In just a few days, the iconic Mickey Mouse will turn 90. To celebrate this historic milestone, the Laughing Place staff have searched through their extensive Disney collections to highlight nine of their favorite Mickey-centric items. Throughout the week, we’ll be unveiling out 90 for 90 series in five parts, with each installment featuring two LP contributors.
Starting things off, we have our Editorial Director Kyle Burbank and our Site Manager Bekah Burbank sharing their top Mickey items and what they mean to them.
Kyle’s 9 Favorite Mickey Items
“When the Magic Began” Sorcerer Mickey
When I moved to California in 2009, I knew almost no one in the state — especially not anyone in Rancho Cucamonga, where I decided to move. Thus, the roommates I found on Craigslist grew to be among my only friends and they were nice enough to invite me to certain family functions such as Christmas Day gatherings. On one of the two Christmases I spent with them, my roommate’s father gifted me with this artwork he happened to have. I forget the entire story now but it involved a paint shop or something to that effect. In any case, after it became mine, I bought a frame for it and the art now hangs right above my desk.
Triple Self-Portrait Mickey
Speaking of desks, this figure wasn’t always so worse for the wear, but has incurred some damage over the years thanks to multiple moves. Despite the fact that Mickey no longer has any ears, this is still one of my favorites for multiple reasons. First, from the moment I saw this on display at Off the Page in the then-named Disney’s California Adventure, I was taken with how clever the homage to Normal Rockwell’s “Triple Self-Portrait” was — including the twist where Mickey is sketching Walt. My father felt the same and, before our trip ended, he decided to buy it for me as a gift. As luck would have it, I had just secured a promotion at work and would now have my own desk, so naturally this graced the corner of it for some time.
Nanoblocks Sorcerer Mickey
My wife and I both love Legos. In fact, for years now, our Christmas gift to each other has just been to purchase a set and build it together. However, this Nanoblocks piece (which is a different company from Lego but offers a similar concept) wasn’t a Christmas gift but actually something we picked up while in Tokyo for our honeymoon. It narrowly beat out some other fun Nanoblock sets to be the one we ended up taking home, but I think we made the right choice.
“it’s a small world” Vinylmation Mickey
When Vinylmations were first introduced, I rolled my eyes at them. And yet, around the time the second Park series came around, I was hooked. Not long after that, my collection started growing exponentially, with me owning at least 100 at one point. Alas, they say that the first step in overcoming addiction is to admit that you have a problem so that’s exactly what I did. I sold off most of my figures, retaining only a dozen or so and, of those, this one has remained one of my absolute favorites. For the record, I believe it was the chaser for the Park Series 3 (don’t quote me on that), so I might have made more selling this one than some of the others, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
1989 Disneyland License Plate Mickey
In 1989, I was only three years old. Because of this, I have no memory of my parents purchasing this license plate nor am I even sure I was on the trip with them when they got it. But, at some point, my dad passed it down to me and stands out as a prized part of my Disney collection. I also get a big kick out of seeing this same license plate on display at the Disneyland hotel near the ballrooms, Goofy’s Kitchen, and Steakhouse 55 — look for it next time you’re there.
D23 Bandleader Mickey
When D23: The Official Disney Fan Club launched in 2009, I was there on day one to sign up. If I recall correctly, this logo was one of the first used by the club, which went with their tagline “Made for you and me.” Of course, that first year also brought the first D23 Expo and, directly or indirectly, led me to meet many of the closest friends I have today. Heck, that expo was the first time I met the owner(s) of this very website! With all that taken into consideration and the fact that I just love how young and joyful Mickey looks in this artwork, I definitely had to include it.
Tokyo DisneySea 15th Anniversary Mickey
Sadly, I was not at Tokyo DisneySea in 2016 to celebrate the jaw-droppingly amazing park’s 15th anniversary — but, as they say, that’s what friends are for. Starting sometime circa 2014 or so, my friend Arielle and I started a new tradition where we’d send each other little gifts whenever we’d travel to an international Disney park. With her taking several trips to Tokyo in recent years and me being in five-year TDR drought, it’s always nice to get park maps, postcards, and more from the resort. As for the art itself, I don’t even know where to begin with trying to describe the gang’s outfits but I love them and I love this.
Hong Kong Disneyland 1st Visit Button Mickey
Having been to Disneyland and Walt Disney World plenty of times, it had never really occurred to me to get a “1st Visit” button when traveling to new Disney destinations. Thankfully, my friend Chris was in tow when we got to experience Hong Kong Disneyland for the first time in 2016 (just before the grand opening of Shanghai Disneyland). Upon entering the park, he suggested we head to City Hall and, sure enough, they had these fantastic buttons for us to display proudly throughout the day. So, this was my first “1st Visit” button and, now that I’ve been to all 12 Disney parks, there’s always the chance it could also be my last as well.
Graffiti Mickey
As my aforementioned Vinylmation addiction grew, I found myself spending a lot more time at the now-defunct D Street at Downtown Disney. That’s where I saw this interesting piece on display one day and decided to bring it home. At this point, my rented room was bare, so I figured I should add a least a little color to it. Frankly, I don’t think I ever actually bothered to hang it, but just resting it against the wall was good enough for me. Now, I’m not a huge fan of graffiti art or anything like that so I’m not sure what about this jumped out at me, but my best guess is that I just enjoyed the colors and eye-catching design. In any case, looking at this now brings back memories of living in California, visiting Disneyland weekly, and apparently having a lot of disposable income to waste at the parks.
