Remarks on the Popularity of Mickey Mouse

It is twelve years since Mickey Mouse first put in an appearance. From the history of this mobile and moving figure it is interesting to observe that his first appearance was a complete failure. We have reason to presume that the failure arose from the fact that Mickey Mouse was first heard with his creator's voice. We have difficulty in imagining this today since we have become so familiar with the voice that is now used for him.

Mickey's difficult time did not last long and today everyone knows what an enormous success he has had and how he attracts both young and old. You see him as children's toys, as brooches, adorning boxes of Corn Flakes, or appearing in other places as advertisements. If one asks people at random if they like Mickey Mouse, one definitely finds more affirmative than negative answers. Someone who, at my suggestion, made inquiries among his circle of friends found more supporters of Mickey Mouse among women than men. Whether this is the rule, I do not know, I am inclined to attribute it to the fact that women are more closely involved in their children's delight in the movie.

There is little doubt that most children accept the films promptly and unreservedly. Without difficulties their phantasy is linked to the simple pictures, the immediate happenings which take place and which do not presuppose any knowledge but touch on the child's emotions simply by visual means. Repetition of actions and gestures, painfully tiresome for the adult, give profound satisfaction to the child. Repetition is a means to overcome anxiety and to strengthen self-confidence. In the Mickey Mouse films we find a continuous repetition of leaps across precipices, of capture and escape, of attack and defence. Monotony does not seem to exist for the child. Just as a verse is sung fifty times with a tireless enthusiasm, so the fiftieth leap is watched with the same