Why does Mickey wear gloves?

Mickey Mousethe most beloved mouse in Disney studio animations, first appeared in May 1928 in ‘Plane Crazy’, but unlike the way we know it today, the iconic white gloves were not yet part of character’s clothing.

The animation images show that the mouse had hands the same color as its body, that is, completely black. The change in look appeared just a year later in ‘The Karnival Kid’, and according to Vox, via Uol, the big change has two good reasons:

1. The season

The animation that was released in 1929 contained a characteristic that had not changed at the time: the images produced were all in black and white. In addition, the image quality was not very good, so, to facilitate the visibility of the character’s movements, the visual was adopted, since the white gloves contrast with the black body of the mouse.

2. Ease

Still, the change occurred for one more reason. Drawing hands is a somewhat complicated task, due to the anatomy of the fingers, a fact that becomes even more complicated if you think that the image would be animated. Thinking about it, the animators realized that a glove would make the process of including the necessary movements simpler.

It is worth remembering that explanations about Mickey’s new look were provided by John Canemakeran animation specialist and professor at the University of New York, who also revealed that the mouse was inspired by the aesthetics of Vaudeville theater actors.