#Cartoon middle finger drawing series#

In 1925, Hugh Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. Walt Disney got the inspiration for Mickey Mouse from a tame mouse at his desk at Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri. (They would later turn up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar.) A male frog was also rejected, which later showed up in Iwerks' own Flip the Frog series. A female cow and male horse were also rejected.

Iwerks tried sketches of various animals, such as dogs and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. Disney asked Ub Iwerks to start drawing up new character ideas. Mickey Mouse was conceived in secret while Disney produced the final Oswald cartoons he contractually owed Mintz. On his train ride home from New York, Walt brainstormed ideas for a new cartoon character. Among the few people who stayed at the Disney studio were animator Ub Iwerks, apprentice artist Les Clark, and Wilfred Jackson. Ongoing conflicts between Disney and Mintz and the revelation that several animators from the Disney studio would eventually leave to work for Mintz's company ultimately resulted in Disney cutting ties with Oswald.

#Cartoon middle finger drawing series#

Charles Mintz served as a middleman producer between Disney and Universal through his company, Winkler Pictures, for the series of cartoons starring Oswald. Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an earlier cartoon character that was created by the Disney studio but owned at the time by Universal Pictures. The sketches are the earliest known drawings of the character. See also: Mickey Mouse (film series) Origin Concept art of Mickey from early 1928, from the collection of The Walt Disney Family Museum. Though originally characterized as a cheeky lovable rogue, Mickey was rebranded over time as a nice guy, usually seen as a spirited, yet impulsive hero. Mickey generally appears alongside his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, his pet dog Pluto, his friends Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Goofy, and his nemesis Pete, among others. He appears in other media such as video games as well as merchandising and is a meetable character at the Disney parks. Mickey also features in television series such as The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1996) and others. Mickey has also appeared in comic books such as Mickey Mouse, Disney Italy's Topolino and MM – Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine, and Wizards of Mickey. The Mickey Mouse comic strip, drawn primarily by Floyd Gottfredson, ran for 45 years. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.īeginning in 1930, Mickey has also been featured extensively in comic strips and comic books. Ten of Mickey's cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of which, Lend a Paw, won the award in 1941. Mickey appeared primarily in short films, but also occasionally in feature-length films. The character went on to appear in over 130 films, including The Band Concert (1935), Brave Little Tailor (1938), and Fantasia (1940). The character was originally to be named 'Mortimer Mouse', until Lillian Disney instead suggested 'Mickey' during a train ride. Mickey is one of the world's most recognizable and universally acclaimed fictional characters.Ĭreated as a replacement for a prior Disney character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey first appeared in the 1928 short Plane Crazy, which was not originally picked up for distribution his public debut was in the same year's Steamboat Willie. The character's depiction as a small mouse is personified through his diminutive stature and falsetto voice, the latter of which was originally provided by Disney. Inspired by such silent film personalities as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Mickey is traditionally characterized as a sympathetic underdog who gets by on pluck and ingenuity in the face of challenges bigger than himself. The longtime icon and mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves. Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.