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Mickey Mouse turns 75; eyes the digital age
Los Angeles, Nov 16: Mickey Mouse, the rodent who built a multibillion-Dollar business empire, turns 75 on Tuesday, but at an age at which most stars retire, this one is looking to conquer the digital world.
Los Angeles, Nov 16: Mickey Mouse, the rodent who
built a multibillion-Dollar business empire, turns 75 on
Tuesday, but at an age at which most stars retire, this one
is looking to conquer the digital world.
Walt Disney's most famous round-eared creation, whose
face and silhouette are familiar to generations of children
across the world, first appeared on November 18, 1928 in the
animated short film "steamboat Willie."
Since then, he has become an icon of 20th-century America and has come to symbolize one of the world's largest entertainment empires that has long been referred to by Hollywood's press as the "mouse house."
"Mickey is able to adapt to anything that comes up," Dave Smith, Disney archive director and a 33-year veteran of the mouse house, told reporters. "He will be up at the top for at least the next 25 years."
Mickey was conceived on a train in early 1928, as the 26-year-old Walt Disney and his wife, Lillian, travelled from New York to Los Angeles after the animator lost a drawing of his original cartoon character, a rabbit.
"I had this mouse at the back of my head, because a mouse is kind of a sympathetic character in spite of the fact that everybody's frightened of a mouse, including myself," Disney recalled later.
The animator wanted to christen the mouse clad in red velvet shorts "Mortimer," but Lillian told him the name was too pompous. By the time the train arrived in Los Angeles, a new star was born.
Bureau Report
Since then, he has become an icon of 20th-century America and has come to symbolize one of the world's largest entertainment empires that has long been referred to by Hollywood's press as the "mouse house."
"Mickey is able to adapt to anything that comes up," Dave Smith, Disney archive director and a 33-year veteran of the mouse house, told reporters. "He will be up at the top for at least the next 25 years."
Mickey was conceived on a train in early 1928, as the 26-year-old Walt Disney and his wife, Lillian, travelled from New York to Los Angeles after the animator lost a drawing of his original cartoon character, a rabbit.
"I had this mouse at the back of my head, because a mouse is kind of a sympathetic character in spite of the fact that everybody's frightened of a mouse, including myself," Disney recalled later.
The animator wanted to christen the mouse clad in red velvet shorts "Mortimer," but Lillian told him the name was too pompous. By the time the train arrived in Los Angeles, a new star was born.
Bureau Report