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    21 Surprising Things You Might Not Know About Mickey Mouse

    Like the time he tried to kill himself after he thought Minnie cheated on him.

    1. Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse after he lost the rights to his very popular cartoon character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, to Universal Pictures.

    2. Originally Mickey was going to be named Mortimer.

    3. Plane Crazy (not Steamboat Willie) was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon ever created.

    4. Steamboat Willie was the first publicly released Mickey cartoon and it was an instant hit.

    5. Mickey's official birthday is Nov. 18, 1928.

    6. Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy cost $2,500 a piece to make.

    Calculated for inflation, that's roughly $35,000.

    7. The Opry House (1929) is the first cartoon where Mickey is shown wearing his trademark white gloves.

    8. The first words Mickey ever spoke were "Hot dogs!"

    9. Walt was the voice of Mickey from 1928-1946.

    10. The first officially licensed Mickey Mouse product was a writing tablet, which was introduced in 1930.

    11. Mickey has two nephews named Morty and Ferdy.

    12. Mickey also has a sister named Amelia Fieldmouse.

    Amelia is the mother to Morty and Ferdie and has only appeared in the comics.

    13. In one really bizarre 1930 comic book storyline, Mickey tries to commit suicide in various ways, after he suspects Minnie of cheating on him!

    Needless to say, he does not succeed.

    14. Mickey and Minnie are married according to Walt.

    15. The Band Concert (1935) was the first short in which Mickey appeared in color.

    16. In a 1936 Japanese animated propaganda film, Mickey Mouse's image was used to represent the West invading Japan.

    17. Mickey's iconic role as the apprentice in "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice," in Fantasia, almost went to Dopey Dwarf.

    18. The 1939 short, The Pointer, was the first cartoon to feature the current look most closely associated with Mickey.

    19. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

    20. Despite his popularity, Mickey took a 30-year hiatus between films. His last cartoon, The Simple Things, premiered in 1953. He would not appear in another cartoon until 1983's Mickey's Christmas Carol.

    21. Mickey's 1979 disco album, Mickey Mouse Disco, went double platinum.