rides Never Built
Talking Mickey: More Celebrities
First Mickey Mouse Cartoon: Plane Crazy
When Is Mickey Mouse’s Birthday?
Mickey Comics: Birth of the Mickey Mouse Comic Strip
Adolf Hitler Loved Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse Stamps
Men Behind the Mouse: Roy Williams
Mickey Cartoons: The Only Three Fab Five Cartoons
Mickey’s (W)alter Ego
Mickey Imposter: Moscow Mickey
'Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air'
'Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air Episode' Guide
Mickey Comics: The Speechless Mickey Comic Strip
Mickey Music: 'Minnie’s Yoo Hoo'
Hollywood Mickey
Mickey Saves Depression Businesses
Mickey Comics: Uncensored Mouse
Why Does Mickey’s Tail Sometimes Disappear?
Talking Mickey: Animators on Mickey Mouse
Mickey Comics: Mickey Attempts Suicide
Mickey Imposter: Mickey in Vietnam
Voting for Mickey Mouse
Where Do the Stories Come From? 'Traffic Troubles' (1931)
Are Mickey and Minnie Married?
The Mickey Mouse Club Creed
The Mouse That Ate Public Domain
Mickey Cartoons: Ten Mickey Cartoons Never Made
Talking Mickey: Walt on Mickey’s Personality
Men Behind the Mouse: Ub Iwerks
The First Mickey Mouse Ride
Keeps on Ticking
Mickey Military Insignia
Mickey Comics: DeMolay Mickey
Mickey Cartoons: 'The Plight of the Bumblebee'
Mickey’s Nephews: Morty and Ferdie
The Disney Channel's New Mickey Mouse Cartoons
Why Does Mickey Wear White Gloves and Big Shoes?
Where Do the Stories Come From? 'Mickey’s Kangaroo' (1935)
Who Does Mickey Mouse’s Voice?
Mickey’s Voice: Walt Disney
Mickey’s Voice: Jimmy MacDonald
Mickey’s Voice: Wayne Allwine
Mickey Imposter: Filthy Mickey
Talking Mickey: Walt on the Mickey Audience
Jungle Mickey
Mickey Mouse 1935
Why Did Mickey Mouse’s Eyes Change?
Where Do the Stories Come From? 'The Castaway' (1931)
Mickey’s First Books
Men Behind the Mouse: Fred Moore
Mickey Imposter: Count Cutelli
Mickey Cartoons: Hollywood Party
Minnie Moments
Talking Mickey: Walt on Mickey’s Appearance
Hidden Mickey
Hidden Mickeys You May Have Missed
Fantasmic!
Mickey Cartoons: The Talking Dog
Mickey at Sea
Mickey Cartoons: From Mouse to Duck
Mickey Mouse Ears
'Partners' Statue
Mickey’s Girlfriend: Minnie Mouse
Men Behind the Mouse: Floyd Gottfredson
Mickey Mouse Kills King Kong
Mickey Balloons
Mickey Mouse Revue
Mickey Mouse Costumed Training Instructions (1973)
Brief History of Costumed Theme Park Character
Men Behind the Mouse: Paul Castle
'Earforce One'
Mickey Imposter: Mickey at 60
LiMOUSEine
Mickey on 'The Mickey Mouse Club' (1955-1958)
Mickey Cartoons: First Mickey Mouse Animated TV Commercials
Mickey Loves a Parade
Mickey Moments
Mickey Cartoons: 'Sorcerer Mickey'
A Dozen Appearances of Sorcerer Mickey
Men Behind the Mouse: Paul Murry
The Chaplin Mouse
The University of the Air (NBC Radio Broadcast Fall 1948)
Introduction
I love Mickey Mouse. He is loyal, brave, compassionate, funny, optimistic, adventurous, and so much more.
I still have my well worn How to Draw Mickey Mouse booklet that I got as a kid at the Art Corner at Disneyland. I still wear my vintage Mickey Mouse wristwatch that was the only inheritance I was bequeathed by my late uncle decades ago who had worn it proudly for years. I can’t remember any time of my life where Mickey was not a part of it in some way, either through comics, cartoons, or the parks.
