The Tender Mickey Mouse Trap

Once her soiled gloves had been taken care of, Minnie began to settle down. For awhile all was quiet with Mickey beside her. Then, turning to him with the beginning of a smile on her downy face: ‟Mickey,” she said, ‟Did you hear that sound? I think we have mice in the house.”

— Mickey Mouse Comics

SOURCE: Gins, Madeline. Word Rain (or A Discursive Introduction to the Philosophical Investigation of G,R,E,T,A, G,A,R,B,O, It Says) [1969], in The Saddest Thing Is That I Have Had to Use Words: A Madeline Gins Reader, edited by Lucy Ives (Los Angeles: Siglio Press 2020), p. 204. (Original publication of Word Rain: New York: Grossman Publishers, 1969.)

If this is a genuine quote, it would be difficult to believe that the author thought out the multiple interpretations and ironies of this scenario. I have not been able to identify the specific issue of the comic book suggested. Genuine or not, it is anybodyʼs guess what Gins was thinking.

This seems a tad too coy and suggestive for a Disney comic. What do we really know about Mickeyʼs and Minnieʼs love life?

In the Disney film ‟Mickeyʼs Nightmare” (1932), Mickey dreams about being married to Minnie and is overwhelmed by the plenitude of little mice in the home. The Mickey Mouse Annual for 1945 suggested the marriage of Mickey and Minnie. This was also the topic of the 1935 sheet music The Wedding of Mister Mickey Mouse. While there is plenty of affection between Mickey and Minnie otherwise, according to Hollis and Sibley, how far it went was a matter of opposing conjectures, especially when it comes to marriage, which would have been a prerequisite for a rodent infestation. Walt Disney himself disclaimed such a relationship, stating in 1933 that ‟Sex is not of interest to Mickey”.

Well, Walt, so says you. Given this cagey history, though, we may have to relegate this enigma to the gnawing of the mice.

— RD

SOURCES:

Wikipedia & IMDB:

‟Mickeyʼs Nightmare”

Walt Disney Treasures

‟Mickeyʼs Nightmare” (IMDB)

Film/video:

‟Mickeyʼs Nightmare” (1932), in Walt Disney Treasures. Mickey Mouse in Black and White, Disc 1 [of 2 DVDs], 2002.

Comics:

Mickey Mouse Annual, 1945. London: Dean & Son.

Books:

Bain, David; Harris, Bruce; eds. Mickey Mouse: Fifty Happy Years. New York: Harmony Books, 1977. ‟Mickeyʼs Nightmare.” pp. 56-57.

Holliss, Richard; Sibley, Brian. Walt Disneyʼs Mickey Mouse: His Life and Times. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. ‟Mickey and Minnie: A Fine Romance,” pp. 31-35.

Kaufman, J. B.; Gerstein, David. Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. Cologne: Taschen, 2018.

Contents of "...A Madeline Gins Reader" (2020) & "Word Rain" (1969)

Review: Word-Rainy Days
by R. Dumain

Surrealism: Selected Links

Offsite:

Madeline Gins - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia