Disney Will Make Over Mickey. Why? To Make Us Like Him.

[Story]

LOS ANGELES — For decades, the Walt Disney Company has largely kept Mickey Mouse frozen under glass, fearful that even the tiniest tinkering might tarnish the brand and upend his $5 billion or so in annual merchandise sales. One false move and Disney could have New Coke on its hands.

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Now, however, concerned that Mickey has become more of a corporate symbol than a beloved character for recent generations of young people, Disney is taking the risky step of re-imaging him for the future.
The first glimmer of this will be the introduction next year of a new video game, Epic Mickey, in which the formerly squeaky clean character can be cantankerous and cunning, as well as heroic, as he traverses a forbidding wasteland. And at the same time, in a parallel but separate effort, Disney has quietly embarked on an even larger project to rethink the character’s personality, from they way he walks and talks to the way he appears on the Disney Channel and how children interact with him the Web — even what his house looks like at Disney World.

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“Mickey is never going to be evil or go around killing people,” Mr. Spector said. But Mickey won’t be bland anymore, either. “I wanted him to be able to be naughty — when you’re playing as Mickey you can misbehave and even be a little selfish,” Mr. Spector said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/business/media/05mickey.html?_r=2

Walt Disney with his creation Mickey Mouse, in 1933. Note the stylin' shoes.

The entire mess above reminds me of this scene from SOUTH PARK (warning : potty language) http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/221275

 

[Lady Day]

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Now, however, concerned that Mickey has become more of a corporate symbol than a beloved character for recent generations of young people, Disney is taking the risky step of re-imaging him for the future.

Hes been re-envisioned many times.
I think its too late and too over done to make him relatable again. Kids are *way* more savvy about corporate stuff now, and now since Disney bought Marvel (aahhhhhh!), some of kids favorite characters, I think Mickey being used like that is just done.


LD

 

[Lauren]

Lady Day, that is exactly the image I was thinking of.

I admit, I don't like this part of what was quoted:
“Mickey is never going to be evil or go around killing people,” Mr. Spector said. But Mickey won’t be bland anymore, either. “I wanted him to be able to be naughty — when you’re playing as Mickey you can misbehave and even be a little selfish,” Mr. Spector said.

There's plenty enough characters for children to relate to, even on Disney Channel, that misbehave and are a little selfish *cough Hannah Montana cough*. I don't see why they have to re-do Mickey and spend all that time on a new image. People already relate to it and they're going to spend mass amount of money on a new marketing venture for something, that essentially, already works.

 

[reetpleat]

I think if they made mickey back into steamboat willy, he would be cool. If they try to make him relevant, he will suck, but if they take him back to the not quite so squeaky clean image of his early days, it might work.

 

[pretty faythe]

I just want to say that Mickey Mouse is already sneaky, cunning & mischivious. My daughter has a video game, I think its called Mickeys Kitchen or something similiar on PS2, where you bake or cook and Mickey Mouse is always calling and stalking you to see if you have finished so that he can come eat your food lol

 

[Lady Day]

Steamboat Willie was one of the most violent cartoons Ive ever watched. For them to take Mickey back to that would be insane. But that cartoon wasnt meant for kids so, eh.

Maybe its just me, but I never saw Mickey as a character to relate to. Even in childhood I saw him as the manager of Disney. Keeping all the other characters in line.

Wanna make him lovable again, take him back to where he was in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. That will do it

LD

 

[LizzieMaine]

They ought to make him Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey -- the Mouse of the mid-thirties comic strips, who was very much an adventure-hero type of character, fighting smugglers and pirates and kidnapers a la Orphan Annie.

Just so long as they don't put him on a skateboard, with sunglasses and a backwards ball cap.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

"When the character made its debut in “Steamboat Willie” in 1928, he was the Bart Simpson of his time: an uninhibited rabble-rouser who got into fistfights, played tricks on his friends (pity Clarabelle Cow) and, later, was amorously aggressive with Minnie."

Should have named him Randy Mouse instead of Mickey Mouse.

