On January 22, Minnie Mouse received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This has been a long time coming, seeing as how her counterpart Mickey Mouse has had a star on the same stretch of sidewalk for four decades. For that matter, it should be noted that Mickey is far from being the sole Disney character that can be found upon the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with other examples ranging from Donald Duck to Snow White.
With that said, there were some important people participating in the event that saw Minnie receiving her own star on the Walk of Fame at last. For example, both pop star Katy Perry and Disney CEO and Chairman Bob Iger offered some of their thoughts on the character. Likewise, the President of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce celebrated the occasion by announcing that January 22 would become Minnie Mouse Day in Hollywood. Finally, both Minnie and Mickey showed up for the event, where Minnie proceeded to offer her thanks to those who had come to cheer her on.
Regardless, Minnie is more than deserving of her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After all, she was created at the same time as Mickey, which was when Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks had to come up with a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Basically, while Mickey could substitute for Oswald, he needed a love interest because Oswald had a love interest. However, where Oswald had a number of love interests, Mickey would end up with the one, Minnie, whose initial design was based on the look of flappers. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, the flappers were women of the 1920s who were bold enough to flout the restrictive social conventions of their times, which is why they have become heroic figures for a fair number of people from subsequent generations. As a result, it can be said that the choice to model Minnie on flappers was an excellent choice considering the course that the character has since taken.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Minnie continued to appear in Disney cartoons, thus contributing much to the success of the now legendary company. In later periods, her popularity faded somewhat as newer characters such as Donald Duck and Goofy began receiving screen-time of their own, but Minnie has remained an important part of Disney’s body of work, as shown by the sheer range of roles that she has taken on over the course of her existence. Examples range from serving as the star of a musical TV special on NBC to showing up in movies and TV shows. In fact, it is amusing to note that Minnie even has a role in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, where she is a powerful user of beneficial magic who is nonetheless capable of attacking when the need comes up. Summed up, Minnie has been an important part of Disney for a long, long time and promises to remain so for as long as the company continues to exist, meaning that her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been more than earned.
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