Mickey 'Mortimer' Mouse

After the failure of losing Oswald Ub helped Walt to come up with a new character one that they would own outright and not lose again.  This character was the iconic Mickey Mouse.  I felt that it was important to show both the current more modern version that I am used to and one of the original drawings from a cell that was to be included in the pet store.

I always thought that the idea for Mickey Mouse came from Disney himself from hearing the story over and over again that he had a resident mouse in the studio that he bought that he then used to model Mickey on.  However I don't believe this is what actually happened anymore after researching into Ub and his work as his granddaughter in the Remembering Ub Iwerks interview stated that' The legend is that Walt came up with Mickey Mouse on the train ride back from New York after losing Oswald.  But that's not the story from Ub perspective.  IN an interview from 1956 Ub said that Walt came back from New York all dejected, but realising that he needed to come up with another character fast.  They then began looking through magazines, searching for ideas. Ub sketched out four different characters, one of which was this little mouse.  Walt loved it and thought "that's a cute character".  He took it home to his wife Lilian and said "Let's call him Mortimer" and she said, "No, Mickey! That's a cuter name." So the truth is that Mickey Mouse was created by Ub and named by Lilian.'

I actually believe this is what genuinely happened as after researching Ub's early life and when he met Walt and that this seems like something thats much more realistic than befriending a rogue mouse.  After reading that Walt was the brains and that Ub was the creative half of the partnership this version of events seems even more realistic and I just think it's a huge shame that Ub didn't really get the credit he deserved at the time and even now as I had never heard of him before much before starting this blog and I bet others haven't too and its a real shame as obviously he was very creative and loved creating characters that he could put a bit of himself in.  

References:

Ub Iwerks (n.d.) Mickey and Minnie Mouse Cell Drawing. [image online] Available at: http://www.alexross.com/DYP006.jpg [Accessed: Sunday 8th January 2012].

Google Search (n.d.) Modern Mickey Mouse. [image online] Available at: http://images.free-extras.com/pics/m/mickey_mouse-1097.jpg [Accessed: Sunday 8th January 2012].

Geo Interview (n.d.) Remembering Ub Iwerks,[online], Leslie Iwerks Quote, Available at: http://www.crazycollege.org/IwerksFilmFax.htm [Accessed: sunday 8th january 2012].