Walt Disney designed the character while riding on a train back to Los Angeles with his wife Lillian. After completing his sketch, Walt showed it to Lillian and said his name was Mortimer Mouse. Lillian did not like the name and suggested Mickey Mouse. And so was the birth of Mickey Mouse.
Mickey's first film was Plane Crazy. After the loss of Oswald the Rabbit, Walt and Lillian Disney and Ub Iwerks, worked in secret on the film in a garage behind Walt's home on Lyric Avenue.
Plane Crazy had a sneak preview at a Hollywood movie house in May, 1928. The movie was pleasantly received. However, the big movie houses were not interested in Mickey Mouse.
Walt and Ub made a second Mickey Mouse film called Gallopin' Gaucho.
The first two Mickey Mouse films that Walt made cost the studio $2,500 each.
Mickey Mouse made his debut in Steamboat Willie on November 18, 1928, at the Colony Theater in New York.
Steamboat Willie was Disney's first film with sound.
The original voice of Mickey Mouse was Walt Disney.
Mickey's first words were spoken in 1929 inThe Karnival Kid.
The first merchandise to feature Mickey Mouse was a child's school tablet in 1929.
Mickey is a hit.....
The first Mickey Mouse Club was formed in 1929, at the Fox Dome Theater in Ocean Park, CA. Soon, others were formed in movie houses around the country.
The first Mickey Mouse comic strip was published on January 13, 1930. They were drawn by Ub Iwerks at first. Then Win Smith, Ub Iwerks' assistant, drew them for 3 months. He was succeeded by Floyd Gottfredson who drew the comic strip for 45 years.