Disney has dropped a new trailer for the documentary “Mickey: The Story of a Mouse,” the world’s most famous animated character created by Disney and Ub Iwerks in 1928.
“Marwencol” helmer Jeff Malmberg directs the documentary, which Oscar winner Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”), Meghan Walsh, and Chris Shellen produce.
The film will focus on Mickey Mouse’s ongoing, and permanent, artistic and cultural significance as well as exploring the associated controversies that surround the animated mouse who will soon be celebrating his 100th birthday. Originally inspired by silent film personalities like Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp, Mickey is identifiable across the world. He debuted publicly in “Steamboat Willie,” one of the world’s first sound cartoons, and went on to appear in over 130 films. Ten of Mickey’s cartoons have been nominated for Academy Awards, winning one for “Lend a Paw” in 1941. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.
“Ninety-four years ago, Walt Disney created a mouse that would become one of the world’s most beloved characters,” said Marjon Javadi, vice president of Disney Original Documentary and Docuseries for Disney Branded Television/Disney Original Documentary. “We are excited for the world to see Mickey Mouse in a way they’ve never seen him before. Our award-winning team of filmmakers captures Mickey’s journey through the years and reminds us why he has had such an impact on us.
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The trailer demonstrates that ‘two dimes and a quarter’ placed together can mean to people across the world. To fans, Mickey ‘represents light in a world that can be very dark’. He became an icon of hope during the Great Depression, and a mascot of American industry during World War II, and his presence continues to delight fans young and old, even today.
The official synopsis for the film : “One of the world’s most beloved icons, Mickey Mouse is recognized as a symbol of joy and childhood innocence in virtually every corner of the globe. It has been a remarkable journey for a character dreamed up at a low point in the career of Walt Disney, an ambitious young artist who moved to Hollywood from Kansas City, Missouri. Disney’s groundbreaking short “Steamboat Willie,” the first synchronous-sound animated film, turned Mickey into an overnight sensation and made shorts featuring the plucky mouse a staple of moviegoing during the height of the medium’s popularity. In the decades that followed, Mickey was transformed into strikingly different versions of himself, reflecting both the trajectory of his creator’s stunning rags-to-riches career and dramatic societal shifts —positive and negative — in the nation he came to represent.
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This originally premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, and also played at the Long Beach Film Festival during the summer.