Mickey Mouse When did you....

[B.W.H.]

have a trio of Mini Yous. Did my eyes play tricks on me Or does Mickey have Three nepknews like Donald I think I saw them in a 1990 coloring book thiswas in the era Mickey got censored and wore a red shirt or other clothing.

[Lightwave]

hes had them for awhile...and there are only two,I think....

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by hyperknux88
hes had them for awhile...and there are only two,I think....

Yup. Mickey's two nephews are Morty and Ferdy. They usually appeared in comics and storybooks.


-Jon

[Joe Tully]

And I remember reading comics with Daisy's nieces, April, May & June, when I was a kid. Do ya think they liked making all of those mini-me's for the comics? Hmm...maybe...

[TimTwoFace]

Daisy had nieces? I NEVER knew about that one. I knew about Morty and Ferdy, though - but I figured they'd gone the way of the dodo, Clairabelle and Horace Horsecollar.

What I always wondered was why none of the Disney characters had children of their own. Everyone is always a "nephew" or an "uncle" or something (Donald, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, especially); Goofy and his son Max are the only real exception, but that's a relatively new creation. I know Goofy had a child of sorts in the old shorts, but I like his GOOF TROOP incarnation more.

Even so - where's the mother? Aside from Pete and Peg in GOOF TROOP with their children, I can't think of any actual immediate families in Disney-lore, outside of their mainstream movies (which are an entity unto themselves). What gives?

-Tim

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace
Daisy had nieces? I NEVER knew about that one. I knew about Morty and Ferdy, though - but I figured they'd gone the way of the dodo, Clairabelle and Horace Horsecollar.

What I always wondered was why none of the Disney characters had children of their own. Everyone is always a "nephew" or an "uncle" or something (Donald, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, especially); Goofy and his son Max are the only real exception, but that's a relatively new creation. I know Goofy had a child of sorts in the old shorts, but I like his GOOF TROOP incarnation more.

Even so - where's the mother? Aside from Pete and Peg in GOOF TROOP with their children, I can't think of any actual immediate families in Disney-lore, outside of their mainstream movies (which are an entity unto themselves). What gives?

-Tim

Think it's just an old cartoon cliche that *started* with the intro of Huey, Dewey, and Louie in the 30's: that a cartoon character often is either a single father to their kid (Spike and Tyke from "Tom and Jerry", or Auggie Doggie and Doggy Daddy) or, more frequently as you noted, has mysteriously gained nephews or nieces from some heretofore-unrevealed sibling they have... usually to create all manner of wacky hijinks/situations for their "Uncle" to get out of (or them out of). Let's see, a list off the top of my head:

Mickey Mouse: Morty and Ferdy

Donald: Huey, Dewey, and Louie. In the comics (and HD&L's original short), Donald has a sister who's the mother of the trio, but apparently hasn't ever been shown or seen. THe sister's name is either "Dumbella" or "Della" (Don Rosa's "Life and Times of Uncle Scrooge" comic made the two of them twins)...

Uncle Scrooge: Donald's uncle (and HD&L's great-uncle).

Guess there's also the other members of the Duck family from the comics, like Grandma Duck, Gladstone Gander (Donald's "lucky" cousin), Gus Goose, etc. etc.

Bugs Bunny: Clyde, Bugs' nephew. Wonder why they never had Clyde make an appearance on "Tiny Toons" (they could've thrown him in a guest appearance w/Sylvester Jr. and Egghead Jr. as sort of an "Infinity Inc."-type of grouping of "Golden Age" cartoon characters' descendants, vs. the "next generation"-mode of the TTA cast)

Sylvester: Sylvester Jr., his son. (Mother shown in at least one old cartoon)

Popeye: Peepeye, Pupeye, Pipeye, and Poopeye, his nephews. Apparently they went one better than HD&L and added an extra kid.

The wretched 80's spinoff "Popeye and Son" tried giving Popeye a son....though of course, that was all just a dream sequence/a child actor hired by the studio/Popeye's "Earth-2" counterpart (take your pick)... :-)

Spike: Tyke (From Tom and Jerry), his son.

Auggie Doggie and Doggy Daddy (Auggie's father).

Slappy Squirrel and Skippy (her nephew).

Fred Flintstone: daughter Pebbles (if also counting, grandfather of Chip and Roxy in the 90's TV movies).

Barney Rubble: adopted father of Bamm-Bamm (and grandfather of Chip and Roxy if counting said movies)

Pinky and Brain: genetic "fathers" of Romey (their combined clone)

Tons of others, but proof enough that cartoons seem to frown on the traditional "nuclear" family (save for maybe the Simpsons, Flintstones, and Jetsons)... for Disney's case, single parents/step-parents/etc. are certainly popular fodder for their movies...

