Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company.
As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a bow, polka-dotted dress, white bloomers, and low-heeled shoes occasionally with ribbons on them.
The Mickey Mouse comic strip story The Gleam (published January 19-May 2, 1942) by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson first gave her full name as Minerva Mouse, although this is seldom used.
Minnie is classy, calm, sassy, well-mannered, cheerful, and feminine. She is filled with love and affection, polite to all her friends, and knows her manners.
The comic strip story Mr. Slicker and the Egg Robbers (published September 22-December 26, 1930) introduced her father Marcus Mouse and her unnamed mother, both farmers. The same story featured photographs of Minnie's uncle Milton Mouse with his family and her grandparents Marvel Mouse and Matilda Mouse.
Her best-known relatives, however, remain her uncle Mortimer Mouse (Mortimer was almost the name of Mickey) and her twin nieces, Millie and Melody Mouse, though most often a single niece, Melody, appears. In many appearances, Minnie is presented as the girlfriend of Mickey Mouse, and is best friends with Daisy Duck, and a friend to Clarabelle Cow.
In honor of her 90th anniversary, Minnie Mouse got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On January 22, 2018, she joined the ranks of other animated celebrities by receiving her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was the sixth Disney character to receive this honor. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Tinker Bell, and Snow White have already received this distinction.
Minnie was initially created to be the love interest of Mickey Mouse; concept art for Mickey showed a female mouse alongside him.
Minnie was designed in the fashion of a flapper girl. Her main outfit consisted of a short flapper girl dress that often revealed her distinctive patched knickers. In the 1929 cartoon The Karnival Kid, it was also revealed that she wears black stockings which were also fashionable among flapper girls.
Her
shoes are probably her most distinctive article of clothing. For
comedic effect, she wears oversized high heeled pumps that are too big
for her feet. Her heels often slip out of her shoes, and she even loses
her shoes completely in The Gallopin' Gaucho.
More information: Walk of Fame
When she walked or danced, the clip clop of her large pumps was usually heard clearly and often went with the rhythm of the music that was played in the background. Along with Mickey, she was redesigned in 1940. Her hat was replaced with a large bow, and bows were added to her shoes as well. Her eyes were also given more detail. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, her look and personality became more conservative.
Minnie almost always wears red or pink, but in her early appearances, she could be seen wearing a combination of blue, black or green (when not depicted in black and white).
Minnie's early personality is cute, playful, musical and flirtatious. She often portrays an entertainer like a dancer or a musician whose affection Mickey is trying to win. Part of the comedy of these early shorts is the varying degree of success Mickey has in wooing Minnie.
Unlike later cartoons after the redesign, Minnie often becomes a damsel in distress whom Mickey tries to rescue. She is also subject to a lot of slapstick and rubber hose animation gags. Over the course of the 1930s, Minnie's and Mickey's relationship solidified and they eventually became a steady couple.
Minnie was first seen in a test screening of the cartoon short Plane Crazy. Minnie is invited to join Mickey in the first flight of his aircraft. She accepts the invitation but not his request for a kiss in mid-flight. Mickey eventually forces Minnie into a kiss but this only results in her parachuting out of the plane. This first film depicted Minnie as somewhat resistant to the demanding affection of her potential boyfriend and capable of escaping his grasp.
Their debut, however, featured the couple already familiar to each other. The next film featuring them was The Gallopin' Gaucho. The film was the second of their series to be produced, but the third to be released, and was released on December 30, 1928.
We find Minnie employed at the Cantina Argentina, a bar and restaurant established in the Pampas of Argentina.
She performs the Tango for
Mickey the gaucho and Black Pete the outlaw. Both flirt with her but the
latter intends to abduct her while the former obliges in saving the
Damsel in Distress from the villain. All three characters acted as
strangers first being introduced to each other.
But it was their third cartoon that established the definitive early look and personality of both Mickey and Minnie, as well as Pete. Steamboat Willie, was the third short of the series to be produced but released first on November 18, 1928. Pete was featured as the Captain of the steamboat, Mickey as a crew of one and Minnie as their single passenger.
The two anthropomorphic mice first star in a sound film and spend most of its duration playing music to the tune of Turkey in the Straw.
Her next appearance was arguably more significant. Mickey's Follies (June 26, 1929), featured the first performance of the song Minnie's Yoo-Hoo.
Her final appearance for the year was in Wild Waves, carried by a wave into the sea.
The Shindig (July 11, 1930) featured Minnie joining Mickey, Horace, and Clarabelle in a barn dance.
In The Fire Fighters (June 20, 1930), Minnie is trapped in a hotel during a fire.
In The Picnic (1930), Minnie introduces her boyfriend to her new pet dog, Rover. This is actually Pluto making his first appearance as an individual character. Two unnamed bloodhound guard dogs strikingly similar to him had previously appeared in The Chain Gang (August 18, 1930) which featured Mickey incarcerated in prison without Minnie at his side.
The final appearance of Minnie during the year was Pioneer Days (November 20, 1930).
During the second half of the thirties, Minnie did not appear as often in Mickey cartoons. This was mainly due to the growth in popularity of Mickey's new sidekicks, Goofy, Donald Duck, and Pluto, whose appearances in Mickey cartoons had more or less replaced Minnie's role.
She starred in a 1988 musical television special on NBC called Totally Minnie and it was the first film to feature Minnie in a lead role. She also appeared in a line of merchandise called Minnie 'n Me in the 1990s. On September 18, 1990, the CD Minnie 'n Me: Songs Just For Girls was released.
More information: Walt Disney
Minnie's return to animation came in Mickey's Christmas Carol (October 20, 1983). She was cast as Mrs. Cratchit. As with most Disney characters, she was given a small cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) but does not have any lines in the latter movie, despite her voice actress being listed in the end credits.
Minnie Mouse makes an appearance in every episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Minnie runs a neighborhood in Disney's Toontown Online called Minnie's Melodyland. This is a powerful area with access to Toontown Central, The Brrrgh, and Donald's Dreamland.
Minnie is available to sign autographs and take pictures throughout the day in various locations at the different Disney Resort Theme Parks around the world. She also appears in all of the daily parades that take place at the Disney resorts.
In the 2013 Mickey Mouse television series Minnie was restored to her classic 1930s look with the flowered bowler hat and flapper girl outfit. Minnie also gained more character quirks and, like the older cartoons, was subject to more slapstick and rubber hose cartoon gags.
On June 22, 2017, it was announced that Minnie, alongside Weird Al Yankovic, Zoe Saldana, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, would be receiving her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018.
In December 2019, both Minnie and Mickey served as special co-hosts of Wheel of Fortune for two weeks during Disney's Secret Santa Giveaway while Vanna White served as the main host during Pat Sajak's absence.
More information: Mickey Blog
Minnie Mouse
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