As Walt Disney himself once said ‘It all started with a Mouse’. Well today Mickey Mouse celebrates his 80th birthday!

Mickey and Minnie Mouse actually debuted on 15th May 1928 in an animated short named Plan Crazy. But Mickey’s actual birthday is always quoted as 18th November 1928 as this is when he made his first appearance on film in the animated movie Steamboat Willie. So this makes him the ripe old age of 80 today!

Walt Disney said of Mickey Mouse:

“We felt that the public, and especially the children, like animals that are cute and little. I think we are rather indebted to Charlie Chaplin for the idea. We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin — a little fellow trying to do the best he could. When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it’s because he’s so human; and that is the secret of his popularity. I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse.”

So happy 80th birthday Mickey. As Minnie Mouse debuted on the same day does that mean that she is also celebrating?

One of my favorite movies of the year was Disney Pixar’s Wall-e. It was one of those rare movies that I actually went to see more than once at the movie theater. It is released on DVD on November 18th. This is 3 days too late as far as my son is concerned as it is just a little after his birthday!

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Even though the Wall-e DVD is not out in time for my son’s birthday we are having a Wall-e party for him. There are some very cute Wall-e and Eve cake toppers which I am using for the cake.

For those of you who haven’t yet seen Wall-e the story is that humans had to leave the Earth as they had created so much waste and garbage the whole planet became unable to support any life form. So the humans left on a space ship hoping to return to Earth one day in the future. They left behind robots to clean up the Earth ready for their return. Unfortunately the robots were not very reliable and all but one, Wall-e, broke down. So Wall-e is left on his own with the huge task of clearing up all the garbage that humans left behind.

But Wall-e is lonely. He spends his days collecting trinkets and imagining how life could be if only he could have contact with some other being. One day everything changes when Eve, a sleek sophisticated robot, is sent down by the humans, to report on any findings of life on Earth. There begins a true love story………..

What did I like so much about Wall-e? Aside from the brilliant Pixar animation I thought it was a really thought provoking story told in such a different way. Much of the movie is just action and music. Not many movies can get away with this but Wall-e does this so beautifully it is amazing to watch. But the message was such an important one of how we must care for the Earth and each other before it is too late. Wall-e appeals to all age groups though. My 2 year old is just fascinated by him and can watch him for hours (yes we have the U Command Wall-e robot toy and I just love it too)!

The relationship between Wall-e and Eve is also one of those great movie love stories. Yes they are robots but just a short way into the movie you really do begin to forget this.

I can’t wait to get the DVD - it is going to be one of those classic movies that everyone wants to see again and again.

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