Boring Mickey?
RMorris306@aol.com
RMorris306 at aol.com
Sat Mar 17 19:13:31 CET 2001
In a message dated 3/17/01 7:04:23 AM, dcml-request at stp.ling.uu.se writes:
<<
You're right. Some of those three-part adventures *were* exciting. But when
you look back on them, you often see that the only real *humor* comes from
Goofy doing silly stuff. Mickey himself, as a personality, tended to be
*boring* in those stories, something that would carry into other, shorter
Mouse material. Whenever somebody tried to do a one-part non-exotic detective
story, it often turned out unmemorable. And whenever somebody tried to do a
"gag" story with the Mouse, it would crash and burn! Yes, I'm aware there's a
nostalgic feeling in some quarters over these stories from simpler times -
but then some people think the '50s - as an era, not just as a source of
comic stories - were themselves really great!
As much as I enjoy several of the Paul Murry-drawn Mickey stories, overall
they give a hollow, one-dimensional, middle class WASPish 1950s-like view of
Mickey *himself* that might have been acceptable thirty years ago - but
shouldn't be today! (And I don't blame Murry for this. He has been known to
say that he didn't like Mickey's personality at that time, either.) Mickey
comes off as boring and bland - a characterization that was carried into
other producers' stories. Why do so many people tell me they *always* skip
the Mickey stories? Because those stories were *boring* for years! I've heard
that writers and editors used to *dread* having to write or edit yet another
5-page story where detective Mickey and his clumsy sidekick Goofy would solve
the mystery of who stole some rich woman's pearls.
Fortunately, some years back Egmont decided to infuse Mickey with most of his
original personality again. As a result the Mickey Mouse stories Egmont
produces these days are some of the best ever made, at least in my mind.
>>
I don't really think that's the problem. I've always thought Mickey's
"boring" personality was, in some ways, almost inherent in the
comedy/adventure genre. Most of the classic series in that genre, especially
the European ones, do indeed combine a somewhat bland (but clever) hero with
a big, strong (but rather dense) sidekick: Suske, Wiske and Lambiek, Tintin
and Captain Haddock, Pogo Possum and Albert Alligator, Rocky and Bullwinkle,
Asterix and Obelix, etc. Mickey isn't any more boring than Tintin or Rocky
the Flying Squirrel or Asterix the Gaul would be on his own...because their
essential function is as straight men to the foolish or clumsy or obsessive
types around them. The individual teams vary, of course (Captain Haddock
isn't stupid, but he IS hot-tempered, clumsy, and a borderline alcoholic),
but the characters fit together well, and the focus on a relatively
even-tempered, even bland, character like Mickey or Pogo helps to bring
sanity out of mystery and comic confusion.
All that said, I can't truly object to giving Mickey something of his
"original" personality...but a little of that goes a long way. I really don't
think today's audience would like to see Mickey squeezing a nursing sow like
a bagpipe or picking Minnie up by her underpants, though he did both in
"Steamboat Willie."
Rich M.
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