-B.

[Zoddman]

WOW! YOU FORGOT SCOOBY AND SCRAPPY DOO!

[Mackenzie Rainelle]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace
Daisy had nieces? I NEVER knew about that one. I knew about Morty and Ferdy, though - but I figured they'd gone the way of the dodo, Clairabelle and Horace Horsecollar.

Actually, if you watch House of Mouse, Clairabelle and Horace are still around. Horace runs the sound and light boards, and Clairabelle is a journalist/gossip columnist who hands around with Minnie and Daisy occasionally. (If they were gonna get rid of Daisy's speech impediment [the one that made her sound like Donald back in the old cartoons] why not just give her the voice from Quack Pack since that's what they did with the three nephews? She's such an airhead in House of Mouse)

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by Mackenzie Rainelle
Actually, if you watch House of Mouse, Clairabelle and Horace are still around. Horace runs the sound and light boards, and Clairabelle is a journalist/gossip columnist who hands around with Minnie and Daisy occasionally. (If they were gonna get rid of Daisy's speech impediment [the one that made her sound like Donald back in the old cartoons] why not just give her the voice from Quack Pack since that's what they did with the three nephews? She's such an airhead in House of Mouse)

Actually, in the latter theaterical cartoons, I think Daisy sounded conventionally (non-Donald-esque) voiced---see the one where Donald gets hit on the head by a flower pot and becomes a Sinatra style crooner.

Re: forgetting Scrappy and Scooby: Yeah, well it was late... :-)

-B.

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace
Daisy had nieces? I NEVER knew about that one.

Minnie had nieces in the comics, too. Millie and Melody.

MGM's Barney Bear had nephews in the comic books. A duo of bear cubs named Fuzzy and Wuzzy.

And, we can't forget there is also Kermit the Frog's little nephew, Robin. And Mister Magoo's dimwitted nephew, Waldo.


-Jon

[Eric B]

All of these young nephews are what make me wonder why everyone singles out Scrappy so much. It's not like this was the first or only time it was done, and he was certainly less annoying than some of the others.
Let's not forget Baby Plas, Fang Puss and Pink Panther & Sons.
Video games you had Pac Man (Mrs. Baby, then Jr.), Donkey Kong, then Jr., and then of course, Mario Bros. In old school rap, it was Roxanne that had various "family members" get involved!

Bugs Bunny: Clyde, Bugs' nephew. Wonder why they never had Clyde make an appearance on "Tiny Toons" (they could've thrown him in a guest appearance w/Sylvester Jr. and Egghead Jr. as sort of an "Infinity Inc."-type of grouping of "Golden Age" cartoon characters' descendants, vs. the "next generation"-mode of the TTA cast)

They could have perhaps used them AS the Tiny Toons, since they were an established "next generation" in the old films. I wished that Tyke, Nibbles, and the little gray kitten had been used as the "Tom & Jerry kids", instead of making Tom & Jerry young, while keeping everyone else the same age (including Nibbles, who makes at least one appearance. They really messed that up compared to TTA and others).

[Mackenzie Rainelle]

Originally posted by Brainatra
Actually, in the latter theaterical cartoons, I think Daisy sounded conventionally (non-Donald-esque) voiced---see the one where Donald gets hit on the head by a flower pot and becomes a Sinatra style crooner.

Oh yeah, I remember that one!

Radio: He can belong to the world...or you.
Daisy: Me, me, me! ::throws dishes on the ground:: MEEEEE!!!!

[B.W.H.]

I had No Idea Minnie had Neices but I do vaguley remeber Daisys Neices from a story book I have. To add on to everyones lists of cartoon relatives Bugs Bunny had A nepknew for two cartoons The first one was in the short that his nepknew Cletus is having trouble with his american history homework and the second time was in The Christmas Special Cartoon the one with TAZ is mistaken for Santa by Cletus, Also Daffy had a nepknew in a Speedy,Witch Hazel, Daffy short I cant remerber his name though.

[Elven Moon]

So many relatives *head spins*

Why haven't these couples had children of their own yet?

[RockItShipper]

Popeye had something like 5 nephews with names like Pupeye and Pipeye in at least one black and white 'toon

[The_Bookworm]

--about the parents who'd name a child "Poop-Eye". Yes, I know "poop" is a nautical term, but still...

The Big Bad Wolf of Three Little Pigs fame had a nephew in a couple of Warners shorts, including the final theatrically-released Bugs Bunny picture (the title escapes me, but it involved a phony club for rabbits and B.B. repeatedly being injured during the "initiation"--also a Foghorn Leghorn cameo).

Not technically animated, but there was the Brady Bunch's ill-fated Cousin Oliver experiment near the final season, to boost saggy ratings.

