1. Mickey Mouse was initially called Mortimer.
2. Mickey Mouse was the first cartoon character who could also talk. However, not yet in “Steamboat Willie”, but only in “The Karnival Kid” (1929).
3. Mickey Mouse’s first words were less philosophical than gut-driven: “Hot dogs.”
4. In the early years, Walt Disney himself lent his voice to Mickey Mouse.
5. Artists later gave Mickey Mouse white gloves so that viewers in the black and white cartoons wouldn’t get the impression that his hands were disappearing into his body.
6. Mickey and Minnie Mouse are actually married. Walt Disney once said this in an interview, but also emphasized that they were deliberately keeping this secret.
7. Throughout his life, Mickey Rooney was certain that he was the inspiration for Mickey Mouse’s first name.
8. The first two short films with Mickey Mouse cost the now modest sum of $2,500.
9. In 1979, Disneyland Records released “Mickey Mouse Disco,” a real disco hit album that went multi-platinum. Included: dance versions of “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “It’s a Small World”.
10. Several surveys have suggested that children around the world recognize Mickey Mouse more easily than Santa Claus.