Reading Response

The one article that caught my interest the most was "In the Mick of Time, Reflection on Disney's Ageless Mouse" by Elizabeth A. Lawrence. I liked it because it made me realize the strong presence that Mickey Mouse still has on our society today. I also thought it was really cool how Lawrence talked about the evolution of Mickey, and the changes he underwent as technology advanced. I never knew how Mickey looked originally until I looked it up, and I was so surprised at how different he looked. The Mickey I grew up with and know has bright red shorts, striking white gloves, bright yellow shoes and bubbling big eyes. This Mickey was not in color, and did not have the same look in his face. He seemed much duller. In the article, Lawrence brings up the many transformations Mickey Mouse went through in order to become more “cuddly and juvenile” (68).  His “nose was made thicker and shorter, his ears were moved back to give him the appearance of having a rounded rather than sloping forehead, his eyes became far bigger, and his limbs softer and puffier” (68).  Another point brought up by Lawrence that I thought was particularly interesting was the effect of roundness. Lawrence claims in the article “roundness is the essence of the neotenous configuration. While thinking about this thought, it actually does make sense to me. It proves to be true in a lot of either animated films or television shows that the friendly, lovable characters are more curvaceous than the trouble making characters. I never realized how much thought goes into drawing a cartoon character until after reading this article. There is so much more that goes into it on the psychological aspect of things than I ever knew. It definitely worked though considering I still see Mickey Mouse in all different sorts of places.

On Thursday I went to South Point Mall for the first time since I’ve been here. I must have gone into at least 5 different stores while I was there. I would say three out of the five stores had sections either dedicated to Disney characters, or just had random articles of clothing that involved Disney some how. In Forever 21, there was a t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it and I immediately knew I had to take a picture of it so I could blog about it. Lawrence mentioned in the article how “Walt Disney himself pointed out that his mouse was not a creation aimed specifically at children” (71). When I saw this Mickey Mouse t-shirt in Forever 21, a store primarily for high school and college kids, it made me think about this. Mickey Mouse items aren’t just being sold in stores for little kids. It is everywhere, and it is not going anywhere.

In Elizabeth A. Lawrence’s article, “In the Mick of Time, Reflections on Disney’s Ageless Mouse”, she talks about the evolution of Walt Disney’s famous Mickey Mouse, and how he has gradually transformed over time. Mickey Mouse is still with us in a lot of places today even though the generation he grew up with he dwindling down.