Movie Musings: Disney and More

Of Mice and Mice

“I hope we can never lose sight of one thing…it was all started by a mouse.” This was spoken by Walt Disney, and of course, he’s referring to Mickey Mouse. When Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in May of 1928, along with Minnie Mouse in November of 1928, he created the first two of what is known today as the “Sensational Six,” which is the group of Disney characters that include Mickey and Minnie, along with Donald and Daisy Duck, plus Goofy and Pluto. Mickey and Minnie both continue with great fans today, and so do the rest of the “Six,” but since then Disney has created many other mice characters who are also fun and entertaining which don’t get quite as much attention. In today’s blog, I’d like to share with you about some of those characters and why they are special too.

“Timothy Q. Mouse,” from Dumbo (1941) is one great example. When Dumbo becomes separated from his mother in the movie, Timothy meets Dumbo and becomes his one and only friend. The rest of the circus teases and mocks him for having big ears, but when it is discovered that Dumbo can use his huge ears to fly, Timothy helps Dumbo work his way into being the signature act of the circus. Although they originally rely on a feather given to them for good luck (which they call “the magic feather”) Timothy also inspires Dumbo not to rely on the feather and to have confidence in himself, simply trying to do the very best he can. It is because of Timothy’s encouragement that Dumbo takes the best flight of his whole career—finally reuniting him with his mother.

“Gus and Jaq,” from Cinderella (1950) always have Cinderella’s back, much like how Timothy always has Dumbo’s back. Because Cinderella takes the time to rescue them—along with several other mice—from the cat, Lucifer, dressing them and treating them as her friends, in return they help her. Gus and Jaq feel a great deal of compassion for Cinderella and for the trouble she goes to on a daily basis to please her stepmother (Lady Tremaine) and stepsisters (Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine). They help design Cinderella’s pink ball gown, and although the gown is destroyed by Anastasia and Drizella, when the Fairy Godmother comes to help out, Gus and Jaq are turned into white horses that pull Cinderella’s carriage to the ball! Later on, when Cinderella has been locked in her bedroom by her stepmother, preventing her from trying on the glass slipper and ever seeing Prince Charming again, Gus and Jaq successfully retrieve they bedroom key from Lady Tremaine and give it to Cinderella who frees herself and is saved. Fans love that Gus and Jaq are the heroes of the story!

Just like “Gus and Jaq,” Bernard and Miss Bianca from The Rescuers (1977) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990) are also very devoted to protecting humans. In the first “Rescuers,” Miss Bianca reads a letter to the Rescue Aid Society that was sent in a bottle from Penny, who was kidnapped by greedy diamond collector, Madame Medusa, to retrieve a huge and popular diamond. Miss Bianca is a courageous mouse who wants to rescue Penny, which the society agrees to, on the condition that she chooses a partner. Bianca chooses Bernard, the janitor mouse, having developed a crush on him. Ultimately, thanks to the help of friends they make in the swamp, where Medusa’s hideout is, Bernard and Bianca overcome insecurities and fears to succeed in saving Penny from the swamp, and restoring her to the New York City orphanage—where she finally meets a new adoptive mother and father, fulfilling her lifelong dream.

In “Rescuers Down Under,” Bernard and Bianca are again summoned to Australia to rescue a boy named Cody kidnapped by a man named McLeach, a poacher/hunter of all animals. Although Miss Bianca is preoccupied with Cody’s well-being in the film, Bernard is preoccupied with the idea of proposing marriage to Bianca and they meet a new friend along with the way, another Disney-mouse—this one named Jake. Jake teaches them about Australia, though Bernard unfortunately feels that Jake will be a competitor against him for Bianca’s affection. They all three work together, saving Cody and setting Marahute free, but it turns out that Jake is in no position to marry and settle down, so Bernard finally proposes to Bianca, and she happily accepts.

In The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Disney parodies the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in the form of anthropomorphized mice: the detective Basil of Baker Street and Dr. David Dawson. Dr. Dawson meets a mouse girl named Olivia whose father has been kidnapped by the conniving Professor Ratigan (a rat-but he doesn’t like to talk about it :)) and he brings her to Basil’s house in the cellar of 221B Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes himself lives. Dawson is very kind and compassionate toward Olivia, and though Basil is at first cynical and insensitive to the idea of working with children, he finds compassion in his heart too, and they begin an epic quest. It takes a great deal of searching and clue-finding, but ultimately they find Olivia’s father and learn that he was kidnapped to create a “toy” in the shape of the Mouse Queen of England. Together, Basil and Dawson bravely thwart Ratigan’s schemes (including an epic chase scene in the interiors of “Big Ben”) and Olivia is restored to her father. The two partners are honored by the Mouse Queen and they decide to continue their partnership.

Throughout Disney’s history, there have been great mice characters: some goofy but good-hearted sidekicks, some lovestruck main characters, and others who struggle with bravery, but find it. Whether or not we will ever see a new mouse character (perhaps an unfriendly/evil one?) from Disney is unknown, though for now, their “family tree” of mice characters will continue to be full of great fun and all things Disney.