Editing Mickey Mouse (section)

==Social impact==
[[File:HK Aberdeen Centre Square fountain Disney cartoon Christmas decor Nov-2012 Japan Home City shop sign.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|A display in Asia highlighting the iconic white glove]]
[[File:Mickey Mouse head and ears.svg|thumb|The silhouette of Mickey Mouse's head has become an iconic image.]]

===Use in protest votes===
In the United States, [[protest votes]] are often made to indicate dissatisfaction with the slate of candidates presented on a particular ballot or to highlight the inadequacies of a particular voting procedure. Since most states' electoral systems do not provide for blank balloting or a choice of "[[None of the Above]]", most protest votes take the form of a clearly non-serious candidate's name entered as a [[write-in vote]]. Mickey Mouse is often selected for this purpose.<ref>{{cite web|last=Friedman|first=Peter|url=http://whatisfairuse.blogspot.com/2008/06/write-in-mickey-mouse-for-president-if.html|title=Write in Mickey Mouse for President|publisher=Whatisfairuse.blogspot.com|date=June 10, 2008|access-date=April 8, 2012|archive-date=November 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129185547/http://whatisfairuse.blogspot.com/2008/06/write-in-mickey-mouse-for-president-if.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/state/kansas/Mickey-Mouse-among-the-top-write-in-vote-getters-in-Wichita-municipal-elections |title=MM among top write-in candidates in Wichita elections |publisher=Nbcactionnews.com |date=January 17, 2011 |access-date=April 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927213525/https://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/state/kansas/Mickey-Mouse-among-the-top-write-in-vote-getters-in-Wichita-municipal-elections |archive-date=September 27, 2011}}</ref> As an election supervisor in Georgia observed, "If Mickey Mouse doesn't get votes in our election, it's a bad election."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rigsby|first1=G.G.|date=November 15, 2012|title=Elvis, Mickey Mouse and God get write-in votes|url=http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/2012-11-15/elvis-mickey-mouse-and-god-get-write-votes|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309193946/http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/2012-11-15/elvis-mickey-mouse-and-god-get-write-votes |archive-date=March 9, 2013|access-date=April 17, 2015|website=savannahnow}}</ref> The earliest known mention of Mickey Mouse as a write-in candidate dates back to the 1932 [[New York City mayoral elections]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://prospect.org/article/if-you-give-mouse-vote |title=If You Give a Mouse a Vote |last1=Fuller |first1=Jaime |date=November 5, 2013 |journal=[[The American Prospect]] |access-date=December 30, 2014 |archive-date=January 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114182610/http://prospect.org/article/if-you-give-mouse-vote |url-status=live }}</ref>

