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That cute little mouse! The wonderful, iconic character known and loved by generations of children from all around the world. Along with his friends - Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and all those other fun, engaging Disney characters – all coming to life in cartoons. Such creativity and imagination! And, yet, while the story of Mickey Mouse and Disney definitely is one of ‘imagination,’ it is also a lesson in perseverance, positivity and maintaining an optimistic spirit in the face of adversity. In fact, the story of Mickey Mouse might never have happened at all if it were not for these great attributes.
In 1919, following the end of World War I, a young man from Chicago returned home from his post as an ambulance operator and began searching the classifieds for work opportunities. He came across a job in Kansas City as an illustrator and apprentice at a commercial arts studio. After only a year on the job, the company began losing revenue and was forced to lay off the young man. Having always wanted to launch his own company, he remained undeterred, enlisting the help of his brother to launch their own cartoon business. The company saw success early, but hardly enough revenue to keep the lights on and eventually, they declared bankruptcy and closed shop. It was a heartbreaking moment, one that almost convinced him he didn’t have what it took to be successful in the business. Once again though, he chose to remain steadfast, moving to California with only $40 to his name to try his hand in the budding motion picture industry.
After a few months of little success and living off inconsistent income, he finally came upon a producer who liked his work and hired him. With his brother in tow, they started their own production company to meet the demands of their new business partner. It would later turn out, on a visit to New York to renegotiate his contract, that the producer not only convinced the majority of the young man’s employees to come work for him directly but had also sold the rights to one of their best-selling characters to a rival studio. It was yet another setback that had him questioning not only his talents as an illustrator, but his acumen as a businessman.
Instead of fighting the loss, and now rid of the constraints of his old contract, he decided it was an opportunity once again to start fresh, while also learning a valuable lesson in trust. On the train ride back to California, he drafted idea after idea for new characters, but one stuck out from the rest, and his name was Mickey Mouse. The young man pitched Mickey Mouse to bank after bank, attempting to use the laurels of a character he no longer owned to help finance new, short motion pictures featuring a new unproven one. Over 300 banks said no to Mickey Mouse. Considering a move back to Kansas City, he received a call from one courageous banker who said he enjoyed what he’d seen and was willing to take a risk on this unproven character and this ‘up and coming’ illustrator, Walt Disney. Five years after losing his entire design team to his former business partner, Walt Disney would go on to win two Oscars during what were the beginnings of the now famed Walt Disney Studios.
“When you go to bat as many times as I do, you’re bound to get a good average.”, Walt Disney once said. He understood very well that sometimes in life, we don’t get to choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond to it. By choosing to embrace the imperfect, seeing it not through a vindictive lens or feeling as if we’re the victim of someone's misgivings, and instead as a learning experience, we present ourselves with more opportunities on the other side. Little by little, we are still able to make the progress we seek by choosing to respond positively to a negative situation. With all that’s happening in the world today, you’d be excused if you felt like trying to find the silver lining of it all was a futile exercise. That’s the thing though. In a world where much is out of our control, why wouldn’t we take ownership over what we can? Just think, had Walt Disney not done so, the world may have never been able to experience the magic he brought to the world. And millions of kids – young and old – would never have known that cute little guy – Mickey Mouse!
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