Walt Disney and his wife Lilian with the first version of the Mickey MouseThe character of Mickey Mouse originated from the imagination of Walt Disney and the artistic style and talent of Disney’s animator Ub Iwerks (Suddath, 2018). His original look was created in the late 1920s and shortly after Mickey Mouse became an optimistic symbol during a time of hardship of the Great Depression (McCann, 2023). The creation of Mickey Mouse also started the beginning of a new era in entertainment animation and changed the outlook of popular culture. Mickey was originally created as a mischievous rabbit named Oswald, but Walt Disney faced some setbacks that led to a reinvention of the character (Suddath, 2018). This led to Mickey Mouse being created, whose cheerfulness generated millions of fans worldwide.
Trailer for the Disney+ documentary Mickey:The Story of The Mouse (2022)
Lillian Disney, Walt Disney’s wife, also had an impact on the creation of Mickey Mouse. Lillian had quite a modest public presence, yet she played an important role in shaping Mickey Mouse. You see, Mickey’s name was originally meant to be Mortimer, but Lillian advised Walt to rename him to the much more friendly sounding name Mickey, which exemplifies her keen insight on Walt's creative vision (Korkis, 2018). In doing so, Lilian contributed to the creation of the iconic pop culture character as well as showed her support for her husband's aspirations in the entertainment industry.
Walt Disney and his wife Lilian with the first version of the Mickey Mouse