Earlier this year, there was a rumor that Disney would permanently replace Mickey Mouse as the mascot of the Walt Disney Company. The rumor shocked fans and sent many into a tizzy, and for good reason, considering the original Mickey Mouse from Steamboat Willie will soon be going into the public domain. Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie was where it all began, and replacing the iconic Disney character seems laughable. (The same kind of laughable as the possibility of Cinderella Castle being replaced or Disney removing seatbelts on the Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World Resort.) And it was…until Disney recently replaced the iconic Mickey Mouse in a Disney Park; but not to worry! The replacement was for a good cause and was a suitable course of action considering the circumstances.
Here’s what happened.
As it turns out, this was all for a perfectly innocuous reason, and in fact, Mickey Mouse being temporarily replaced was most apt. Disneyland Resort replaced Mickey Mouse at the main entrance to Disneyland Park with Floral Minnie to help celebrate International Women’s Day!
Along with sharing the photo of Minnie Mouse as Floral Minnie, the Disney Resort took to Twitter to wish women all over the world and celebrate the wonderful Cast Members who make Disneyland Resort what it is for so many.
Happy International Women's Day! Floral Minnie🌸is back at the main entrance of Disneyland Park to help us celebrate all the incredible women who help us create magic. Learn more about our amazing cast across Disney Parks: https://t.co/AKqV7xZxPz pic.twitter.com/G6sLZBjeKL
— Disneyland Resort (@Disneyland) March 8, 2023
Disneyland also highlighted and celebrated six female Cast Members who “[innovate] to create magic at [the] Disney Parks.” The blog post from Disney Parks Blog opened by acknowledging, “Our global theme parks would not be what they are today without the hard work and creativity of thousands of women all around the world.”
This isn’t all Disney has been doing to celebrate and honor women this March. In honor of Women’s History Month, Disney has also been modifying entertainment at the Parks—both Walt Disney World Resort (through all its Parks, including Magic Kingdom) and Disneyland Resort—to honor the contributions of women to the success of the Walt Disney Company.
Most recently, however, they faced criticism for one of their celebratory initiatives wherein critics felt they’d lost sight of the point of Women’s History Month. However, for many a Disney fan worrying about whether Mickey Mouse being replaced would ever be permanent per the rumor from Mouse Trap News, we can assure you the chances of that happening are slim to none. The Disney cartoon character (along with his friends Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and more) are far too central to the Disney brand and image, exactly as they are.
