bethposting

beth (defunct)

@bethposting

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pervocracy
@pervocracy

I realize it's been three days (though we did have advance notice) but I've yet to see any uses of Steamboat Willie that rise above meme status. There's one joke - look, I made Mickey do something naughty! - and that's about all anyone has had to say so far.

There are public domain characters that do get used for real - Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are probably the biggest examples - but they each have a lot more lore and personality than Mickey. Seems like what this is really revealing is that Mickey Mouse was actually never a very interesting character on his own, and is only notable as a corporate symbol.

bethposting
@bethposting

mickey is only an empty vessel for meaning. a trickster stripped of all malice and with any interesting edges sanded off. reduced to naught but three circles

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in reply to @pervocracy's post:

Webster
@Webster

mickey mouse was a perfectly interesting character at his peak imo. the down-on-his-luck underdog mickey of the late 30s had buster keaton charm. part of the problem, i think, is that mickey mouse has been so sanitized into a grating brand symbol for so long that everyone has collective amnesia about him. another part of the problem is that the mickey of steamboat willie is not that interesting. and yet another part of the problem is that disney is famously litigious and i think everyone is afraid of touching mickey mouse in any transformative way.

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ckape
@ckape

I remember hearing about Chinese officials bemoaning that China could've never made Kung Fu Panda because the panda is too tired to their national identity for anyone to risk representing one as flawed, and Disney has had a similar sort of relationship with Mickey.

There were a few shorts made rather recently where Mickey had some of his old personality, but generally speaking unless you're a specific sort of nerd your entire memory of Mickey is bland and inoffensive.

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