My eldest daughter received her birthday present from us today. I had posted it several weeks ago and had almost given up hope of it arriving but thankfully it got to her. I had bought a large parcel box from the post office with Mickey Mouse on it so when she saw the box her immediate thought was "Mother has lost her mind!"
Whilst IMing each other a few moments ago she informed me that Mickey is creepy. I have the same reaction to the mouse. This is not the friendly little critter that scurries into corners when you enter a room. This is a Mouse! In the early cartoons his body is decidedly odd - okay I admit that you have to suspend reality when it comes to cartoons but even so the early years are very, very odd. Watch the Tug Boat episode and you will understand. As he aged Disney gave him a more filled out body and The Hands!
They are, as Steph says, hands that look as if they could well strangle you. What is up with them? They are huge! Not in a good way. Then there are the gloves ... large white objects on the end of the arms. I personally don't mind gloves on the hands of waiters serving me, on doormen, or a gorgeous man at a formal ball but on the Mouse they are ... creepy. Why does he need gloves? What is he doing that he has to wear them? Is he afraid of leaving tell tale fingerprints? I know Bugs has glove like hands, so do other cartoon characters but there is something about Mickey's that sends shivers down my spine.
His voice is another factor in the overall creepiness. It is just weird. Neither that of man nor a boy it is high pitched and ... odd. Chip and Dale are high pitched and in the early versions impossible to understand but they are cute and naughty. Then there is Donald. Clearly his creator based him on some one who was just a little scary and prone to rages. Wikipedia says that Disney wanted a less PC character as Mickey had become a role model for children. Well that explains a great deal about the adults who grew up during those years. If Mickey was a role model ... mmm ...
I spent a fair amount of time watching cartoons as a child. My brother and I enjoyed rainy late afternoons watching black and white Bugs Bunny, Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner, and of course Daffy and company but we rarely watched Mickey. Even then we had discerning tastes. When my children were little we enjoyed watching cartoons with them. My favourite was The Gummi Bears. Firstly you can understand them and secondly there was a despicable human in the form of Your Dukiness and his adorable sidekick Toady. The episodes were fun. I have a DVD of them on the way for my grandson. Even if he does not like them his grandmother will. If I ruled the world the Gummi Bears would return to tv and the decidedly odd modern cartoons would be replaced by at least a few classics. I think my age is showing which is fine - you can put my rumblings down to fine lines and grey hair. At least I have not yet sat down to eat three pounds of sausage at a go but if I do hoard things it's in preparation for my brandy and summer glove days.
(With apologies to Jenny Joseph).
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