Tatoo

On July 21, 2007 at 12:01 AM, I paid the Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah, California $37.70 for my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. While I know this price puts the book out of reach for many low-income muggle families, our family found a way to include it in our budget this month. Why?

Reason 1. The real magic of Harry Potter.
Trivia question: How many books were printed in the first printing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (then called “Philosopher’s Stone”)? Answer: 1,000. So how did people find out about it? Word of mouth. And who passed the word? At first, independent booksellers. Then readers (mostly children) and soon after librarians, teachers, parents, everyone; then the advertising mucky-mucks got their paws on it. But it started with little local independent booksellers saying “Psst, hey, little girl, read this.” Without them, who knows where Harry would be today? That’s the real magic behind Harry’s catapult to international fame. Although the mainstream literary industrial complex (B. Kingsolver’s term) produces and promotes many good books, it also lets many good books fall through the cracks. We have our local independent booksellers to thank for peering between those cracks and picking those books up. These independents are literally closing their doors every day because online and big box booksellers are pushing them out of business. It is up to us to keep those doors open for them so that they can keep the doors to a heap of good reading open for us. Our indie bookstores put Harry on the map (and I don’t mean the Marauder’s Map) so we could find him! Don’t you think the least we can do is give them our business?

Reason 2. What goes around comes around.
Frankly, I owe Ann Kilkenny (owner of Mendocino Book Co.). She hosted the successful launch of my fantasy adventure The Call to Shakabaz in January. While Barnes & Noble and Borders won’t so much as nod in my direction, small independent bookstores here and there are discovering and hand selling my book and helping get the word out. Booksellers like Stephanie Vela at Black Oak Books in Berkeley (CA), Sharon Wright at Carol’s Books in Sacramento (CA), Bob Spear at the Book Barn in Leavenworth (KS), Susan Sternberg at Alphabet Soup in Lawrenceville (NJ), and St. Helens Bookshop (OR), are making a big difference in my life as a first-time author, and in the lives of my young readers. I’m not a purist. I do shop online. But I also make a conscious effort to buy at Mendocino Book Co., especially something like HP7. It’s the least I can do to show my appreciation to Ann and her staff. My survival and the survival of other new authors like myself depends on her survival and the survival of other indies.

Reason 3. It’s about more than strawberries at the Farmer’s Market.
There’s a lot of talk about community and supporting community by buying local products (also a factor in reducing global warming), but let’s put our money where our mouth is. Our local bookstore owner is a member of our community. She raised her children here. She sells cards and calendars made by local artists. She provides the service of selling tickets for local dance, music, and theater performances. She contributes to the local merchants’ association and she is part of the local economy. Her modest earnings on our purchases do not go to a corporate headquarters outsourced to the Philippines. Ann’s store doesn’t have an upscale gourmet coffee bar, fancy pedestal tables, or pastries for sale; but the store has couches, chairs, and a welcoming atmosphere. While raising my children, I would often say “Meet me at the bookstore.” The staff knew each of them by name and could suggest titles just for them. When we say it takes a village to raise a child, we must remember that part of that village is the local bookstore. So what better place to celebrate the publication of HP7? An online bookseller can’t compete with the face-to-face, warm-and-human event of buying a great book in person, or, furthermore, celebrating the launch of that book with friends and acquaintances as part of a larger community. There is no substitute for the village.

Reason 4. Sharing the pie.
Apparently online booksellers will not make a profit on HP7 because of the rock bottom price they have offered. If the online booksellers want to slit their wrists on this one, let them, but you can be sure that someone is making a profit. No matter what price the online booksellers offer, they still have to pay the publisher a fixed amount per book based on the cover price. The publisher and the author are making a profit. I don’t begrudge JK a penny of her millions. She has earned it. If you have read her books then you are probably as confident as I am that she will make good use of the money. But why are we begrudging our local bookstores this sterling opportunity to turn a profit? What other business would you prefer to support? We have a win-win situation here. The consumer gets a terrific product while stimulating the local economy. What’s not to like about it? My only complaint is that the cover price is so high that low-income families can’t afford the book.

