The first two Mickey shorts drew no attention, but then came Steamboat Willie, the first animation to feature synchronized music and sound effects, hit the screen. The moniker didn't last there are a number of tales attempting to explain how and why the most popular being that Disney's wife hated the name and suggested its replacement but soon he was ready for his debut as Mickey. They shortened the ears, added some extra padding around the middle, and turned the rabbit into a mouse. returned to work and held a series of hair-pulling, late-night brainstorming sessions for Oswald's replacement. He and Ub Iwerks the one loyal animator who stayed with Disney Bros. Univesral offered to keep Disney if he took a lower salary, but he refused. Instead, the studio told him that it had hired away all of his employeees and retained the rights to Oswald. When Disney met with executives to negotiate another contract in 1928, the rabbit was still riding high and the animator thought he had the upper hand. With his round, white face, big button nose and floppy black ears, the smiling Oswald was an instant hit and Universal ordered a series of shorts. Disney Brothers Studio was just another cog in Universal Pictures' animation machine when, in 1927, Walt Disney created a character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Mickey's story, however, starts with a rabbit. ( Read TIME's 1937 cover story on Walt Disney) But TIME has been following the adorable mouse since the beginning, and 80 years is still a big number to us. Disney threw a big party for the mouse's 75th birthday, so this year's festivities will be comparatively subdued. Sure, Mickey hasn't had a movie in two years (his last one went direct-to-video), but his cheerful face remains one of the most recognizable images in the world, even beating out Santa Claus. Sure, he's a little rounder, a little squatter, and he's been wearing the same clothes for decades, but all in all he looks pretty good. Follow Mouse turns 80 years old today, and there's not a gray hair on him.
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