54-408: The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse , Donald and Daisy Duck , Pluto and Goofy as the primary members (colloquially known as the "Sensational Six"), and many other characters related to them, being most of them anthropomorphic animals. The universe originated from
108-459: A constructed universe , is the internally consistent fictional setting used in a narrative or a work of art . This concept is most commonly associated with works of fantasy and science fiction , and can be found in various forms such as novels , comics , films , television shows , video games , and other creative works. In science fiction, a fictional universe may be a remote alien planet or galaxy with little apparent relationship to
162-873: A city called Mouseville, the new name Mouseton was created for Mickey's town instead; both in Mickey Mouse Adventures and in Disney's contemporary reprints of vintage stories in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories (1991–93). Later publisher Gemstone and the present Boom Studios have continued the use of Mouseton from 2003 onward. In-between licensee Gladstone (1993–99) usually left Mickey's city unnamed, or—very rarely—referenced it as Duckburg , better known as Donald Duck 's hometown.) Mouseton's location in Calisota and its positioning with regard to Duckburg (the cities being not far from one another) were
216-466: A new character to represent "Mr. Average Taxpayer". This, he thought, could better convey the seriousness of the issue, but Disney was adamant that Donald be used. The duck was at the time the studio's biggest star, and Disney felt that using him could make a painful task as fun as possible. Disney eventually got his way. Time magazine said that "although the cartoon does not make the new short-form blank crystal clear, it gets its propaganda across with
270-790: A passion for mysteries and investigations) but the memory of baby Mickey's kidnapping caused her to develop feelings of guilt, and a too protective attitude towards her nephew. Marcus Mouse is Minnie's father. He first appears as a farmer in the Mickey Mouse comic strip story line "Mr. Slicker and the Egg Robbers," first published between September 22 and December 26, 1930. He has also appeared in some English stories from 1930s Mickey Mouse Annuals. Marshal Mouse and Matilda Mouse are Minnie's grandparents. Millie and Melody Mouse are Minnie Mouse's twin nieces. Minnie has had an inconsistent list of nieces. In Europe and Brazil , most often
324-514: A similar purpose and reused many of the scenes from The New Spirit . The film begins with Donald Duck , flush with the contemporary patriotic spirit present with the United States' full entry into World War II , dancing to a patriotic song. A radio announcer tells about the new patriotic spirit and asks Donald if he is willing to do his part. Donald fervently asserts his loyalty and begs to know how best to show it. His enthusiasm fades when
378-506: A single niece is depicted, consistently named Melodia (Melody). She is a Disney Studio creation by Jim Fletcher in the mid-sixties whose primary "task" seems to be to drive Morty & Ferdie crazy. However, in at least one other Italian or Brazilian tale Minnie did have another niece named Zizi (whether this was the name of Melody's twin or just another name for Melody is unknown). In America , Minnie's twin nieces have appeared under two names: Millie and Melody and Pammy and Tammy. Although
432-610: A sweetheart named Millie. Both were anthropomorphic dogs. Ferdie never vanished from comic book stories, however. In recent years, some of Morty and Ferdie's comic book appearances have portrayed them as (very talented) football players on the team Riverside Rovers. Their mother is depicted as a supportive "Soccer Mom." Morty & Ferdie are also occasionally pitted against their antagonists Melody , Minnie Mouse 's niece and Pete 's twin hellion nephews, Pierino & Pieretto. Morty should not be confused with Mickey Mouse's originally proposed name "Mortimer Mouse," or Mickey's ofttimes rival of
486-626: Is Mickey Mouse's aunt, created by Romano Scarpa in 1960 for his story The Chirikawa Necklace . Since 2004, she has become a regular recurring character in Italian Disney comics. Melinda is a tall old lady with a long nose and she dresses in a very formal way. She wears a pair of earrings, but her ears are covered by hair. The colour of Melinda's hair changes according to the colourists, but in recent stories, they appear blond. In her debut story, young Melinda has black hair. According to The Chirikawa Necklace , Melinda took care of Mickey when he
540-578: Is Mickey's clumsy, dim-witted and well-meaning friend who was first introduced in the 1932 short film Mickey's Revue . Goofy is an anthropomorphic dog who is accident-prone . In some stories he dates Clarabelle Cow while other times he is shown as a single parent. His original name was Dippy Dawg. Pluto is Mickey Mouse's pet dog who was first introduced in the 1930 short film The Chain Gang , later appearing in The Picnic as Minnie's dog Rover and in
