It’s Mickey Mouse!  He came by looking for Donald Duck, but Donald waddled out Sun City Peachtree about a month ago.  Oh well, it’s nice to have you here, Mickey! But, where’s Pluto?  Did you leave your pet pooch behind?  I hope he catches up with you here!  What about your girlfriend, Minnie?  (Actually, according to Walt Disney, the two are married in private life!)

You’re sure looking spry for your age, Mick!  You’re coming up on your 93^rd birthday, and you don’t look a day over nine. 

How is it that after all these years, your red shorts, white gloves, and yellow shoes still look as good as knew?  You have kept trim, too!  At 23 pounds, you haven’t gained an ounce.  (At 2’3”, he hasn’t grown either.)  Your voice is sounding as falsetto as ever, and you’re still stuck on “swell” and “gee” as your go-to lingo.  Some things never change.

You still have that awesome spirit, too.  You may be known as an underdog, but despite your diminutive stature, you are larger than life.  Nobody can overcome adversity like you, Mickey.  Your quick wit and can-do spirit can get you through anything!

You’ve had quite the life and career since Steamboat Willie, haven’t you?

It’s Mickey Mouse’s magnetic personality that has made him the most popular and recognizable cartoon character in the world.  (Of course, being in 130 movies, being the star of your own club and television show, having your image plastered on all sorts of souvenirs; and, being the mascot of Disneyland and Disney World helps a lot, too!)

There’s a bit of history that made Mickey Mouse the star that he is.  Walt Disney treasured Mickey Mouse like no other character, and the two were widely regarded as “alter-egos” by peers and historians, a perception supported by Walt originating Mickey’s voice.  Disney once attributed his success to the advent of Mickey, famously proclaiming that, “it was all started by a mouse.”

Mickey’s fame earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he is the highest-grossing animated character of all time.  Mr. Mouse has also received ten nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

There is so much documentation on all things Mickey Mouse that I could write an entire college term paper on the round-eared, bright-eyed mouse!  I’ll keep this short, though, and just conclude by offering my congratulations and thanks to Mickey for all the joy he has brought to the world.  (He sure helped increase our stock in Walt Disney, too!)