Bekah’s 9 Favorite Mickey Items
Vans SK8-HI Sorcerer Mickey Shoes
Aside from required wear or necessity I don’t buy shoes very often. I’m not a collector of anything but dust, however, when Vans debuted their Mickey Mouse-inspired collection I knew instantly that I wanted them. They are so gorgeous, I’m afraid to wear them! I love the deep royal blue color and the embroidered star and moon, and of course Sorcerer Mickey on the heel. I’m not even sure that Sorcerer Mickey is my favorite version of the mouse, but these shoes ticked all the boxes and I had to have them. And, yes I’m going to wear them. Stay tuned, review coming soon!
Mickey Mouse Phone
I don’t remember when this joined our family, and since my parents were always budgeting money, I feel like they didn’t buy it and that it was a gift from my Grandma. The phone moved around the house a bit, taking up residence in our kitchen, family room, and even my parents room. I love the classic colors and how friendly and cheerful Mickey looks. While I was never much of a “phone person” I did enjoy conversing next to the mouse.
Autograph Book
From the time I was old enough to understand what an autograph book was, I wanted one. Finally, in 1996 I got one! I don’t remember what outfit Mickey was wearing, but I know we met him at MGM. Yes, folks, I’m that old, and began my visits to Walt Disney World before Animal Kingdom came to be and while Hollywood Studios was MGM. I remember when we met Mickey my dad was frustrated because it was taking so long and we were missing out on shows. At the time, I felt that Mickey appearances were so rare that this was the one character we should wait for. All in all, I was thrilled to meet the main mouse and get his autograph. Side note, the other autograph pictured belongs to the stunt actor playing Indiana Jones at the Stunt Spectacular. As of 2012 he was still working the show but as one of the “producers!”
Disney Jigsaw Puzzles
I LOVE jigsaw puzzles. Absolutely love them and find myself always looking for puzzles that have at least 500 pieces, anything smaller than that isn’t challenging enough. I’ve purchased these as souvenirs and also plan to glue and frame them at some point along with each picture of me and my husband in front of all six castles. While these three aren’t specifically Mickey Mouse, he does make an appearance and without him, there wouldn’t be any parks in the first place.
Kitchen Goods
Over the years I’ve been gifted a random supply of Disney kitchen items from my family that have brightened up our home. The four kitchen canisters are Tupperware and have been in constant use since I’ve owned them. I also have this gorgeous wine stopper that’s seen some better days, but I’m not ready to part with it just yet. My mom and sister picked out this chips and dip platter shaped like Mickey’s head and painted it for me. My mom even personalized the back! Yes, he too has seen better days and was chipped during one of my moves, but I plan to keep him around for a long time. Finally, when I got married, my aunt and uncle gave us these lovely “his and hers” mugs which we’ve used mostly for coffee, but every once in a while will enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.
Mickey and Minnie Wedding Figurine
Speaking of our wedding, our good friend, Aaron, gifted us with this Mickey and Minnie figure and it’s been on display with our wedding photo ever since.
Mickey Mouse Pins
A long time ago, I was a Walt Disney World Cast Member. I worked at the BoardWalk Bakery and it instantly became my second favorite place on property. One of the perks of being a Cast Member was discounts on merchandise, and so I started acquiring pins. I’ve traded a bunch over the years, but never the Mickey Mouse pins. He is after all, my favorite classic character. I’ve been a long time fan of Star Wars, so I jumped at the chance to purchase these Disney pins during Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood Studios. As for the BoardWalk pin, I believe it was a CM exclusive given to us in honor of the Resort’s 15th birthday. Finally, in 2016 we visited Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disney Resort and picked up the fun Mickey sticker and Grand Opening keychain, respectively.
Shanghai T-Shirt
And continuing with Shanghai Disney Resort, we were at the World of Disney store in Disneytown the day before the Resort’s grand opening, and came across this shirt. It’s on the small side for what I usually wear, but was one of only two shirts that had that design AND the “Opening Team” print on the back. I assume this was not supposed to be out with the general merchandise and that it was specific to CM’s. However, knowing this was my only chance to own this shirt, I snatched it up. I had no trouble at checkout and left feeling like I’d won some prize.
Disneyland Paris Tea Canister
For the past three years, my husband and I have made tea every night before we go to sleep. When we visited Disneyland Paris in 2017, we stayed at a hotel with a mini kitchen complete with tea kettle. The only problem was we hadn’t brought any tea with us. We searched around the Disney Store in Disney Village and just as we were about to give up hope, turned over this canister to read “thé” (“tea” en Francais)! This worked perfectly as it met our need for tea and provided us with a souvenir of the Park’s 25th Anniversary. I love that Mickey is in his steampunk costume that he wears in the Disney Stars on Parade, parade!
Come back tomorrow for more of our 90 for 90 series celebrating Mickey’s 90th birthday.