The very idea of Mickey appeared in Walt’s brain on a trip home after coming down on the loss of his first creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He had no idea that one day this little mouse he drew on a scrap piece of paper would become one of the most recognizable logos in history.

On May 15, 1928, the very first Mickey Mouse short was aired, titled Plane Crazy. Most of the work done on this was by Walt’s right hand man, Ub Iwerks. Minnie made her debut in the same short, both appearing alongside each other as love interests from the beginning. Not long after, Disney put out their first synchronized-sound short film on November 18th, 1928: Steamboat Willie. This was a massive success for the company and has gone on to be one of the most notable moments in film history.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Image from: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/10062799141167379/

Mickey Mouse’s Voice Actors

Mickey has seen around 7 different voice actors currently, all running for different lengths of time. From 1928 to 1946, Walt Disney served as the primary voice actor for Mickey, as he cherished his little creation too much to hand it off to someone else. He did have to eventually, as things at the studio became extremely busy in the 1940s. Disney did reprise Mickey’s voice once in a while all the way up until 1966, which is the year Disney passed away.

Walt Disney voice acting for Mickey Mouse. Image from: https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/521221356867596438/

After Walt officially stopped doing the voice in 1946, it was handed over to Jimmy MacDonald, who was best known for creating different sound effects for the films. He was also the voice actor for Jaq and Gus in Cinderella, the Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland, and Chip and Dale in some of their film shorts. He voiced Mickey for different films and television specials until 1976 when he retired.

The third voice for Mickey debuted in 1977, with Wayne Allwine. His voice is the one we all probably know the best, as his voice starred in films such as A Goofy Movie, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Fantasia 2000, and many more. Allwine began working in the mailroom for the Disney company, and eventually went under the wing of MacDonald in the sound effects department.

Wayne Allwine and Jimmy MacDonald. Image from: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2020/03/animated-audio-making-noise-with-mickey-minnie/

"The main piece of advice that Jim gave me about Mickey helped me keep things in perspective. He said, 'Just remember kid, you're only filling in for the boss.'“ - Wayne Allwine

Minnie Mouse Voice Actresses

The original voice of Minnie was also done by Walt, as again he knew that he would be able to do it best for the time being. After Walt, it was passed onto legendary voice actresses such as Marcellite Garner, Thelma Boardman, Ruth Clifford, Janet Waldo, and finally from 1986 until 2019, Minnie was voiced by Russi Taylor. Taylor’s first introduction to Disney was visiting Disneyland as a young girl and meeting Walt there, telling him she wanted to work for him someday; she did just that.

Russi Taylor was also responsible for voicing the roles of Huey, Dewey and Louie, Clara Cluck, and inheriting roles such as Drizella Tremaine, Fairy Godmother, and Fauna. One of her first times voicing Minnie Mouse was for the television special DTV “Doggone” Valentine in 1987.

Russi Taylor and Minnie Mouse. Image from: https://tvline.com/2019/07/27/minnie-mouse-voice-russi-taylor-dead-disney/

Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor’s Relationship

In 1988, Russi did Totally Minnie, a television movie where she met Wayne Allwine for the first time. In an interview with Variety in 2017, Taylor recalled:

“He was married, and I was married at the time. He said, ‘I’m so glad I’m going to have a Minnie now.’ I said, ‘Yes, it’s pretty exciting,’ and off he went. I didn’t know that he was unhappy and he didn’t know that I was unhappy.” - Russi Taylor

After ending both of their respective marriages, the two finally got married in 1991 in Hawaii and they stayed married until Allwine’s death in 2009. Russi Taylor passed away 10 years later in 2019. Through many interviews with them together and from their co-stars, everyone praised their marriage for being authentic, fun-loving, and translating into their performances as Mickey and Minnie. It gave them an advantage at playing a couple who was in love because it was genuine in reality too. They kept their romance private, as Russi had said they didn’t want their marriage to be all about Mickey and Minnie. But they did praise each other publicly whenever they could.

“They were just so in love and so wonderful together. I think that love came through in their performances, and gave it a little something extra.” - Bill Farmer, voice of Goofy