594-476: Is a tall, anthropomorphic horse who is Mickey Mouse's friend who first appeared in the 1929 short film The Plowboy . He is prone to bragging and practical joking. Before the appearance of Donald Duck and Goofy, Horace was Mickey Mouse's usual sidekick. He is often seen as the boyfriend of Clarabelle Cow. Oswald is an anthropomorphic black rabbit who first appeared in Trolley Troubles (1927). He
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#1732801615492648-610: Is about Mickey Mouse who lives in a cozy nest under the floor of the old barn. And it is about his friend Minnie Mouse whose home is safely hidden, soft and warm, somewhere in the chicken house." In the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip, Mickey's farm was most likely located in the midwestern United States , as indicated by characters' comments to have arrived "out west" to Death Valley and to go "back east" to conduct business, etc. This rural setting reflected Walt Disney's own childhood in Missouri and like Disney, Mickey eventually moved to
702-497: Is an anthropomorphic mouse most often dressed in gloves, red shorts and yellow shoes. While typically given a modest and pleasant personality, he is often an enthusiastic and determined character, seeking new adventures, excitement and mysteries. He often serves as the de facto leader of his friends. He was introduced in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie . Minnie Mouse is Mickey's female counterpart, an anthropomorphic mouse usually portrayed as his girlfriend who first appeared in
756-575: Is called Entenhausen in German), although the German comics have mentioned possible equivalents of Mouseton as neighboring towns or villages: Mausdorf (German for "mouse village") and Mäuslingen (German equivalent to "Mouseville"). In Germany, the Netherlands , Brazil and Scandinavia , local tradition has it that Mickey's hometown is simply a different district of Duckburg. In Disney theme parks,
810-497: Is described metafictionally as Mickey's older half "brother" in the video game Epic Mickey . This is a reference to the fact that Oswald was Walt Disney 's primary cartoon star before the creation of Mickey Mouse, though he was owned by Universal Pictures at the time. Disney's removal from the Oswald series in 1928 led to Mickey's creation. In 2006, The Walt Disney Company acquired the rights to Oswald, and have since used him in
864-839: Is identified as Mickey's sister. She is now named Felicity, a name that was kept in the American localization of these Danish stories. In Egmont production notes her husband is named Frank Fieldmouse, though the character has never appeared in a story. Mortimer "Morty" and Ferdinand "Ferdie" Fieldmouse are Mickey Mouse's twin nephews. They first appeared in Floyd Gottfredson 's Mickey Mouse Sunday page storyline titled "Mickey's Nephews" (1932). Since then they have appeared in many comic strips and comic book stories starring Mickey Mouse and Pluto . Morty and Ferdy were first shown as wearing shirts, but no pants or underpants. Pants were later added to their wardrobe. Ferdie disappeared from
918-446: Is not stated to be Mickey's sister. Indeed, Mickey calls her "Mrs. Fieldmouse" as if she were an unrelated acquaintance, implying that Morty and Ferdie call Mickey "uncle" as a form of courtesy. Danish editor Egmont Publishing used the character again in seven stories published between 2000 and 2008, reimagining some aspects while refraining from declaring the old and the new character the same one. This new incarnation looks younger and
972-880: Is often depicted as being located in the fictional U.S. state of Calisota , analogous to Northern California . This fictional state was invented by comics writer Carl Barks in 1952 as the location for Donald Duck 's home city, Duckburg . The most consistent aspect of the Mickey Mouse universe is the characters. The most well-known include Mickey's girlfriend Minnie, pet dog Pluto, friends Goofy, Horace Horsecollar , Clarabelle Cow , and nemesis Pete . Some Disney productions incorporate characters from Disney's animated feature films , such as Bath Day (1946), in which Figaro from Pinocchio appears as Minnie's cat (becoming her recurring pet in several productions), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), and – most extensively – House of Mouse (2001–2003). Although crossovers between
1026-436: Is the uncle of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Daisy Duck is Donald's female counterpart, an anthropomorphic Duck usually portrayed as his girlfriend who first appeared in the 1940 short film Mr. Duck Steps Out . She sometimes gets upset with Donald when he loses his temper. Daisy has an equally dangerous temper but a much more sophisticated mien. She is also best friends with Minnie Mouse. Goofy (often also called Goofy Goof )
1080-541: The Mickey Mouse animated short films produced by Disney starting in 1928, although its first consistent version was created by Floyd Gottfredson in the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip . Real-world versions also exist in Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland , called Mickey's Toontown . Since 1990, the city in which Mickey lives is typically called Mouseton in American comics. In modern continuity, Mouseton
