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.