Reason 5. Keeping a promise.
I have not heard of a single independent bookstore that leaked one word of HP7 before the street date. In fact, it seems the only leak in the world occurred through Deep Discount, an American online seller. I find it hard to believe that there are those who so desperately need to feel like a know-it-all that they sought and released the book or information about the book before the launch date. In the entire world, this happened only in the U.S. What does that say about our ability to delay gratification? (Shame on the newspapers who cashed in on the leak and printed advance reviews.) At midnight in Ukiah, people of all ages, Republicans and Democrats, children of every ethnicity and many religions (and speaking in more than one language) joined our counterparts throughout the Pacific time zone as we gleefully counted down together for the witching moment when the sealed boxes could be slit open. You know-it-alls missed out on that magic. I honor all the local bookstores, big and small, for keeping a promise and ensuring that those boxes remained sealed until the contractually agreed-upon time.

Reason 6. Sheer delight.
What fun to participate in the book launch celebration! I spent hours in the company of our small community’s beautiful children while they celebrated the publication of a book. Our children, many dressed in costumes or with painted faces, talked heatedly about books with each other and adults, ate the abundant treats provided (many with Harry themes), played games at tables, watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, skateboarded in front of the store, entered contests to win prizes by answering HP-related quiz questions and coloring HP-related pictures, played word games, and filled in word puzzles. Does it get any better than this? July 21 should be declared International Reading Day in honor of the brilliant imagination of one woman in Edinburgh and her ability to unite the world for a weekend of peaceful reading. Now there’s magic for you.

In among the crowd of children at our bookstore, I saw one particular child whose presence lifted my heart. Let’s call her Sylvia. Last winter, my 15-year-old son told me that Sylvia (also 15) had been diagnosed with cancer and had only a few weeks to live. This news broke my heart, even though I have never spoken to Sylvia or her family. I have watched many children, such as Sylvia, grow up from a distance. I have seen her sing, dance, and act in local children’s performances produced by a performing arts school in town ever since she was four years old. She is the only child of back-to-the-land hippies who spend most of their time on an isolated sheep ranch. I find the thought of these gentle, shy parents losing their only child devastating.

But I saw Sylvia at the bookstore. Thin and frail, with a black and red scarf hiding her bald head, she spoke quietly with friends who asked how she was doing and sat down with her to hear her tell them and listened and cared. These children were not afraid to face her or her struggle and to lend their support. When I left the bookstore at 12:20, I was elated not only because I had in my hands the final installment of Harry Potter, but also because Sylvia is still alive. I imagine her curled up in bed, reading. Perhaps JK’s complex and deeply felt thoughts on death will comfort and assist her on her difficult journey. Whether or not she wins her battle with cancer (and I hope with all the hope in my heart that she will win), I am grateful that she stayed with us long enough to find out how Harry ends. I could not have bought the knowledge that Sylvia is still alive to read HP7 at an online bookseller. It is part of that community thing. The village. All my reasons aside, just the image of Sylvia reading HP7 all the way to the very last secret revealed was worth the $37.70 I paid for the book at my local, terrific, independent, community bookstore.

Amy Wachspress is the author of The Call to Shakabaz, a children’s and young adult fantasy adventure featuring all Black characters that demonstrates the fundamental principles of nonviolence. She is also a grant writer who has raised over $70 million for initiatives that benefit children, youth, and families in over 20 states. For more information visit www.wozabooks.com.

Tatoo

Practitioners admit it hurts like hell and speech is initially difficult, but claim that the surprise factor of sticking out their tongues at unwary persons is worth the effort.

For those seeking out cool tattoos getting the tongue tattooed might be too much. Circus carny and graphic designer Curtis McMurty is the person credited with developing a specially patented Tongue-Dyed Tattoo™ technology.

And McMurty's innovation doesn't stop with the visual. He claims the new technique has the same durability as any regular tattoo, but has the added aspect of eliciting a specific taste to go with the design. "They come in chocolate, vanilla and garlic. If you really want to shock a person's sensibilities, go for the garlic — you won't be disappointed."