1134-423: The Mickey Mouse episode "The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!" Madeline Mouse is Mickey's blonde city cousin who appeared in "Love Trouble", a strip serial that ran from April 14 to July 5, 1941. While referred to as blonde in the story itself, Madeline has also been coloured with straight yellow fur in some printings of the story. Melinda Mouse (original Italian name Topolinda )
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#17328016154921188-549: The Epic Mickey video game franchise. The game is unclear whether Mickey and Oswald are brothers; Yen Sid's closing narration merely states that the wizard hopes the two heroes will come to think of each other as brothers. Felicity Fieldmouse (née Mouse) is Mickey's older sister and the mother of Mickey's twin nephews Morty and Ferdie. The character first appeared in Morty and Ferdie's 1932 comics debut: there, she looks old and
1242-510: The Man-Kzin Wars . Other fictional universes, like the Ring of Fire series , actively court canonical stimulus from fans, but gate and control the changes through a formalized process and the final say of the editor and universe creator . The New Spirit The New Spirit is a 1942 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and the U.S. Department of
1296-644: The Roger Rabbit -inspired Toontown, a district in Los Angeles specifically for cartoon characters, is presented as Mickey's home. In animation, Mouseton is mentioned in the DuckTales reboot series, where one of the characters, Zan Owlson , graduated from Mouseton's School of Business, the place appearing briefly in the episode " The Ballad of Duke Baloney! " during Owlson's presentation. In some 1920s and 1930s Disney press releases and magazines, Mickey
1350-444: The 1928 short film Steamboat Willie . Originally characterized as a flapper , Minnie has often played Mickey's damsel in distress . Her most frequent profession in early cartoons was a musician and songwriter. Donald Duck is Mickey's short tempered friend who was first introduced in the 1934 short film The Wise Little Hen . Donald is an anthropomorphic duck who gets angry when characters are mocking him. He dates Daisy Duck and
1404-510: The 1931 short film The Moose Hunt under his current role as Mickey's dog. Unlike the anthropomorphic Goofy, Pluto is a normal dog who walks on four legs and rarely speaks. Clarabelle Cow is a tall, anthropomorphic cow who is Minnie Mouse's friend and was introduced in the 1928 short film Steamboat Willie . She is prone to gossip and occasionally plays a well-meaning but ineffective parent figure to Donald Duck. She has been known to date both Horace Horsecollar and Goofy. Horace Horsecollar
1458-465: The 1933 Mickey Mouse film Giantland , although the film shows Mickey with as many as 14 nephews at the same time. The following year the nephews appear again in Gulliver Mickey . The following film, Mickey's Steam Roller , is the first to show Mickey with only two nephews, who can be presumed to be Morty and Ferdie, although they are unnamed in the film itself. This was two years after
1512-547: The Federal government at once, and Donald enthusiastically races across the nation to Washington, D.C. to deliver it in person. The film concludes with a montage of images to illustrate to the audience the wartime necessities the money is needed for such as munitions and combat vehicles to defeat the Axis powers . With a final image framed in a sky lined with red, white and blue, the announcer repeats The Four Freedoms and reminds
1566-539: The Gang to refer to the character franchise . The Mickey Mouse universe essentially originated with the debut of Mickey himself in Plane Crazy (1928). Although Mickey's stories included the character Pete , who was created in 1925, the world in which Mickey lives holds a continuity largely independent from earlier films. An exception to this was the reintroduction of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 2010 with
1620-533: The Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck universes have been infrequent, the two universes overlap. Characters from the Donald Duck universe make occasional appearances in the Mickey Mouse universe and vice versa. The term "Mickey Mouse universe" is not officially used by The Walt Disney Company, but it has been used by Disney comics author and animation historian David Gerstein . The Walt Disney Company typically uses terms such as Mickey & Friends or Mickey &
1674-435: The Mickey Mouse comic strip in 1943 because Gottfredson thought the nephews were too much alike. He had plans to bring Ferdie back later as a bespectacled, intellectual, bookworm mouse with an Eton hat and coat with the explanation that he had been away at school. However, Gottfredson never got around to bringing Ferdie back and Morty remained in the strip alone. Morty was occasionally depicted with his best friend named Alvin and
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1728-467: The TV series Goof Troop (1992–1993) Goofy and Pete live in the fictional town of Spoonerville . The town also appears in the 1993 video game of the same name and in the two films based on the series: A Goofy Movie (1995) and An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000). In the TV series Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures (2017-2021) the characters live in the fictional town of Hot Dog Hills . Mickey Mouse
