Mickey Mouse Essay

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Gould's “Biological Homage” In Stephen Gould's essay titled “A Biological Homage to Mickey Mouse”, he portrays the evolution of Mickey Mouse. His main idea is to show the physical and behavioral changes in Mickey Mouse throughout the years. His growth has been reversal. “The Mickey Mouse who hit the movie houses in the late twenties was not quite the well-behaved character most of us are familiar with today. He was mischievous, to say the least, and even displayed a streak of cruelty” (Gould 279). During this time period, Mickey Mouse was displayed as a much “older” version of what he looks like in today's media. Over time he cleaned up his act and “had become virtually a national symbol” (Gould 279). As he kept his nice boy act up during the time span of 50 years, his appearance became more youthful. When Mickey was “younger” he had a small head, smaller eyes, and smaller cranium. In Gould's article he provides evidence by showing the different stages of Mickey's development, showing charts/graphs, comparison, other writers, and public response. If Mickey became a national symbol, we must ask, as from Gould's text: “Why did Disney choose to change one of it's most famous characters so gradually and persistently in the same direction?” Significant changes in Mickey's appearance, such as the larger head size, larger eyes, and enlarged cranium, suggested these were juvenility traits. This is where Gould introduces the idea of neoteny. Neoteny refers to progressive juvenile as an evolutionary phenomenon. Disney eliminated Mickey's adult phase of growth or the intention of juvenile features in the adult stage. Konrad Lorenz states that juvenile creatures “trigger innate releasing mechanisms” for affection and nurturing in adult humans. Gould somewhat agrees with Lorenz by claiming that “babyish features tend to elicit strong feelings of affection in adult

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