This November, the world celebrated the 90th birthday of America’s most recognizable rodent: Mickey Mouse.

However, behind every great mouse is an even greater tale, an Mickey is no exception. From the struggle to create and name him, to racism and anti-semitism in both his creator and several Mickey Mouse cartoons, to changes across the decades, Mickey’s history is more than meets the eyes.

Interestingly, Mickey started out as not a rodent, but a rabbit by the name of Oswald, which was created for Universal Studios in 1928. Soon after, Disney left Universal over disputes of salary, and universal retained the rights for the rabbit.

However, Disney was determined and transformed  his creation into our beloved mouse by the name of… Mortimer. Mortimer was soon renamed Mickey and began his quest to fame.

In November 1928, Mickey caught the world’s attention in the iconic film “Steamboat Willie.” However, Mickey’s debut was in a short known as “Plane Crazy” in which Mickey plays Charles Lindbergh.

From that moment on, Mickey was a hit, with new shorts, a newspaper comic strip, a theme park, and a hit TV show. The show  “The Mickey Mouse Club” aired from 1955-1959 and featured many young stars.

Mickey soon went on vacation, and didn’t have another appearance until the 1980’s when Mickey was redesigned as the rockstar rodent we know and love, per Time Magazine.

Although he is a cultural icon and symbol of happiness today, Mickey also has a darker history.

Many of Mickey’s early shorts include racism and anti-semitism, including “And the Opry House” where Mickey performs a numbers portraying stereotypes of Jews and  “Mickey’s Mellerdrammer” in which Mickey and Clarabelle Cow are seen applying black face.

In fact, Walt Disney was not only a leader of the racist and anti-semitic “Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals,” but he also hired several animators with Nazi ties to work on Mickey and other projects, including famed Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl, per USA Today

Disney’s discrimination didn’t stop there, with many female animators noting that Disney refused to hire them as he said “Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by men,” Per the Independent.

Bothell had some opinions about Mickey’s legacy as well. Jordan Schudie (‘21)  explained that “Disney has changed over the years… they should be remembered for creating so many smiles and not their atrocious behaviors.”

Jada Farley (‘19) said that “Disney is a wierd, terrifying company with a terrible track record and…. I’m glad people are being educated but I think that this will fly by.”

Mr. Patrick Holmes pointed out that “despite Disney’s history, look at their history of progress.” He has a point, as Disney has been known for its equal treatment of LGBTQIA+ individuals before other companies.

So, as you sing “happy birthday” to America’s most beloved mouse, don’t forget the history behind him!