1782-611: The Treasury , and released by the War Activities Committee of the Motion Pictures Industry . The cartoon, which stars Donald Duck , was the first film created as part of Walt Disney's World War II propaganda production . It was commissioned by Henry Morgenthau Jr. , then Secretary of the Treasury , to encourage American citizens to pay their income tax in support of the war effort. The film
1836-679: The United States exclusively for foreign consumption. Disney licensed its characters to foreign publishers. As a result, many Disney comics stories have been created by European or Latin American authors, resulting in more continuity discrepancies and local variations of the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck universes. Some characters have become more popular abroad than in the United States, while some appeared and were used solely in foreign stories. Generally, Mickey Mouse series films are for entertainment purposes. Unlike traditional stories like Aesop's Fables , Disney animation generally does not avoid adult or mature scenes. In Hawaiian Holiday (1937), Goofy
1890-505: The anesthetic blessing of laughter and great good humor. As cinema, The New Spirit is a most effective job." It added, somewhat tongue in cheek, that "Bachelor Duck has complained about a lot of things, but his salary ($ 2,501) is not one of them. Its revelation is pure patriotism on his part." At the 15th Academy Awards the next year the film was one of 25 films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature . Among
1944-555: The audience that taxes are essential for victory and will keep democracy on the march. Under the Revenue Act of 1942 , approximately 15 million American citizens would become eligible to pay income tax for the first time. In anticipation of the law's passing, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. requested that Disney produce a film to cast the tax increase in a positive light and to explain why
1998-435: The city Hometown while other Gottfredson stories used the name Mouseville. But the first consistent name for Mickey's city came in 1950s Italy, where it was called Topolinia (from Topolino or 'little mouse,' Mickey's Italian name). In 1990, Disney Comics launched the new American comic Mickey Mouse Adventures and initially planned to use the name Mouseville there. But due to then-current Mighty Mouse cartoons' use of
2052-405: The city, although he never forgets his roots. Mickey sometimes makes references to his life "back on the farm." Mickey appeared in an urban setting as early as 1931 in the short film Traffic Troubles where he works as a taxi driver. Mickey's city was unnamed until 1932, when the comic story The Great Orphanage Robbery identified it as Silo Center. Some Floyd Gottfredson stories simply called
2106-449: The feature film. Animation historian David Gerstein has noted that although the characters will appear in different settings and sometimes even change their names ( Mickey's Christmas Carol ), the characters are still themselves and behave in a way consistent with their natures. Initially, Disney comics were produced in the United States. Over the years, demand for these comics eventually became so intense that stories were created in
2160-479: The government needed the money. A main part of the goal was to ensure that the taxes were paid on time, and to create as little resentment among the public as possible. However, there was significant disagreement between Walt Disney and Morgenthau on who should star in the film. After Disney presented a storyboard of the film in Washington, Morgenthau said that he did not like Donald Duck, and preferred instead
2214-472: The mice were indeed married in their "private lives", but that they sometimes appear as boyfriend and girlfriend for "screen purposes." Also, in the World War II propaganda film The New Spirit (1942), Donald Duck fills out his income tax and lists his occupation as "actor", and the film The Three Musketeers (2004) includes a DVD bonus feature of the characters reminiscing on their experience filming
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2268-438: The public, the film created its desired effect, income taxes were more prompt in 1942 than in any year previous. Historians have cited Gallup Polls to show more than 60 million people saw the short in theaters, and it contributed to an increase of twice as many income tax filings from the previous year. Despite the film's response, members of Congress did not appropriate $ 80,000 for the production. The U.S. Treasury had to fund
2322-437: The radio announcer advises he pay his income tax promptly, but the announcer changes Donald's mind by stressing the country's need for resources to aid the war effort. Now that Donald is motivated once again, the announcer, along with the help of a talking dip pen , inkwell , blotter , and note pad, show Donald how to properly fill out his simplified Form 1040 A . After this the announcer urges Donald to mail his payment to