Mickey Mouse's name has also been known to appear fraudulently on voter registration lists, such as in the [[2008 U.S. presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/article852295.ece |title=Vote drives defended, despite fake names |work=St. Petersburg Times |access-date=April 8, 2012 |archive-date=March 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325100045/http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/article852295.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12432392|title=The ACORN investigations|date=October 16, 2008|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=March 12, 2009|archive-date=October 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020083802/http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12432392|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Pejorative use of Mickey's name{{anchor|pejorative}}<!-- [[Mickey Mouse (pejorative)]] redirects to anchor -->===
{{Prose|date=May 2024|section}}
"Mickey Mouse" is a slang expression meaning small-time, amateurish or trivial. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it also means poor quality or counterfeit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mickey-mouse|publisher=Dictionary.com|title=Mickey Mouse|access-date=October 27, 2021|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027190410/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mickey-mouse|url-status=live}}</ref> In Poland the phrase "mały Miki", which translates to "small Mickey", means something very simple and trivial – usually used in the comparison between two things.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.miejski.pl/slowo-Ma%C5%82y+Miki|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116000656/https://www.miejski.pl/slowo-Ma%C5%82y+Miki|archive-date=January 16, 2021|title=Słownik Miejski – Mały Miki|access-date=October 27, 2021}}</ref> However, in parts of Australia it can mean excellent or very good (rhyming slang for "grouse").<ref>{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=John|title=The lingo dictionary : of favourite Australian words and phrases|date=2009|publisher=Exisle Publishing|location=Wollombi, N.S.W.|isbn=9781921497049|page=180}}</ref> Examples of the negative usages include the following:
* From 1942 to 1945, during the [[Japanese occupation of the Philippines]] in World War II, the occupying Japanese government issued a [[Japanese government–issued Philippine peso|new fiat currency]] which drastically decreased in value towards the war. As a result of [[hyperinflation]], Filipinos at the time would refer to the currency in scorn as "Mickey Mouse money".<ref name="McClung">{{Cite web |title=Japanese Peso Note {{!}} McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture |work=McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture {{!}} University of Tennessee, Knoxville |date=October 20, 2017 |access-date=January 25, 2023 |url=https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/object-of-the-month/japanese-peso-note/ |archive-date=January 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125185122/https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/object-of-the-month/japanese-peso-note/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'', [[Fredo Corleone|Fredo]]'s justification of betraying Michael is that his orders in the family usually were "Send Fredo off to do this, send Fredo off to do that! Let Fredo take care of some Mickey Mouse nightclub somewhere!" as opposed to more meaningful tasks.
* In an early episode of the 1978–82 sitcom ''[[Mork & Mindy]]'', Mork stated that [[Pluto]] was "a Mickey Mouse planet", referring to the future [[dwarf planet]] having the same name as Mickey's pet dog Pluto.
* On November 19, 1983, just after an [[ice hockey]] game in which [[Wayne Gretzky]]'s [[Edmonton Oilers]] beat the [[New Jersey Devils]] 13–4, Gretzky was quoted as saying to a reporter, "Well, it's time they got their act together, they're ruining the whole league. They had better stop running a Mickey Mouse organization and put somebody on the ice". Reacting to Gretzky's comment, Devils fans wore Mickey Mouse apparel when the Oilers returned to New Jersey on January 15, 1984, despite a 5–4 Devils loss.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://devils.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=41709|title=1983–84: Growing Pains Lead to Promise|publisher=New Jersey Devils|author=Rosen, Dan|access-date=March 25, 2006|archive-date=May 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510195453/http://devils.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=41709|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In the 1996 Warner Bros. film ''[[Space Jam]]'', Bugs Bunny derogatorily comments on [[Daffy Duck]]'s idea for the name of their basketball team, asking: "What kind of Mickey Mouse organization would name a team 'The Ducks?'" (This also referenced the [[Anaheim Ducks|Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]], an [[NHL]] team that was then owned by Disney, as well as the Disney-made ''[[The Mighty Ducks (film series)|The Mighty Ducks]]'' movie franchise. This was referencing the Disney/Warner Brothers rivalry.)
* In schools a "Mickey Mouse course", "Mickey Mouse major", or "[[Mickey Mouse degrees|Mickey Mouse degree]]" is a class, college major, or degree where very little effort is necessary to attain a good grade (especially an A) or one where the subject matter of such a class is not of any importance in the labor market.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2655127.stm|work=BBC News|title='Irresponsible' Hodge under fire|date=January 14, 2003|access-date=May 12, 2010|archive-date=May 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518171304/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2655127.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In [[British football]], the term "[[Mickey Mouse cup]]" is used to describe competitions that are regarded with lesser prestige than others. It has been used to describe elimination-based season competitions like the [[EFL Cup]] or the [[FIFA Club World Cup]], as well as single-match trophies such as the [[FA Community Shield]] or [[UEFA Super Cup]].
* In the beginning of the 1980s, then-British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] once called the [[European Parliament]] a "Mickey Mouse parliament", meaning a discussion club without influence.<ref name="euo">{{cite web|title=What does Mickey Mouse Have To Do With The European Parliament?|url=http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/euo_en/spsv/all/26/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507205439/http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/euo_en/spsv/all/26/|archive-date=May 7, 2008|access-date=August 12, 2008|publisher=EU-Oplysnigen (Denmark)}}</ref>
Additionally, the term "[[Mickey Mousing]]" refers to the exact synching of a film score to each action depicted onscreen, in reference to the early cartoons that used this technique.<ref name="bbc-mm">{{cite web |title=Film music |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/popular_music/film_music1.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112134737/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/popular_music/film_music1.shtml |archive-date=November 12, 2010 |access-date=October 21, 2010 |publisher=BBC |quote=When the music is precisely synchronised with events on screen this is known as Mickey-Mousing, eg someone slipping on a banana skin could use a descending scale followed by a cymbal crash. Mickey-Mousing is often found in comedy films.}}</ref> Although not inherently a pejorative term, the technique has long fallen out of fashion,<ref>Newlin, Dika (1977). "Music for the Flickering Image – American Film Scores", ''Music Educators Journal'', Vol. 64, No. 1. (September 1977), pp. 24–35</ref> and the term has taken on a secondary meaning indicating material interpreted as being too simplistic for its [[target audience]].<ref>Helvering, David Allen (July 2007). "Functions of Dialogue Underscoring in American Feature Film", p. 177. The University of Iowa. {{ISBN|9780549235040}}.</ref>