"I've always been unique. My friends say I'm 'touched.' Now I'm twice as unique!" — Egrett Emry, tongue tattooer

The first person to have the procedure done was Egrett Emry, who has a depiction of vomit it was a toss-up between that and an "Eat Me" graphic). Emry's roommate acknowledged that Emry's first week after getting it done has been "a real tongue twister. He really sucks at taking phone messages."

Emry later noted in an email interview that, "I've always been unique. My friends say I'm 'touched.' Now I'm twice as unique. If scientists could grow another tongue on me through stem cells, I'd totally tattoo that one, too. Hey, I'm a no-hold-the-bar kinda risk-taking guy."

Emry added that so far all food tastes like burnt flesh. "Don't get me wrong, I've never actually tasted burnt flesh, but I think we all agree on what we think it must taste like, you know?"

About two dozen Californians have supposedly received tongue tattoos at McMurty's parlor in East L.A. In terms of safety, initial research shows that it's no more harmful than swallowing small droplets of mercury.

And in terms of imagery, well, the sky's the limit. McMurty was contacted recently by some Portland, Ore., teenagers who want to tattoo the Nike corporate swoosh on their tongues, "to speak out about the omnipresence of corporate greed."

"It can certainly be shocking," admitted Emry, describing how he surprised his dentist when he went in for a routine check-up. "The poor guy said, 'Open up.' So I did — and I swear he fell over backwards when I stuck it out at him. I guess the general public will find this sort of thing hard to swallow."

Tatoo

The premise of Smith is completely ridiculous: A family man (Ray Liotta) is actually a master thief, who travels around the country pulling off grand heists. He has a team of specialists who assist him, and none are redeeming characters. So, we are supposed to root for a guy who deceives his wife and son, is a mercenary, and is a man who witnesses the death of a team member and walks away with no remorse? On paper, this all seems a tad unpleasant, doesn't it? Well, somehow, it's not. With Smith, CBS has created one of the most entertaining and gleefully evil shows televison has seen in a long time.

Smith is a derivative of the type of cinema currently embodied by the works of Tarantino. Hardened anti-heroes who do bad things, yet still remain in the viewer's good graces. Like characters on “The Sopranos”, we would not be friends with these people in real life. We wouldn't like them and, in all likelihood, we'd be scared of them. However, in the context of their own, specific universe, we can root for them and become caught up in their plight. Why? I don't think it's over-simplifying it to say that it's just entertaining. Smith focuses on Bobby Steven's team pulling off high-stakes robberies. As long as these robberies are exciting (which they have been so far) the viewers will be tuning in.

Viewers can forgive a lot when it comes to their protagonists. People identify with flawed characters because they themselves are flawed. When Simon Baker's character on Smith mercilessly guns down two thugs, simply because they kicked him off their private beach, we identify with him. We don't agree with harshness of his reaction and would never consider doing what he did (I don't own a sniper rifle, anyway) but we respect that he stood up for himself and would like to believe that we'd stand for oursleves in the same situation. Anti-heroes take reality and accentuate to a degree that the layman will never know.

Smith is good only because it's characters are the bad people they are. I've heard complaints that the characters on Smith are so totally unredeemable that they just can't watch Smith. Well, how would the show work if Ray Liotta played Bobby Stevens as a nice, warm-hearted, respectful, stand-up guy? It would seem wildly improbable for a guy like that to be involved in the world of high-stakes robberies. Of course, this seems obvious, but it's a key issue to ponder over when discussing the premise of any show. When creating a TV show, you typically begin with the premise. I'm sure that was the genesis of Smith. Creator Jon Wells probably thought, “Hmm, you know what'd be cool? If there was a show where a team of thieves pulled off a different heist every week.” From there, what kind of a main character do you create? There aren't a lot of options. Sticking to take-no-prisoners bad ass is usually the best choice.

Smith is still early in it's run and it could easily drop off in quality as the season goes along. I hope not, because CBS has created a show that is fun, full of action and uncompromising in it's vision.

