He use to be called: Steamboat Willie But I don't know the answers to your other ?'s ************************************************** 07-18-02, 10:18 PM Lydia he was in a movie called Steamboat Willie, but that was not his original name when he was created.
07-18-02, 11:36 PM coldfuse Original Name = Mortimer
I believe that Walt Disney himself changed the name to Mickey.
As to the rest...I'd have to look it up, I'd probably find a bad reference and it's time for ZZzz!
07-19-02, 02:49 AM DorianGreyed Somewhere I read that Walt's wife didn't like the name 'Mortimer.' Walt later used it for one of Mickey's nephews. In a Disney book, published by Disney, I read that on his way to Hollywood, Walt saw a mouse and got the idea from that. It may have happened on a train. ( It's been a while since I read it.)
07-19-02, 09:41 AM jell8 I think that he used to have a pet mouse who he named Mortimer and taught tricks. That's where he got the idea for Mickey.
07-19-02, 11:42 AM Lydia and it was his wife who didn't like the name.
There are actually 2 versions of how the mouse came to be and since I didn't know Walt, I can't say which one is most accurate.
1) came to be when he and his wife were travelling on a train and there was a mouse that they named Mortimer.
2) It is said that when he was in college he lived upstairs from a deli type shop and couldn't afford to buy much food. He used to get cheese from the shop downstairs and share it with the resident mouse in his room. There came a time when he could no longer afford the cheese and the mouse disappeared. He used to call the mouse Mortimer.
I kind of like the second story - - but I don't know which it really is...
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Posts: 1971 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: 06-04-02
To my knowledge, mice really don't like cheese. I think it messes up their metabolism. I'll stick with the train version. But then, we'll really have to wait until Walt thaws out to find out the answer. -------- Later
Before boarding the train home, Walt sent Roy a telegram: "LEAVING TONIGHT STOPPING OVER KC ARRIVE HOME SUNDAY MORNING SEVEN THIRTY DON'T WORRY EVERYTHING OK WILL GIVE DETAILS WHEN ARRIVE -- WALT" But while Walt was trying to protect his brother from the real story, it would appear that his mind was already working on a way to make the telegram true by the time he arrived home. As Walt told the story of that now famous trip to Los Angeles, he knew that he had to come up with a new character. And so he dreamed up the idea of Mickey Mouse on the way home. At first Walt thought he'd call his new creation Mortimer. But Lilly didn't like that name. "How about Mickey?" she asked. As hundreds of millions of fans now know, he took her advice. Soon after Walt got home, he began creating three cartoons starring his new featured player.
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Posts: 16990 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