Mickey Mouse will celebrate his 90th birthday on November 18, 2018, and yet he remains timeless. Mickey Mouse is a unique pop-culture phenomenon embraced by audiences of all ages around the world. While he physically resembles a three-foot-tall black mouse, spiritually he is a clever and appealing young boy. He was created by Walt Disney in 1928.
Mickey’s instantaneous popularity was due to a number of factors: the artistic skill of Ub Iwerks, the storytelling ability of Walt Disney, the novelty of sound on film, and the perfect timing of appearing as a scrappy “everyman” whose indomitable spirit and good humor overcame challenges at the beginning of the Great Depression.
In addition to being a popular animated cartoon star, Mickey is a significant presence in everything from comics to video games to theme parks to toys to food items to just about anything else imaginable.
The Disney company officially described Mickey Mouse for the copyright infringement case Walt Disney Company v. Transatlantic Video Inc., U.S.D.C., Central District of Ca., Case No. CV-91-0429 (1991) in the following way:
Disney’s copyrighted character Mickey Mouse is perhaps the most universally known and loved cartoon character in the world. For generations, children and adults alike have been entertained by Mickey Mouse, who has appeared in hundreds of Disney animated motion pictures, television shows, video cassettes, comics, books, and in various other media. Indeed, the Mickey Mouse character identifies and symbolizes Disney itself.
Mickey Mouse shared the same philosophy of life as Walt Disney and transitioned at the same time from a rural background into a more sophisticated Hollywood environment. Walt was the original voice for the character and was the acknowledged “keeper of the Mouse” when it came to decisions about his creation.
Mickey is more than merely a corporate icon, more than a costumed character at theme parks, and more than just another well-known cartoon personality. He is uniquely ingrained in the DNA of several generations of fans all around the world. He transcends time and is forever young and a symbol of optimism that everything will turn out all right in the end.
In the following pages you’ll find a lighthearted but informative chronicle of Mickey Mouse including rarely told, never told, and previously mis-told stories in self-contained chapters to celebrate the Happiest Mouse on Earth.
Why? Because we like you!
Jim Korkis
Jim Korkis is an internationally acknowledged authority on Walt Disney whose hundreds of articles and presentations about all things Disney have been enjoyed by people worldwide for decades.
About Theme Park Press
Theme Park Press is the world's leading independent publisher of books about the Disney company, its history, its films and animation, and its theme parks. We make the happiest books on earth!
Our catalog includes guidebooks, memoirs, fiction, popular history, scholarly works, family favorites, and many other titles written by Disney Legends, Disney animators and artists, Mouseketeers, Cast Members, historians, academics, executives, prominent bloggers, and talented first-time authors.
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Theme Park Press Books
The Unauthorized Story of Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion The Ride Delegate 501 Ways to Make the Most of Your Walt Disney World Vacation The Cotton Candy Road Trip The Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney Disney Destinies Disney Melodies The Happiest Workplace on Earth Storm over the Bay A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World: Volume 1 Mouse in Transition Mouseketeers Down Under Murder in the Magic Kingdom Walt Disney and the Promise of Progress City Service with Character Son of Faster Cheaper A Tale of Two Resorts I Saw Ariel Do a Keg Stand The Adventures of Young Walt Disney Death in the Tragic Kingdom Two Girls and a Mouse Tale Ears & Bubbles The Easy Guide 2015 Who's the Leader of the Club? Disney's Hollywood Studios Funny Animals Life in the Mouse House The Book of Mouse Disney's Grand Tour The Accidental Mouseketeer The Vault of Walt: Volume 1 The Vault of Walt: Volume 2 The Vault of Walt: Volume 3 Who's Afraid of the Song of the South? Amber Earns Her Ears Ema Earns Her Ears Sara Earns Her Ears Katie Earns Her Ears Brittany Earns Her Ears Walt's People: Volume 1 Walt's People: Volume 2 Walt's People: Volume 13 Walt's People: Volume 14 Walt's People: Volume 15
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