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer

Tatoo

[1957—summer] It was a bad year for Mike Russet, and his father; he had gotten cancer, and died. I hadn’t’ known anyone to have died up to this point, it was my first encounter with death: experiencing with the face of someone I had known, met, liked, my very first look at loss; that is, it was my very first stumble upon it, it was a new feeling, kind of like he belonged, and then was gone, that is he belong to this world, he was here, and now he was not, out of it, and not for a week or month, but not to return: prior to this, his father, Mike’s father would take Mike and me out on town trips, like a picnic or so; a few things—not often, but occasionally. And so this story I tell out of sadness, for we laughed our stomach sick, and I think Mike’s father would have loved us such a remembrance.

For me it was always nice that he asked me along, knowing he wanted to be with his son, but Mike wanted me along also, more so (or so it seemed), and his father wanted to please Mike; but I often felt out of place, or even misplaced at times; but I like Mike’s father, my father had left before I was even born. So it was a new feeling if anything that his father accepted me and liked having me along. I was ten and a half years old; Mike was a year younger than I. But I’d remember this one afternoon the rest of my life; oh it must had been about several weeks before he was bed-ridded, when he took both, me Mike and Mike’s mother to a farm outside of the city’s limits, and both us boys kneeling against that farm fence were astounded at something as we looked in the pigpen—and then looked at each other, like the wino we once encountered—we were amazed at what we saw.

Mike’s father kept looking at us boys off and on wondering what we saw: a frown came over his face and we boys were just laughing hilariously; laughing without talking, as bad as with the wino.

“Let me in on the secret, —the joke boys?” his father said to both of us boys, and we looked at one another, stared a moment, holding our laughs inside of us, than looked at his father, then at one another again, then back at the big pig laying sprawled out on the ground, half asleep, a male pig; Mike then checking me out again, for the umpteenth time.

“Come on boys,” his father said, with a curious look.

“Ok, are you sure you want to know?” hilariously laughing, asked Mike, trying to hold back his laughing back but couldn’t—lest his father think the joke was on him (and it was not), and me looking the other way so as not to make Mike laugh any harder than what he was so he could speak,

“But I don’t want mom to hear,” says Mike to his father. And he whispered in his father’s ear as Mike’s mother stepped back and shook her head as if we were all nuts (I think she knew the secret).

“Pop,” Mike said, “Chick and I have never seen such huge—you know what’s before on, on, on anything before….”

And as soon as we just couldn’t get over laughing, and able to tell his father that with a straight face, we busted out laughing until our guts pained us again. His father started laughing more at us boys than at the sleeping pig, shaking his head, looking at his wife, and Mike’s mother shook her head again, said with her squeaky voice,

“I’ll fine out later…not sure if I want to…”—and then looked at the pig as not to spoil the moment for us, the gang now. And we all rested against the gray dried up wooden fence gazing and gazing—as if into wonderland.

Said the father after several minutes later, “Can I pull you boys away from here, away from those big nuts on that pig, and have you seen enough?”

“Oh sure,” said Mike, with both our eyebrows up in the air, and taking our last hard look at the humongous balls of the big—.

Tatoo

A lot of people will tell you that showbiz SPARKLE is something that can't be cultivated - that you either have it or you don't and, for sure, some people are lucky and seem to be born with an innate ability to stand out from the crowd, turn heads, get attention and generally make you sick! But seriously, like anything in life - if you study hard and work at it, you can achieve results, and developing your Sparkle Factor is no different.

Look at the following Acrostic definitions for SPARKLE

ACTIONS

Serious
Punctual
gAble
Reliable
Keen
Likable
Energetic

ACTIVES

Smile
Posture
Attitude
outine
Knowledge
Lure
Enthusiasm

These two lists make up the essence of SPARKLE. It is your job to demonstrate, in the short space of the audition, that you are all of the items on the ACTIONS list - and you can do that by making sure you display all 7 ACTIVES.