===Parodies and criticism===
[[File:Short Subject⧸Mickey Mouse in Vietnam (1969, silent version).webm|thumb|thumbtime=21|The 1969 underground protest cartoon ''[[Mickey Mouse in Vietnam]]'']]

Mickey Mouse's global fame has made him both a symbol of [[the Walt Disney Company]] and of the United States itself. For this reason, Mickey has been used frequently in [[anti-establishment]] or [[anti-American]] satire, such as the infamous underground cartoon ''[[Mickey Mouse in Vietnam]]'' (1969) and the Palestinian children's propaganda series ''[[Tomorrow's Pioneers]]'' where a Mickey Mouse-esque character named Farfour is used to promote Islamic extremism. There have been numerous [[parody|parodies]] of Mickey Mouse, such as the two-page parody ''"Mickey Rodent"'' by [[Will Elder]] (published in ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' #19, 1955) in which the mouse walks around unshaven and jails Donald Duck out of jealousy over the duck's larger popularity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://johnglenntaylor.blogspot.com/2009/01/mickey-rodent-mad-19.html|title="Mickey Rodent!" (Mad #19)|date=January 2009|publisher=Johnglenntaylor.blogspot.com|access-date=January 22, 2018|archive-date=August 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806063808/http://johnglenntaylor.blogspot.com/2009/01/mickey-rodent-mad-19.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]'', [[Bart Simpson]] puts a black bra on his head to mimic Mickey Mouse and says: "I'm the mascot of an [[evil corporation]]!"<ref>[http://imdb.com/title/tt0462538/quotes The Simpsons Movie (2007) – Memorable Quotes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705222500/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462538/quotes |date=July 5, 2008 }}. [https://www.imdb.com/ The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219024844/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102943/fullcredits |date=February 19, 2018 }} .Retrieved on March 20, 2008.. Retrieved on March 20, 2008.</ref> ''The Simpsons'' would later become Disney property as its distributor Fox was acquired by Disney. In the [[Comedy Central]] series ''[[South Park]]'', Mickey (voiced by [[Trey Parker]]) serves as a recurring antagonist, depicted as the sadistic, greedy, and foul-mouthed boss of the Walt Disney Company. He also appears briefly with Donald Duck in the comic ''[[Squeak the Mouse]]'' by Italian cartoonist [[Massimo Mattioli]].

Mickey Mouse has also been particularly commented upon in the context of [[fascism]] and [[antisemitism]] in [[Nazi Germany]]. A pro-Nazi newspaper in the mid-1930s denounced Disney's use of "the greatest bacteria carrier in the animal kingdom" as evidence of the "Jewish brutalization of the people".<ref name=Fantastika>Morgan, Glynn. [https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/luminary/issue6/issue6article3.htm "Speaking the Unspeakable and Seeing the Unseeable: The Role of Fantastika in Visualising the Holocaust, or, More Than Just ''Maus''"], ''Visualizing Fantastika'', Lancaster University Department of Creative Writing. Summer 2015. {{ISSN|2056-9238}}.</ref> Artist [[Horst Rosenthal]] created a comic book, ''[[Mickey au Camp de Gurs]]'' (''Mickey Mouse in the Gurs Internment Camp'') while detained in the [[Gurs internment camp]], subtitled "Publié Sans Autorisation de Walt Disney" ("Published without Walt Disney's Permission");<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rosenberg |first=Pnina |title=''Mickey Mouse in Gurs'' – humour, irony and criticism in works of art produced in the Gurs internment camp |journal=Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice |volume=6 |issue=3 |year=2002 |pages=273–292 |doi=10.1080/13642520210164508 |s2cid=143675622| issn=1364-2529}}</ref> Rosenthal's Mickey names Walt Disney as his father, but is sorted into the camps as a Jew after being unable to name a mother, a seeming parody of both Disney's rumoured antisemitism and of the American public's ignorance around racial divisions in Europe.<ref name=Fantastika /> Cartoonist [[Art Spiegelman]] adapted Nazi descriptions of Jews as rodents and vermin for his graphic novel ''[[Maus]]''; The original three-page strip uses a young Mickey Mouse as a stand-in for Spiegelman, listening to tales of "[[Auschwitz concentration camp|Mauschwitz]]" and [[the Holocaust]] told by his father Vladek. The full 1991 adaptation of the strip uses a comparatively direct anthropomorphization of Spiegelman, but otherwise continues to use Mickey Mouse imagery to connect contemporary America to the genocide.<ref name=Fantastika />

In the 1969 parody novel ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'', Mickey Mouse is satirized as Dickey Dragon.