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Revision as of 14:02, 11 March 2004 by Dimadick (talk | contribs) (Adding note on Plane Crazy)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Minnie Mouse is a fictional character of the Mickey Mouse universe featured in animated cartoons, comic strips and comic book by The Walt Disney Company. The 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. Minerva has since been a recurring alias for her.
The earlier 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 her grandparents Marshall Mouse and Matilda. Her best known relative however remains her uncle Mortimer Mouse.
Origins and Debute
In 1928, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Mickey Mouse to act as a replacement to their previous star Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. But Mickey could not fill the void alone. Among the few consistent character traits Oswald had developed before moving on to Universal Studios was his near-constant pursuit of potential sweethearts. So for Mickey to have a chance to emulate his predecessor at flirting, someone had to replace Oswald's many love interests. This replacement to Miss Rabbit, Miss Cottontail, Fanny and an uncertain number of unnamed nurses and dancers was to become Minnie Mouse.
Minnie was designed in the fashion of a "flapper" girl. She was so probably intended to follow the trends of then-modern Youth culture in an effort to add to her audience appeal.
Mickey and Minnie debuted together in Plane Crazy, first released on May 15, 1928. Minnie is invided to join Mickey in the first flight of his aircraft. She accepts the invitation but not his demand 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.
Since then she has been co-starring with Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Figaro, Minnie's own cat who debuted in Pinocchio. In Mickey Mouse Works she finally appeared in her own segments. In House of Mouse she kept track of the bills. She starred in a television special called Totally Minnie and she also appeared in a line of merchandise called "Minnie n Me".