References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2012 October 29.

1940

April 26

• The Mickey Mouse film Tugboat Mickey is released to theaters. Donald Duck and Goofy also appear. [16] [23] [501.574]

June 19

• The "Mickey Mouse" comic strip is published containing a small swastika in the last panel of the strip. [34.149]

(month unknown)

• Thelma Boardman takes over from Marcellite Garner as the voice of Minnie Mouse. [96.35]

August 30

• The Pluto film Pluto's Dream House is released to theaters. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [23] [82.9] [228.393]

September

• The last issue of the third Mickey Mouse Magazine is published. [113.145,151,328] [228.99,323]
• A fourth Mickey Mouse Magazine is published in the US, consisting mostly of comic strips. (It lasts for only four issues.) [650.50]

November 1

• The Mickey Mouse film Mr. Mouse takes a Trip is released to theaters. Pluto also appears. [16] [23] [228.336]

November 13

• RKO Radio Pictures world premieres Disney's third animated feature film, Fantasia, at New York's Broadway Theater. The film introduces stereophonic sound to motion pictures via a special sound system called Fantasound. The film cost US$2.28 million to make. This is Mickey Mouse' feature film debut, in the segment The Sorcerer's Apprentice. This 10.5 minute segment alone cost US$125,000 to make. [5] [6] [8] [11] [13] [15] [17] [16] [22] [23] [35.9] [37.53] [34.136] [42.609] [49.258] [48.162] [56.216] [81] [92.82] [96.64] [97.156] [113.210] [176.128] [191] [192.105] [234.82] [228.70,173] [267.135] [370.38] [685.29] [911.70] [1073.49] [1102.341]

1941

February 14

• The Mickey Mouse film The Little Whirlwind is released to theaters. Minnie Mouse also appears. [16] [15] [23] [228.293]

March 28

• The Pluto film A Gentleman's Gentleman is released to theaters. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [23] [228.203]

May 30

• The Pluto film Canine Caddy is released. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [15] [23]

June 20

• The Mickey Mouse film The Nifty Nineties is released to theaters. Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy also appear. [16] [23] [228.357]

July

• The Printing Council forces the temporary withdrawl of the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip from its member newspapers, in support of the Disney strikers. [34.147]

August 22

• The Mickey Mouse film Orphan's Benefit is released to theaters. This is a color re-make of the 1934 film of the same title. Donald Duck, Clara Cluck, Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and Goofy also appear. [16] [7] [15] [23] [96.21] (August 12 [228.374])

October 3

• The Pluto film Lend a Paw is released to theaters. Mickey Mouse also appears. The film is a re-make of the film Mickey's Pal Pluto. [16] [15] [23] [228.286]

October

• Ches Cobb begins development of the animated short film Ditch Diggers, with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Black Pete. [176.53]
  
  

1942

January 13

• Disney delivers the film All Together to the National Film Board of Canada. The film includes Mickey Mouse and the gang, plus Pinocchio and Geppetto. [23] [228.1]

February 7

• The Mickey Mouse film Mickey's Birthday Party is released. Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Clara Cluck, and Goofy also appear. The film is a color remake of the 1931 film The Birthday Party. [16] [23] [96.21] [228.324]

March 20

• The Mickey Mouse film Symphony Hour is released to theaters. Donald Duck and Goofy also appear. [16] [23] [501.536]

1943

February 19

• The Pluto film Pluto and the Armadillo is released to theaters. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [23] [228.392]

(month unknown)

• Bill Walsh joins the Disney studio as a writer for the Mickey Mouse comic strip. [501.592]

September

• Disney publishes the first issue of Mickey Mouse on the Home Front, mainly for use by aircraft companies during World War II. [113.328]

1944

June 6

• "Mickey Mouse" is used as the password for the Allied D-Day invasion of Europe during World War II. [47.140] [96.67] [431.33] [911.81] [1102.411]

1946

June 7

• The Pluto film Squatter's Rights is released to theaters. Mickey Mouse and Chip 'n' Dale also appear. [16] [23] [113.236] [501.520]

(month unknown)

• Jimmy Macdonald, the Disney studios sound-effects man, takes over the job of providing Mickey Mouse's voice from Walt Disney. [96.11] [228.300]

1947

September 27

• RKO Radio Pictures releases Disney's animated feature film Fun and Fancy Free to theaters. It includes the animated films Bongo, and Mickey and the Beanstalk (with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy). [11] [13] [14] [16] [23] [25] [97.201] [225.40] [228.198] [370.79] (1948 [113.236])

October 3

• The Mickey Mouse film Mickey's Delayed Date is released. Pluto and Minnie Mouse also appear. [16] [23] [228.325]

1948

March 19

• The Mickey Mouse film Mickey Down Under is released. Pluto also appears. [16] [23] [15] [228.319]

(month unknown)

• Quaker Oats Muffets cereal boxes offer an inflatable Mickey Mouse toy. [245.48]
• U.S. Time introduces ten new Ingersoll Walt Disney watches, each with a different animated character on the face. [230.65]