So, let's look at the secrets of the 7 ACTIVES one by one:

SMILE - And the World Smiles with You

It may sound simple but learning to deliver a confident and catchy smile is one of the best tricks you can master when auditioning. When you walk into the audition room you will of course be nervous - and we will look at tackling audition nerves later in this course - but that first moment of contact with a casting director is key.

A first impression lasts and there is a reason that the best advertising in the world blasts us with perfect toothpaste smiles to promote products: BECAUSE SMILES CREATE A POSITIVE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE in the recipient.

Firstly remember this, if you have arrived late to an audition and you walk in apologizing you cannot be delivering a winning smile. You may try an apologetic smile but that creates a completely different emotion in the director.

Also, under pressure most of us raise a small ‘nervous smile' - the kind that evokes a little empathy or pity in the receiver but you need to scratch that from your audition repertoire and start focusing on something bigger, more confident and more effective.

There are many types of smile - from the brashly confident (NOT good for meeting the casting director) to the shy and timid. You Audition SMILE has to be somewhere in between. Confident, charismatic and genuine - it will tell the casting director that you are aware why you are here, and ready to give him your best shot.

Make eye contact as you smile and give your ‘performance smile' - that smile you give on stage when you want to warm the audience, when the adrenaline is pumping inside you and you feel totally ‘in control'. That's the smile you have to find and take into the audition room with you. Think about the Fight and Flight response we talked about earlier - think yourself out of the audition room and onto the performance stage and let the smile come out. And remember, a good smile starts in the eyes. (You can practice this in front of the mirror)

Delivered correctly the SMILE ACTIVE reassures the casting director that you are Serious, Punctual and Keen - 3 of the 7 ACTION boxes you need to get checked.

POSTURE - Your body talks too.

From the moment you walk into the audition room the casting team are sizing you up. Not in a bad way. Not in a judgmental way. But in a purely physical way - do you physically look right for the role on offer

However, there are two sets of signals that you send off when you walk into the room and, while the casting team are consciously focused on the obvious - physical - characteristics; your height, weight, hair color etc., you can send out a whole set of positive messages with the metaphysical traits of your being

How you carry yourself into an audition is surprisingly crucial to your success. First impressions last - as I have said before - and a casting director will remember their first impression.

Walk in with confidence. Hold your head high and keep your back straight. Don't fidget or twitch and be sure that you make eye contact.

With the POSTURE ACTIVE you get one chance to score points on the ENERGETIC ACTION.

Your physical body needs to give off a healthy energy that suggests you are confident and capable. (Even if you are auditioning for the role of a drug addict, a cripple or a frail elderly person - differentiate the actor from the part.) Arrive as YOU and make sure that the "YOU" the casting director first meets is strong and poised.

ATTITUDE, as they say, is everything.

The ATTITUDE ACTIVE starts with arriving on time and being prepared, however it is one of the more difficult ACTIVES to display in the short space of time you get in the audition room.

What attitudes are casting directors looking for? Well, just look at the ACTIONS list. As well as an actor with talent, a casting director wants to hire someone who will take the work seriously, work hard, be fun to work with and take direction. Therefore you need to try and display these qualities in your audition.

(First you need to make sure you truly possess these qualities. You can't fake these! If you are difficult to work with, totally temperamental, think you know best and want the world to work around your schedule then you'd best give up auditioning now!)

Don't argue with the casting director, don't tell him that you have played this part before and know it perfectly and don't boast about what you have done before - let your resumé do that for you (More on resumés later.)

Be humble, but not submissive.

Be confident, but not pushy.

Be patient and be responsive.

• I have seen actor's throw fits in the waiting room because they felt they had been kept waiting too long - they never got cast!
• I have seen actor's question the casting director's request to have them Cold Read saying they didn't know that was going to be required - they never got cast.
• I have seen actors who made weak apologies as to why they were not at their best today but to trust their past experience not their audition - they never got cast.
• I have seen actors spell out parts they will and won't do, and days they can and can't work, before they audition - they never got cast.

