Mickey Mouse: Complex Character to Corporation Icon

          Mickey mouse will no doubt always be at the face of the Disney corporation, but those that know about the magnitude of his importance is beginning to diminish. Mickey the Mouse had a profound effect on those of the Great Depression in the 1930's, but the younger generation of today only know's Mickey as the big furry mouse character at Disneyland that signs your autograph book for you. According to Robert Brockway in his article, The Masks of Mickey Mouse: Symbol of a Generation, Brockway claims, "Mickey has some impact on the younger people but far less than those born upon the inter-war years." (33)
          Growing up, I knew that Mickey mouse was important to Disney and was the center of many early Disney shows, but I never knew how integral he was to the upbringing of the Disney corporation as a whole.   Brockway examines Mickey's importance, "While technical innovation and commercial promotion account for some of Mickey's popularity as a film star, his remarkable endurance shows that his creator unwittingly touched something deep in the human psyche." (26) Mickey held a great emotional importance to the people of that era, but it now has fallen into the hands of a plethora of new animated characters that hold the generational torch of significance to the youth culture.
           I believe that the reason why Mickey is only an icon now, not a character, it is partly due to Disney's discontinuance of airing the Mickey Mouse club in 1996.  The era of Mickey mouse was dead even then, because the popular characters of Dinsey's films took the forefront of youth attention.  But at least the Mickey mouse club kept the image of Mickey going, trying to revive it as much as possible. Enjoy the video, 90's kids.

Source:

Brockway, Robert W. "The Masks of Mickey Mouse: Symbol of a Generation." Journal of Popular Culture; Spring 1989; 22, 4; ProQuest Research Library. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDclvF1v5-U
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/archive/d/d4/20130713135902!Mickey_Mouse.png