July 9

• The Pluto film Pluto's Purchase is released. Mickey Mouse and Butch also appear. [16] [23] [228.394]

August 31

• Walt returns to the studio after a 10-day trip visiting the Chicago Railroad Fair and Henry Ford's Greenfield Village collection of buildings. Walt Disney sends a memo to Dick Kelsey, a production designer. He describes an idea for "Mickey Mouse Park", with Main Village, Railroad Station, Carnival Section, Western Village, with various shops and restaurants. [48.218] [92.98] [234.98] [238.200] [328.88]

December 3

• The Mickey Mouse film Mickey and the Seal is released. Pluto also appears. [16] [23] [228.319]

1949

January 14

• The Pluto film Pueblo Pluto is released. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [23] [228.402]

(month unknown)

• All work on the animated short film Spring Cleaning is abandoned. The project, with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Bobo the elephant, had been worked on sporadically since early 1938. [176.42]

February 10

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominates the film Mickey and the Seal for an Oscar Award in the category Short Subjects, Cartoons. [39.440]

(month unknown)

• The sale of the five millionth Mickey Mouse watch is announced. The watch is presented to Walt Disney by Kay Kamen. [34.205] (1948 [113.109])

1950

March 24

• The Donald Duck film Crazy Over Daisy is released. Daisy, Chip 'n' Dale, Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy also appear. [23] [228.108]

1951

May 18

• The Pluto film Plutopia is released. Mickey Mouse also appears. [16] [23] [15] [228.393]

(month unknown)

• The animated short film Talking Dog is developed, with Pluto and Mickey Mouse. [176.40]

August 10

• The Mickey Mouse film R'coon Dawg is released. Pluto also appears. [15] [16] [23] [228.407]

1952

• In France, publishing of Le Journal de Mickey magazine restarts. [650.53]

September 19

• The Pluto film Pluto's Party is released. Mickey Mouse and several nephews also appear. [16] [23] [228.394]

November 21

• The Mickey Mouse film Pluto's Christmas Tree is released. Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Chip, and Dale also appear. [16] [23] [228.393]

1953

April 18

• The Mickey Mouse film The Simple Things is released. Pluto also appears. (This is the last film appearance of Mickey Mouse until 1983.) [16] [15] [23] [49.266] [501.501] (1952 [7])

(month unknown)

• RKO Radio Pictures releases the cartoon film compilation Mickey's Birthday Party to theaters. [23]

1954

• The East German government bans Mickey Mouse as "an anti-communist subversive". [97.30]

1955

March

• Walt Disney comes up with the name "Mouseketeers" for members of the Mickey Mouse Club TV show. [23]

July 13

• The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring A Further Report on Disneyland / A Tribute to Mickey Mouse. [228.200]

August 27

• The Mickey Mouse Club Theater opens in Fantasyland at Disneyland. The theater plays Disney cartoon short films on several small screens. [9] [26] [228.323] [939.88] [1300.280]

October 3

• The ABC TV network launches Disney's second TV show The Mickey Mouse Club. It is a daily one-hour series, showing cartoons and introducing the talents of the "Mouseketeers". (390 shows are produced over four years.) [1] [22] [23] [26.47] [34.235] [48.274] [56.76] [83.425] [85.21] [85.354] [96.83] [113.294] [176.22] [190.137] [192.104] [228.322] [230.65] [267.198] [327.14] [911.98] [1073.80]

October 12

• The ABC TV network airs the Disneyland TV show, featuring "Adventures of Mickey Mouse". [85.357] ("The Adventures of Mickey Mouse" [228.9])

November 24

• The Mickey Mouse Club Circus attraction opens in Disneyland. Each live show lasts 75 minutes. [9] [19] [20] [26.61] [228.322] [450.27] [939.44] [1300.278] [1336.87]

1956

January 8

• The Mickey Mouse Club Circus in Disneyland closes. [20] [228.322] [1300.278]

(month unknown)

• General Mills offers free rings in its Sugar Jets cereal boxes. The rings feature likenesses of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Peter Pan, Snow White, Dumbo, and Pinocchio. [245.47]
• General Mills features an acetate 78 rpm phonograph record on its Wheaties cereal boxes. Records include Chip 'N Dale, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. [245.47]

1957

March 27

• Ingersoll-Waterbury presents Walt Disney with the 25-millionth Mickey Mouse watch. [96.76] [113.109] (U.S. Time [230.66])

(month unknown)

• The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards a Golden Globe award to Disney for the Mickey Mouse Club TV show. [369.317]
• The Mickey Mouse Club TV show is changed from a one-hour show to a half-hour. [83.425] [113.289] [267.204]

1958

• Production of Mickey Mouse watches is discontinued, due to a decline in interest. [113.109]

1959

September 25

• The ABC TV network airs the last episode of the Mickey Mouse Club TV show. [24] [83.425] [113.289] [267.204] [911.98]

Other web pages of interest:

This Day in History

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Last updated: 2012 October 29.
Copyright © 2006-2012 Ken Polsson (email: ken@kpolsson.com).
URL: http://kpolsson.com/mmouse/
Link to Ken P's home page.