The ever-positive Mickey Mouse has served as the chief representative of The Walt Disney Company since his initial appearance in 1928, and the media conglomerate has ensured that the character remains innocent and uncontroversial so as to protect Disney’s family-friendly reputation.

This commitment to purity has led the company to guard certain details about the iconic mouse from the public, specifically information that could alter Disney’s public image and subsequently threaten its profits. These unpublicized facts highlight The Walt Disney Company’s notorious tendency to control the public’s perception of its products and intellectual property.

Walt Disney Didn’t Design Him

Walt Disney pictured with Mickey Mouse

While Walt Disney is credited with many of his company’s early successes, his friend and collaborator, Ub Iwerks, was responsible for certain contributions for which he received little recognition.

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According to NPR, Iwerks designed Mickey Mouse and animated the first short film featuring the character, Plane Crazy, with Walt Disney developing Mickey’s personality and providing his voice. The Walt Disney Company seems intent on attributing the character to its founder alone, likely in an attempt to strengthen the name it shares with him.

Mickey makes a potion in The Worm Turns

Disney has long been fiercely protective of its key characters — likely fearing that adult-oriented uses by other parties would harm the company’s brand — but it will likely be unable to prevent the legally required expiration of Mickey Mouse’s copyright in 2024 (per The Guardian).

This will only permit depictions of the character as he originally appeared, and there will be certain legal limitations to such use. Disney’s silence on the upcoming expiration is likely an effort to curb the potentially blasphemous parodies of Steamboat Willie-era Mickey Mouse and preserve the dignity of the cartoon that made Mickey an icon.

He Was The Subject Of A Notable Free Speech Case

A promo image for Mickey Mouse shorts from Disney

In 1971, a team of countercultural cartoonists who resented Disney published two issues of a comic called Air Pirates Funnies that depicted Mickey Mouse and the members of his inner circle engaging in drug use and sexual activity.

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Disney successfully sued the “Air Pirates” for $1.9 million in a decision that some viewed as a boon to corporate influence and a rejection of free speech (per Fandom). Certain left-leaning Americans, such as the aforementioned cartoonists, view Mickey Mouse as a symbol of unrestrained capitalism rather than a harmless mascot.

“Mickey Mouse” Is Often Used As A Pejorative

Mickey framed in the introduction of a Mouseworks cartoon

Despite the decades of acclaim that Mickey Mouse has enjoyed, many have used the character’s name as a descriptor for subjects for which they hold contempt. Merriam-Webster provides multiple definitions for the name in this context, such as “too easy, small, ineffective, or unimportant to be taken seriously,” and “annoyingly petty.”

Related: 10 Strangest Mickey Mouse Shorts & Cartoons

This usage suggests that there is significant opposition to The Walt Disney Company that the entertainment giant works diligently to silence.

He Has Four Fingers For Financial Reasons In Addition To Creative Reasons

Mickey and Minnie Mouse at Disney World

Mickey Mouse has only four fingers, as is common in the world of animation. While this was partially an artistic consideration — Walt Disney suspected that five fingers “would have made Mickey’s hands look like a bunch of bananas” — it was also motivated by financial concerns.

According to Us Weekly, drawing one less finger per hand in the era before computer animation saved studios significant sums. This is one of the more cynical facts most people don't know about Disney.

Walt Disney Possibly Stopped Voicing Mickey Due To His Smoking Habit

Statue of Walt Disney with Mickey in Go Away Green attraction

Walt Disney publicly presented himself as somewhat of a puritan, but he was no more immune to vices than the average adult.

The creative titan is rumored to have ceased his tenure as the voice of Disney’s most famous character due in part to his decreasing ability to provide the character’s high-pitched voice after decades of smoking (per Behind the Voice Actors). The increased success of the company also contributed to his decision to assign the post to his successor, James McDonald.

Disney Ordered Mickey Murals To Be Removed From Florida Preschools

Mickey Mouse In The Mirrorverse

Disney’s obsessive protection of its intellectual property reached a questionable extent in 1989 when the company ordered three preschools in Hallandale, Florida, to remove murals of Mickey Mouse and associated characters (per The Orlando Sentinel).

Related: 10 Best Hidden Mickeys In Disney World Florida

Due to Mickey’s supposed purpose of providing joy and encouraging positivity, the company’s decision to remove his likeness from educational settings has drawn criticism. The positive impact that Mickey-related media has made on youth worldwide suggests that the use of the character in children’s environments should be encouraged.

Benito Mussolini’s Children Were Fans

Disney Plus Logo With Mickey Mouse

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini viewed the removal of Allied influences as key to the strength of fascism in his own nation, and he banned most American media as a result.

The despot made an exception for Mickey Mouse solely because his children were fond of the iconic character (per Mental Floss). Mickey’s universal appeal has unfortunately meant his occasional popularity in dystopian societies.

American soldiers crossing a river in Vietnam, a still from The Vietnam War

Mickey Mouse is often viewed as a representative of the United States as a whole due to his prominence in the nation’s culture, and certain artists have utilized this association in work critical of American society.

A 1969 short film entitled Mickey Mouse in Vietnam, written by Dave Dixon and directed by Lee Savage, depicts the Disney character enlisting in the U.S. Army and entering combat in Vietnam, only to be killed by gunfire shortly after his arrival (per IMDb). Disney, which consistently attempted to avoid controversy and politicization during this era, does not recognize or promote such alternative uses of its characters.

He Was Negatively Depicted In Several Episodes Of South Park

South Park Mickey Mouse

The boundary-pushing and inflammatory animated series, South Park, has incorporated Mickey Mouse as an antagonist on multiple occasions, in each instance engaging in criminal and grotesque behavior in an attempt to further the dominance of The Walt Disney Company.

According to Fandom, this version of Mickey has committed crimes including mass murder, torture, and arson. The contrast between the character’s pure public image and the horrific misbehavior he engages in throughout these appearances has solidified “The Ring” as a South Park episode that will never get old.

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