The change is a good idea from a business perspective; besides I would like to see a little mischief in that mouse.

 

[ron521]

This has "New Coke" written all over it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

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I say, nix Mickey and replace him backwards with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

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[Son_of_Atropos]

Has "updating" a character ever worked?

Example:
Updating Bugs Bunny to Buzz Bunny
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6989380/

 

[Lauren]

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I say, nix Mickey and replace him backwards with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
[
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Ditto that. I LOVE Oswald! Though I think he's somewhat in line with what LD said above about Mickey in Steamboat Willie.


Son of Atropos, those are just frightening. Why not market a completely new set of characters instead of trying to make the "new" classic ones?

I think one of the things that make classic cartoon characters so popular is that they can pass through generations. I STILL buy my dad stuff with Donald Duck on it and he LOVES it!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Speaking of update hell ...


Steven Spielberg is making a feature film about TINTIN. And yes, he says he's going to "Americanize" and make politically correct the plus-fours wearing, squeaky clean (and completely asexual), quintessentially European reporter, his very alcoholic friend Captain Haddock, and probably even the poor dog.


Having read, as a child, every TINTIN book (even the very politically incorrect early ones) dozens of times, I can't tell you how awful this Spielberg project makes me feel.

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[mike]

That's fine. We're just closing the door tight on the 20th Century so to give the Chinese and whoever else, a blank canvas to create what they want with the new century. You know, the one which will belong to them. ...really, it's fine

 

[Marc Chevalier]

This is going to suck, and here's why.


Spielberg's reasoning:


-- TINTIN is cool, like Indiana Jones. (That much is true!)

-- However...TINTIN is very European and very mid-20th century.

-- As a result, generations of European readers love TINTIN, but very few Americans have gotten into him and most Americans are left cold by his "foreign" Euro vibe.

-- Therefore ... in order to make a TINTIN movie appealing for American viewers, the characters and stories need to be "Americanized" and also be made more violent.



Result? This flick is going to throw all of the TINTIN books' charm out the window.


Here's the cast: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0983193/



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[Spitfire]

Tintin as an american hero???? NEVER! :eusa_doh:

 

[Marc Chevalier]

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In 1961, someone made a TINTIN movie that didn't suck at all. It was called Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece. The story's suspense, adventure, humor, sense of fun, dialogue and characters were true to the spirit of the TINTIN books.


Some images from the 1961 movie:

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[Marc Chevalier]

Tintin as an american hero???? NEVER! :eusa_doh:

It's akin to remaking Indiana Jones into a European hero.

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[Spitfire]

Ditto that. I LOVE Oswald! Though I think he's somewhat in line with what LD said above about Mickey in Steamboat Willie.


Son of Atropos, those are just frightening. Why not market a completely new set of characters instead of trying to make the "new" classic ones?

I think one of the things that make classic cartoon characters so popular is that they can pass through generations. I STILL buy my dad stuff with Donald Duck on it and he LOVES it!

fftopic:
Come to think of it - Mickey Mouse never became a hit in Denmark.
Donald Duck is the big name here. The Walt Disney cartoon magazine - started here in the 50's - is called Anders And ( = Donald Duck) and not Mickey Mouse. Guesse it's because the character of Donald Duck is so much closer to the danish national character (Unlucky, a bit lazy, opportunistic, crazy... ) while the clean cut Mickey is just boring and predictable.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Donald Duck is the big name here. The Walt Disney cartoon magazine - started here in the 50's - is called Anders And ( = Donald Duck) and not Mickey Mouse.

That's funny! The same thing happened in South America in the '50s. My mom (who grew up in Brazil) remembers how hugely popular the Donald Duck comic books were with kids. And my mother-in-law says that Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and Huey-Dewey-Louie were runaway hits in 1950s Chile, too. Mickey Mouse was a dud as far as Brazilians and Chileans were concerned.


Which begs the question: if Mickey Mouse has been boring for at least 5 decades, why bother investing any new money in "reviving" him? Let Mickey continue to be Disney's equivalent of the Nike swoosh and Ronald McDonald, nothing more.

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