Attitude is everything - show you are serious (without begging for the part), show you are flexible and patient, show that you understand your role in the whole production - that you are the performer; and as a tube of paint is to the artist, you are a tool to be used: the only difference being that, unlike the tube of paint, if you do get picked up you will get to enjoy the creative experience yourself.

Margie Harber, in her book "How to get the part - without falling apart" categories 5 types of uncastable actors at audition:

Ms. Shy: She arrives with sweaty palms and a mousy voice, can hardly make eye contact with the casting team and you wonder why she ever entered Showbusiness

Mr. Obnoxious: He arrives and takes over the room shaking hands with everyone with a vice like grip and an overbearing laugh

Ms. Attidue: From the moment she arrives she seems to give off the air that this production is beneath her and they'd be lucky to get her rather than vice versa.

Mr. Intense: His smoldering sexuality borders on creepiness and you are not sure if he is manically funny or just a maniac.

The Robot: Appears totally detached from everyone in the room - including himself. Lacks any emotion and seems to be just going through the motions.

If you see your current audition style in any of those categories then we have some serious work to do. If not, then hopefully you are already castable - you just need some fine tuning.

Displaying the right attitude from the time you arrive in the audition till the time you leave will help the casting director check the following ACTION boxes on your tick sheet: Serious, Punctual, Keen, Enthusiastic. That's 4 out of the 7! Attitude really is everything - almost!

Think of the American Idol audition rounds.

How often do you hear Simon comment on someone's attitude "You are confident without being obnoxious", "You come across really well", "I think the public will like you". You hear him make more such comments about good performers that get selected than you do of their talent. It's the way they come across that gets them the ticket to Hollywood - and it REALLY matters in every audition you walk into.

We'll look at the next 4 elements, R - K - L & E, in the next part of Twinkle Twinkle Be A Star

Tatoo

Mention the name Walt Disney and one cannot help but imagine images of superior animation, magnificent theme parks, an entertainment and financial empire and the little guy who started it all –Mickey Mouse.

In 1928, Walt Disney had run into bad times while working in Kansas City. Most of his hired animators had left him and went to work for a competing studio. Things looked bleak, but out of a desperate situation came a new character. Inspired by a mouse that prowled his office, that at one point Disney could not afford cheese to feed it anymore, Mickey Mouse was born. Mickey Mouse is now the most recognizable cartoon in the world. His lasting appeal to people of all nations is one of the great phenomena’s of the twentieth century. The question of why Mickey Mouse has been so successful has been discussed from time to time. Some debate that it is because he was one of the first seriously animated characters. Others say the manner in which he is drawn is unique compared to other cartoons. Although the success of Mickey Mouse seems to be a mystery to many, his success is the representation of the value of Walt Disney.

In this essay I will look at Mickey Mouse using the value analysis critique. Value analysis is the identifying of a value or values that define a culture or a person. So in this paper I will look specifically at what value Mickey Mouse represents and why that value has made him into the most successful cartoon character in the world.

The optimism of Mickey Mouse comes from that of his creator, Walt Disney. In an interview, Walt Disney said the following:

"Sometimes I’ve tried to figure out why Mickey appealed to the whole world. Everybody’s tried to figure it out. So far as I know, nobody has. He’s a pretty nice fellow who never does anybody harm, who gets into scrapes through no fault of his own, but always manages to come up grinning."

Mickey “always manages to come up grinning” because Disney learned how to “come up grinning.”

Looking at the all the times in Walt Disney’s life when he was down, one can see that nothing could ever stop him because he always got back up. Growing up on the farm in Marceline, Missouri his family had their share of bad times. Two years in a row the crops failed and Disney’s father, Elias, had to mortgage the farm. Then the well where the Disney family and the livestock got their water became contaminated. After swine fever had hit the hog herd, Elias became extremely ill with typhoid. He hovered between life and death for several weeks at the hospital. Walt’s older brother Roy enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War I and Walt, being inspired by his brother but still being a year too young to enlist, persuaded a Red Cross recruiter to let him join up. Walt was shipped off to France in October 1918, when the war was practically over. However, he saw the devastated lands over which the war had been fought. He spent ten months in France and told friends that it constituted “a lifetime of experience.”