Scooby not only had a nephew, but a dimwitted cousin, Scooby-Dumb--I don't think he caught on with the masses.

There was also Swee'Pea--I think he was adopted by Olive, which may make her animation's first single parent, but I'm not sure what kin to Popeye--stepdaddy? uncle? eh.

Friz Freleng's earliest work in animation was MGM's The Captain and the Kids, which later in life he denounced roundly.

Warners had several one-shots who were seen in a picture or two and then blew off to oblivion--a wife for Bugs in "Hold the Lion", several wives for Daffy, grandchildren for an elderly Foggy and Dawg in "Feather Bluster", Henery Hawk's father (George K., I think his name was), seen a couple of times; Quentin Quail and his whining daughter, who wants a worm for supper (early finding-himself Jones effort; maybe an unsuccesful effort at a signature character), and, of course, Prissy's boy Egghead Jr. (inexplicably she goes from spinster to single "ol' widder hen" mom overnight--could it be Foggy's kid from a one-night stand? scandal in the barnyard?)

[Joe Tully]

Originally posted by The_Bookworm


There was also Swee'Pea--I think he was adopted by Olive, which may make her animation's first single parent, but I'm not sure what kin to Popeye--stepdaddy? uncle? eh.

According to the comics, he was adopted by Popeye, who often left him with a nanny while Popeye went on adventures. Swee' Pea was left in a basket on his doorstep. Years later, Swee' Pea's mom showed up, asking for the kid back! But after dragging out the story for quite a while (as he was wont to do) E.C. Segar couldn't think of a good way to end it and resolve the differences, so he quietly let the Mom character disappear...

I don't think that the cartoons were ever clear about who exactly was the adopted parent of Swee' Pea. In some cartoons, Popeye visits Olive and sees Swee' Pea already there. In others, Popeye is taking Swee' Pea out for a walk with no explanation. I think that the Fleischers were more likely to make it look like Olive was the parent though--it probably made more sense to them to have a woman taking care of the kid, and could help explain why Popeye was always off on adventures without having to worry about a kid.

[Howard]

Mickey's nephews started off as Mickey and Minnie's many children after their marriage in a dream sequence in "Mickey's Nightmare", then later became a group of orphans who would appear in some of the early 1930's cartoon shorts, such as "The Orphans' Benefit", "Mickey's Circus" and "The Orphans' Picnic". Other times, as in "Mickey's Steam Roller", there would be just two, Morty and Ferdie, as Mickey's nephews. In the 1940's, one of the two was dropped from Mickey Mouse newspaper strips, but rermained in Dell/Gold Key's comic books.

Daisy's nieces, April, May and June, first showed up at the end of an early 1950's Donald Duck 10-page story by Carl Barks in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.

[David Gerstein]

You're pretty much right, Howard, but there's one thing of which you may not be aware: Morty and Ferdie as a distinct pair, seen without the rest of the orphans/dream kids, began as early as 1932 in the comics. In the beginning it was Mickey's sister, identified then only as "Mrs. Fieldmouse", who brought the boys to him to take care of. She's shown as a tall mouse with bookworm glasses, baggy dress and a flowered hat.
At Egmont, the European Disney comics licensee I work at, our comics still show Mrs. Fieldmouse from time to time, though she now has the first name Felicity for the sake of convenience.

As far as the Big Bad Wolf and kids, Disney's version is more prolific than Warners'. In early comics continuity (and in the actual cartoons) Zeke Wolf had three rotten sons. Later though a new continuity was developed: Big Bad Wolf had just a single son, the kindly Li'l Wolf. The business of the Warner wolf nephew being embarrassed about his uncle's villainy (THE TURN-TALE WOLF) suggests the influence of Disney's Li'l Wolf, who was then at his high point in the comics.

On a different note, someone mentioned Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow as having gone the way of the dodo. Not only are they back in House of Mouse, they've never left in the comics. Bragging, practical joking and always trying to show off his alleged expertise, Horace in particular is more popular in the European comics now than he may ever have been, being featured in quite a number of his own stories.

[Howard]

Originally posted by David Gerstein
You're pretty much right, Howard, but there's one thing of which you may not be aware: Morty and Ferdie as a distinct pair, seen without the rest of the orphans/dream kids, began as early as 1932 in the comics. In the beginning it was Mickey's sister, identified then only as "Mrs. Fieldmouse", who brought the boys to him to take care of. She's shown as a tall mouse with bookworm glasses, baggy dress and a flowered hat.

D'OH! I should have caught that one, as I have that story in Gladstone's "The Lair of Wolf Barker" comic album! I loved those Gladstone books...I even learned to draw Donald Duck (and improve upon Mickey Mouse) from copying out of them.