Who'd ever think something as big as Disney could grow from this mischievous deckhand. Love those old cartoons and the fun others have had with them, like Berkley Breathed's Mortimer Mouse, which was apparently the originally intended name for Mickey.
Here's the restored original, courtesy of Youtube.
Here's the restored original, courtesy of Youtube.
As depicted there, he is a surly, stubbly, chain-smoking mouse who wears two-button shorts and has a bite taken out of one ear as a result of a scuffle with ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner. He is presented as the estranged fraternal twin of Mickey. Disney threatened to sue Breathed over this character.
ReplyDeleteThe above should be in quotes. I think I may have seen Mortimer once or twice, but had no idea he had a back story. Or had a scuffle with Eisner.
ReplyDeleteYea, I remember that scuffle over Mortimer, but since it was a parody, Breathed was able to skate clean.
ReplyDeleteSeems like this page comes up on the first page of Google, judging by all the hits. Please feel free to make comments.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary, Mickey!
ReplyDelete