In the fall of 1919 Disney tried to get a job as a newspaper cartoonist in Kansas City but was turned down by all the papers. He became discouraged but remained determined, and got a job at the Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Art Studio. There he became friends with a Dutchman named Ub Iwerks. A few weeks after Christmas, both of them were laid off and Disney and Iwerks decided to “come up grinning” and go into business for themselves. They got a job in February, 1920 at the Kansas City Film Ad Company.

Disney began to experiment with animation and gradually completed several cartoons that he shipped off to local theaters. He approached the owner of the Film Ad Company, A. Vern Cauger, with a suggestion to develop a series of cartoon shorts. His idea was rejected, so Disney decided to “come up” again and break out on his own. He collected $15,000 from local investors and used the money to assemble a small studio with a working crew. Walt joined with his brother Roy as business partners to eventually establish the three-room Disney Brother Studios in Los Angeles.

Walt signed a contract with New York distributor, Margaret Winkler, and her backer, Universal Studios, for one series and an option for two more of “Alice’s Wonderland.” An animated comedy that featured a live-action six year old filmed in a cartoon setting. The initial contract called for one cartoon per month. In 1924, Margaret Winkler’s husband, Charles Mintz, took over the distribution company and demanded one film every three weeks. In 1926 with a steady income, a new studio was built and a new animated character, named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, was developed. He debuted in 1927 and became a great success. In 1928 the current Oswald contract expired and Mintz concocted a scheme to make Disney and his studio fold over to him, slowly luring away the majority of Walt’s staff. Disney negotiated with Mintz for a new contract, and was stunned when Mintz offered him less money and told him to take it or leave it. Within days, most of Disney’s other animators went to work for Mintz also. Roy Disney was very upset and asked his brother, “Do you realize what sort of situation we are in? We’ve lost our animators and it looks like we’ll lose our studio." Facing the first major crisis of his career with a “grin,” Walt held secret brainstorming sessions with Ub Iwerks, and his brother Roy. At a time when things seemed to be at their worst, here emerged Mickey Mouse.

Like his creator, Mickey also had his share of hard times and was able to always get back up. In 1928, Mickey starred in his first film, “Plane Crazy” and then followed “Gallopin’ Gaucho." His third film was a breakthrough innovation that incorporated sound for the first time called “Steamboat Willie." In “Steamboat Willie” Mickey gets into a “scrape” with the captain but tries to remain confident and pretend he is not afraid of the captain when his expression sometimes dictates otherwise. Even in the earliest of cartoon shorts Mickey does not back down from his problems. There were many times in Walt’s life when he was faced with a scary situation but chose to keep his head up and move forward. “Mickey didn’t seek trouble, and he didn’t complain; he rolled with the punches...as in “The Little Tailor,” he showed warrior resourcefulness and won, once again, a kiss from dear,...Minnie." Mickey Mouse’s relentlessness to remain optimistic when confronting the struggle was drawn into him by Walt Disney’s pen.

The personality of Mickey Mouse is that of his author, Walt Disney. As a young man, Walt Disney always impressed friends and family alike “with his mischievous curiosity and fun-loving nature." His younger sister Ruth took note that he had an engaging personality and “was always thinking of ideas." She said that throughout his whole life, “Walt always seemed like a kid to me." Mickey is the kind of fellow who is always playing around and playing jokes. The entire concept of the creation of Disneyland and Disneyworld, the two major theme parks, and its spokesman, Mickey Mouse, is to inspire people to keep the wonder, youth and fun of life alive and well in everyone. Walt Disney always seemed like a kid to his sister, Ruth, and so does Mickey Mouse. A cartoon never grows old and never changes with age, it never dies. When Ub Iwerks was shown Walt’s preliminary sketches of Mickey he said, “he looks just like you—same nose, same face, same whiskers, same gestures and expressions. All he needs now is your voice." Walt admitted that he would look in the mirror and use his face as a model and that many of the facial expressions were his." Mickey’s appealing charisma of youth and joy to make others happy comes from the imaginations of Walt Disney’s desire to make others happy.

