Steamboat Willie started it all in 1928…the small letterboard is from a company called Felt Nook…the Mickey shaped pieces and “Happy Birthday” and “Mickey” words are all from a wonderful company called Believe, Dream, Imagine
Mickey turns 90 years young on November 18, 1928. His first cartoon ( though not the first one made,) Steamboat Willie was released on that day. Walt Disney himself voiced Mickey for many years. Ub Iwerks, a cartoonist and a close friend of Walt’s , drew the original Mickeys. His name was going to be Mortimer, but Mrs. Disney liked Mickey better ( don’t we all?)
Some Mickey trivia for you, courtesy of Wikipedia:
* Mickey has been in over 130 films
* Mickey had his own comic strip that ran from 1930 to 1975. It was drawn primarily by a cartoonist named Floyd Gottfredson
* Mickey was made to replace another cartoon named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
* Mickey’s first color animated toon was Parade The Award Nominees in 1932 created exclusively to run for the Academy Awards. His first official colored film was The Band Concert released in 1932
* Mickey’s first feature film was the 1940, Fantasia in the segment titled, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Personal trivia fact: my husband and I love Disneyland so much and a certain mouse that we named our first beloved doggie, Mickey. We had the joy of being his fur parents for over 15 years….he was the best pal and we miss him everyday. We’ve carried on the tradition of using a Disney name by calling our 2 nd dog, Lady, after Lady & The Tramp.
A Cheeseboard fit for the big cheese himself!
In honor of Mickey’s 90th, I’m doing a few themed things to celebrate. I had a lot of fun creating this cheeseboard with him in mind, I used the traditional Mickey colors of red, yellow and black for my color scheme. The cheese board is a ceramic Mickey shaped dish, I got it years ago from The Disney Store. The smaller Mickey shaped bowls were also from there as were the silverware with a Mickey cutout and the salt and pepper shakers. The Mickey and Minnie dancing statue and the “I love Mickey” coin purse, I got at Disneyland several years ago. Being an annual passholder, I enjoy collecting things from the resort to use to entertain and decorate with. Of course, the Minnie ears were also from Disneyland. The cups, straws, paper napkins, cloth checked napkin and red dishcloth were from Target. All the rest of the dishes…the ramekins, square and rectangular bowls, the red bowl, and the appetizer plates are from Crate & Barrel.
Close up of Cheeseboard
Building a cheeseboard has many elements. You definitely want a good cheese as your star. Larger boards can have multiple cheeses. For this night, I settled on one. It was just my husband and I enjoying it, so we didn’t need more, but you could easily add more. Crackers are a must. It’s nice to have several kinds of crackers near the cheese are garlic flavored ones. The cheese was a Smoked Gouda. Both these items and the little pumpkin cranberry crackers plus the fig butter, coconut chips and sugared orange slices are from Trader Joe’s. The M & Ms ( fall variety) and the Mickey goldfish crackers were from Target. Having a variety of both sweet and savory is key to a good cheeseboard. The fig butter paired wonderfully with the cheese.
Napkins, straws and cups stand ready to be used
I love to use paper for casual things like this. I put out a set of cups, straws, napkins and plates. We were ready to eat and enjoy a night of watching a special celebrating Mickey’s birthday.
Photo with the Mickey letterboard shown, too
The colors of both the letterboard area and the cheeseboard bring it all together in one cohesive spread. The little Mickey buttons sprinkled around are also from Target. Now all we have to do is enjoy the Mickey munchies
Lady got in on the fun and wore her ears, too!
This is the end of this “tail,” but don’t ever forget what Walt Disney said, “It all started with a mouse.” Never doubt what a thing as small as a mouse can bring. The laughter, joy, fun and magic has been going strong for 90 years! We love you, Mickey Mouse! We wish you many more magical years!
