Mickey Mouse
Disney has a lot of clout. So you hear, and they are putting it all in service of America's belovedest icon. Apparently, American copyright protections keep getting pushed out further and further, by corrupt act of Congress, to make sure that Mickey Mouse will never enter the public domain. Interesting, if true, because it means that Mickey Mouse is the most unjustly fetishized cartoon character in history. As important to American culture as Coca-Cola, but why?
Mickey Mouse must have made a huge and traumatic impact on America in the 50's. That's the only way to explain the ancestral memory we have of him, because he hasn't been around lately. There haven't been any Mickey Mouse movies, except maybe direct-to-DVD videos that no adult watches. There aren't any Mickey Mouse cartoons on TV -- at least, there weren't when I was young enough to care, and if there are now, nobody has informed me.
Even in his heyday, what did Mickey Mouse do? As far as I can tell, he was just a foil to the also-not-interesting Donald Duck or Goofy or something. I only have *actual memories* of him from that Fantasia thing, although I'm sure he starred in lots of other one-reelers. But it's not like those were any good. Nobody ever talks about "that Disney cartoon where Mickey Mouse does so and so." You occasionally hear people talk that way about Warner Brothers cartoons, but I'm reasonably sure your average American couldn't identify one Mickey Mouse vehicle (other than Fantasia).
Does Disney still make much money from Mickey Mouse? I figured that most of their cash came from movie merchandise, like Snow White and Cinderella. Or from their theme parks like Disneyland (Question: What do you do at Disneyland? I know of one ride there, "Space Mountain". I do not know what Space Mountain is.)
When you think of it, Mickey Mouse is kind of extremely unloveable. Unless there's something I don't know, he's just the everyman, which is not a role that farcical cartoons should have. Everymen are dull. All his cartoon friends are boring too. I don't think Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Minnie or Pluto have a character trait among them. Presumably the constituency for Mickey Mouse is the same as for all those comic strips that you don't like, but which the newspaper reups year after year.
Come to think of it, I vaguely recall seeing a Mickey Mouse strip in the comics section of newspapers of cities I don't live in. Could *this* be where normal people get their Mickey Mouse fix? If so, I worry. Mickey Mouse comic strips are as dull as you would imagine. If that's all it takes to become a cultural icon, then my advice to Mort Walker is to guard your Hi & Lois trademark carefully, because bland humor can take you all the way to the top. In the year 2100, we'll all be as American as Hi & Lois and Tab Energy Drink.
Mickey Mouse must have made a huge and traumatic impact on America in the 50's. That's the only way to explain the ancestral memory we have of him, because he hasn't been around lately. There haven't been any Mickey Mouse movies, except maybe direct-to-DVD videos that no adult watches. There aren't any Mickey Mouse cartoons on TV -- at least, there weren't when I was young enough to care, and if there are now, nobody has informed me.
Even in his heyday, what did Mickey Mouse do? As far as I can tell, he was just a foil to the also-not-interesting Donald Duck or Goofy or something. I only have *actual memories* of him from that Fantasia thing, although I'm sure he starred in lots of other one-reelers. But it's not like those were any good. Nobody ever talks about "that Disney cartoon where Mickey Mouse does so and so." You occasionally hear people talk that way about Warner Brothers cartoons, but I'm reasonably sure your average American couldn't identify one Mickey Mouse vehicle (other than Fantasia).
Does Disney still make much money from Mickey Mouse? I figured that most of their cash came from movie merchandise, like Snow White and Cinderella. Or from their theme parks like Disneyland (Question: What do you do at Disneyland? I know of one ride there, "Space Mountain". I do not know what Space Mountain is.)
When you think of it, Mickey Mouse is kind of extremely unloveable. Unless there's something I don't know, he's just the everyman, which is not a role that farcical cartoons should have. Everymen are dull. All his cartoon friends are boring too. I don't think Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Minnie or Pluto have a character trait among them. Presumably the constituency for Mickey Mouse is the same as for all those comic strips that you don't like, but which the newspaper reups year after year.
Come to think of it, I vaguely recall seeing a Mickey Mouse strip in the comics section of newspapers of cities I don't live in. Could *this* be where normal people get their Mickey Mouse fix? If so, I worry. Mickey Mouse comic strips are as dull as you would imagine. If that's all it takes to become a cultural icon, then my advice to Mort Walker is to guard your Hi & Lois trademark carefully, because bland humor can take you all the way to the top. In the year 2100, we'll all be as American as Hi & Lois and Tab Energy Drink.
posted by apk01004 at 1:36 AM
2 Comments:
space mountain= an indoor roller coaster. with not many lights on. myself i liked the indiana jones ride.
Indiana Jones is a Disney property?
Knowing what Space Mountain is does not at all explain why people would go to Disneyland (Disney World?). I understand Cedar Point and Six Flags over Texas, but I don't understand Disney Land.
You hear these terms like "Main St. USA and Sleeping Beauty's Castle thrown around, but I don't see how that translates into amusement.
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