Editing Mickey Mouse (section)

===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>