Mickey Mouse’s perseverance to succeed is why he is so appealing. In America the majority of people were all the “little guy." The decade that preceded Mickey Mouse, America lived through World War I, and a year after Mickey was created came the Great Depression. The distance that separated the rich from the poor was immense. There wasn’t much in between. In contrast, the number of poor and middle-class incomes greatly outnumbered those on the higher end of the social ladder. Walt Disney had also lived along with America during these difficult times as well. Disney had always been the “little guy.” He was always getting picked on by Hollywood and tried to be taken advantage of. He speaks of when he was dismally poor in his tiny office of Kansas City and one of his friends was a little mouse. He states “It used to crawl across my desk and I’d feed it bits of cheese. I got quite fond of it and looked forward to its visits.” Disney was with nothing but a mouse to look forward to. “It would take the cheese right out of my fingers and then curl up and go to sleep in the palm of my hand,” he said. Then there came a period when he could not even afford cheese for the mouse any longer. In those hard times Disney remained determined that he would make his dreams come true as well as everyone else in America also desired.

When the time came that Walt Disney became successful in the creation of Mickey Mouse he could not help but put the very same value characteristic into that mouse that Disney had in himself. Disney knew that he had become a success because he decided to never give up. He decided to take the value of “never quitting” and put it into animated form. Mickey Mouse is an animated creation of the value of “never quitting.” Mickey Mouse is so appealing as a cartoon because people in America and all over the world recognize that value to never quit in Mickey. The value of Mickey Mouse is a direct representation of that same value of Walt Disney. The greatest human achievement possible is getting back up just one more time. Anyone who possesses this quality can never be defeated and can do anything. People pick up on that and can feel it in the personality of Mickey Mouse. People want to be like Mickey Mouse and that is why he is so likeable.

Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney are the same exact value. “There’s a lot of Mouse in me,” Disney said of himself. They both are huge successes. Disney’s success came from the worldwide appeal of Mickey Mouse. Mickey’s success came from the worldwide appeal of Walt Disney.

In analyzing Mickey Mouse as the text that has permanently become a global phenomenon, and then his creator, the value of “never quitting” is easily identified as the one they both have in common. It is the value that they and the people that admire them also have in common. It answers the question of why Mickey Mouse has become so successful. He is the embodiment of Walt Disney’s character. They both had extremely difficult times in their lives just like the majority of people do at some period during theirs. They both endured the hard times because they knew eventually they would become successful. People identify with both of them because they too know they will become successful sooner or later by exercising the same value of “never quitting.”

Timothy McGaffin II graduated from the University of Utah with a BA degree in Mass Communication and worked as a journalist for the Lone Peak Press and The Daily Herald.

Tatoo

Planning a party? Can't decide what type or when to send out your party invitations? Well, to start with you need to decide who is coming to your party. Is this going to be a big event or something smaller? Either or provides with different challenges. A smaller party will require less invites, it'll be opposite with a larger party.

The choice of your party size will effect your party invitations. With any party you need to give enough time for everyone to rearrange their schedule if they wish to come. You might even want to send out some invites earlier if you know someone that won't be in town in two weeks before. Go a head send out your invite before they leave. That way they can know your party plans.

Deciding on your party theme will help you decide on what kind of party invitations you need to send out. From old 20's themes to rock and even country will give you great ideas for interesting invitations. This way you can show the invited guests a little of what they will expect when they show up at your party!

If you want you can even add an RSVP to your party invitations. This way you'll know how many to plan for if you plan on having a smaller party. You want everyone to have a good time, so you need to make sure that you're planning a party everyone will have a good time at. Make sure that each person will feel comfortable at your party; you don't want someone to not have a good time when they thought they would.

Now that you've decided on your party invitations, it's time to make them and send them out. The rest is decorating for your party and waiting for the guests to arrive!

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino is the internet's leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette, and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free coloring sheets, printable games, and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or "just because" parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas.