Disney in the Classroom
Mickey Mouse Changed My Life

One of Sam and Susie's first meetings with Mickey

Mickey Mouse was not a part of my childhood. I do not remember watching a Mickey Mouse cartoon or wanting to see Mickey when I visited Disneyland. Mickey Mouse was just an image from another time that had no importance in my life.

My perception of Mickey did not change until the first time I took my children to Disneyland. As I expected they were interested in Pooh, Tigger, and the other cartoon characters I had shared with them. What I had not expected was their great excitement when they spotted Mickey and Minnie Mouse. We had to meet Mickey and Minnie, and not just once, but every time we were in the Park. This great interest, in characters they had never seen, intrigued me. I decided I had to find out more about what I had thought was a passé and inconsequential cartoon.

A Mickey Mouse Poster in my classroom

Since I am a U.S. History teacher I knew that it was during the 1920’s that Americans developed our obsession with new technology. I also knew that during the 1930’s the economy had collapsed, throwing millions of Americans out of work, and causing all Americans to wonder if our way of life would survive. What my study of Mickey Mouse taught me was that he was a product (and hence an excellent example) of 1920’s era Americans’ interest in new technology. I also learned that his 1930’s cartoons offered many Americans hope when many of them had no hope. Watching Mickey Mouse’s early cartoons helped me to understand the emotions and the actions of Americans during the 1920’s and 1930’s. It also inspired me to use his cartoons to enrich my teaching.

Minnie has grown from being no more than Mickey's girlfriend into an independent mouse with her own career