2376-917: The real world (as in Star Wars ); in fantasy, it may be a greatly fictionalized or invented version of Earth's distant past or future (as in The Lord of the Rings ). In a 1970 article in CAPA-alpha , comics historian Don Markstein defined the fictional universe as meant to clarify the concept of fictional continuities. According to the criteria he imagined: Fictional universes are sometimes shared by multiple prose authors, with each author's works in that universe being granted approximately equal canonical status. For example, Larry Niven 's fictional universe Known Space has an approximately 135-year period in which Niven allows other authors to write stories about
2430-613: The release of Epic Mickey . In 1930, Disney began a Mickey Mouse comic strip which greatly expanded Mickey's world. The stories then became a work of collaborative fiction with writers working in different mediums and different countries. This sometimes caused continuity discrepancies. For example, while Mickey and his friends largely live in the same contemporary setting, they sometimes appear in exotic settings, including period pieces ( Brave Little Tailor , The Nifty Nineties ) and fantasy films ( Fantasia , Fun and Fancy Free ). The comics writers explained this discrepancy
2484-468: The same name Mortimer Mouse , or Minnie's wealthy rancher Uncle Mortimer . Morty is a playable character on the PlayStation 2 game Disney Golf . In pre-World War II children's books produced by Disney, the nephews were usually called Morty and Monty . Earlier books contain three or more nephews with various names, including Maisie and Marmaduke . In animation, Mickey's nephews first appear in
2538-521: The subject of speculation early on, but have generally been treated consistently in American publications from 2003 onward. In Disney comics published by Egmont (Scandinavia) and Abril (Brazil), Mickey lives in Duckburg—even though Mickey and Donald only rarely team up in shared comics adventures. The same tradition extends to Disney comics published in Germany by Egmont subdivision Ehapa (Duckburg
2592-602: The twins debuted in the comic strip. Morty and Ferdie also make a cameo towards the end of 1938's Boat Builders and appear again in 1983's Mickey's Christmas Carol in speaking roles, albeit at different ages as one of the twins took on the role of Tiny Tim . In 1999 they make a cameo in the two-part Mickey Mouse Works segment "Around the World in Eighty Days", which was used again in House of Mouse . They also appear in
2646-495: The writer of these comics is unknown, they were both drawn by Paul Murry , who rarely worked with characters that sported the same names even if they ostensibly were the same characters. In Italy, there is another set of twin nieces, Lily & Tiny, who are in their teen years. These teenage nieces have yet to appear in comics printed in the USA. Fictional universe A fictional universe , also known as an imagined universe or
2700-448: Was a baby. But one day, (taking advantage of a moment of distraction by Melinda) a young Big Bad Pete and his girlfriend Trudy Van Tubb kidnapped a baby Mickey Mouse and Melinda was forced to exchange Mickey for her Indian necklace. Years later, Mickey and his friend Atomo Beep-Beep discovered the truth and retrieved Melinda's necklace to her. She is a lovely and cheerful person, and deeply attached to her nephew Mickey (with whom she shares
2754-761: Was described as living in Hollywood—even though the rural setting of the actual cartoons and comics had little in common with the real Hollywood. In the film Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip (1940) Mickey and Pluto live in the actual world city of Burbank, California , home of Walt Disney Studios . In the Kingdom Hearts series, both the Mouseton and Duckburg characters live in a realm called "Disney Town." The Walt Disney Parks and Resorts modeled Mickey's hometown and birthplace as Mickey's Toontown . Occasional modern animated projects reference Toontown as well. In
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#17328016154922808-470: Was directed by Wilfred Jackson and Ben Sharpsteen , and features Clarence Nash as the voice of Donald, Fred Shields as the radio announcer, and Cliff Edwards singing the theme song. The New Spirit was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary at the 15th Academy Awards , an honor it shared with 24 other films. The following year, Disney released The Spirit of '43 which had
2862-460: Was in a scene of being in a grave. Disney arranged a laugh scene after that. Its choice of scene creation can be seen as a signature of the attention to entertainment effort. In Plane Crazy (1928), the first produced Mickey Mouse story, Mickey is seen at a farm. In his early films, Mickey is in a rural setting, but most commonly at a farm. This setting was succinctly presented in the first sentences of one of Mickey's first storybooks: "This story
2916-465: Was to present the characters as "real" cartoon characters who are employed by Disney as actors. Walter J. Ong in his cultural research of Mickey Mouse and Americanism also agreed with this opinion. In short, characters are more human-like, featuring fewer animal features in their characteristics. This understanding of the characters leading separate lives was welcomed by Walt Disney. When asked whether or not Mickey and Minnie were married, Disney replied that
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