Be positively you.
I'm the guy they call little Mickey Mouse
Got a sweetie down in the chicken house
Neither fat nor skinny
She's the horse's whinny
She's my little Minnie Mouse!
Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is a Funny Animal cartoon character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, the latter who first drew her alongside Mickey Mouse in 1928. Her full name was given in the comic strip story "The Gleam" by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson and published from January 19 to May 2, 1942.Got a sweetie down in the chicken house
Neither fat nor skinny
She's the horse's whinny
She's my little Minnie Mouse!
—"Minnie's Yoo-Hoo"
In many appearances, Minnie was presented as Mickey's Love Interest, a close friend to Daisy Duck, and/or a friend to Clarabelle Cow.
See also supporting Disney Character section of the Kingdom Hearts Character Sheet for tropes that refer to them specifically in said video game series.
Her current voice actress is Kaitlyn Robrock, taking over from Russi Taylor, who voiced the character from 1986 until her death in 2019.
Media featuring Minnie
Notable shorts:
- Plane Crazy (1928) - First appearance of Minnie.
- The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928) - First time Minnie was seen wearing her high heels and bra as seen on the classic title cards, as well her eyes evolving to her iconic "classic" look.
- Steamboat Willie (1928) - First time Minnie was seen wearing her bowler hat with a flower on it.
- The Karnival Kid (1929) - The first time Minnie wore her White Gloves as well as the first time she spoke.
- Wild Waves (1929)
- On Ice (1935) - First color appearance in Minnie, and her skirt was depicted with polka-dots for the first time.
- Mickey's Surprise Party (1939) - The first time Minnie was redesigned into her modern appearance, with redesigned eyes and trading in her bowler hat with her signature bow.
- Mickey's Birthday Party (1942)
- Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Firing Line (1942)
- Mickey's Delayed Date (1947) - The last appearance of Minnie in a Mickey Mouse short.
- Pluto and the Gopher (1950)
- Pluto's Christmas Tree (1953) - The last appearance of Minnie in the classic shorts.
- Mickey's Christmas Carol
- Runaway Brain
Feature films:
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit - In a Crossover Cameo at the end of the movie.
- Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
- Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers
- Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
Television shows:
- The Mickey Mouse Club
- Mickey Mouse Works / House of Mouse
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
- Minnie's Bow-Toons
- Mickey Mouse (2013) / The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse - Has separate shorts centered on her ("Eau de Minnie", "Clogged", "Doggone Biscuits", "Sock Burglar" and "No Reservations").
- Mickey and the Roadster Racers / Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures
- Mickey Mouse Funhouse
Video games:
- Mickey Mousecapade
- The Kingdom Hearts series
- The Disney's Magical Quest series (playable in the second game and the first game's GBA remaster)
- Mickey's Speedway USA
- Disney's Hide & Sneak (playable alongside Mickey)
- Mickey's Dangerous Chase
- Minnie & Friends: Yume no Kuni o Sagashite (her first and only starring role as the primary protagonist;
only exclusive to Japan) - Disney Magical World
- Disney Infinity (Playable in the 3.0 edition)
- Castle of Illusion
- Disney Magic Kingdoms
- Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
- Disney Sorcerer's Arena
- Disney Mirrorverse
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Disney Speedstorm
Comic books:
Franchises:
- Totally Minnie
- Minnie 'n Me
Tropes that apply to Minnie:
- Beware the Nice Ones: Like Mickey, Minnie is a gentle and nice person, but when pushed too far, she will bite back.
- Breakout Character: She never had her own series in the classic shorts, though later projects starting from Mickey Mouse Works have finally given her individual cartoons.
- Her rise in popularity truly began with Totally Minnie, a TV special from the 1980s featuring her.
- Chaste Toons: She has twin nieces named Millie and Melody.
- Chastity Couple: According to Walt, she and Mickey are in fact married outside of their acting careers, and either don't seem to have a sex life (much less children), are holding off on lovemaking or are choosing to keep that a secret. The current powers-that-be appear to have ignored this completely, as the Paul Rudish short "Third Wheel" ends with the strong implication that they
had hot sex, and inside Goofy's stomach, no less!, and fans have made fan fictions and fan art depicting Minnie becoming the mother to her and Mickey's brood. The short Mickey's Nightmare tries to explore this but uses storks (which are symbolic of womanly fertility) as well as watering a flower garden to symbolize sex. - Closer to Earth: Sometimes depicted as this, often as a foil to Daisy or Mickey when their heads are in the clouds or they're being emotional. House of Mouse upgraded it all he way to making her a hyper-competent Number Two at the titular club, running everything from backstage.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: Adorable in several instances, but her voice can grate on your nerves. Kaitlyn Robrock's performance as Minnie managed to tone down her cute voice compared to Russi Taylor.
- Damsel in Distress: Her role in many of the classic shorts. Usually captured by Pete.
- Demoted to Extra: She co-starred with Mickey in most of his black and white shorts, but once Donald Duck started appearing in the Mickey shorts, she began appearing less and less up to the point where she was reduced to cameo appearances in the three shorts she was in in the 1950's. Reversed in more modern projects.
- Denser and Wackier: After years of her typically being portrayed as Closer to Earth, Mickey Mouse intentionally adapts her as just as wacky and eccentric as the other characters, sometimes - when it comes to her starring cartoons - even moreso.
- Depending on the Artist: She was originally topless, but she's been depicted over the years as either that or fully clothed.
- Distaff Counterpart: Even when not paired with Mickey, she usually takes a similar role of Straight Man or the Everygirl.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Minnie originally looked like just a mouse version of Ortensia, Oswald's wife. To distinguish her more, Minnie traded in her flower hat for a bow and eventually her skirt for a dress.
- Dub Name Change: The comic strip story The Gleam has Minnie's full name as "Minerva Mouse". In the French translations only, Minerva is her middle name, with her full name being "Minnie Minerva Mouse".
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference:
- She originally looked more mouse-like.
- Minnie was originally topless on default. She has since mostly traded her skirt in for dresses, though she does still occasionally wear just skirts.
- Minnie originally had pale white skin. It eventually became a more natural peach. Mickey had the same thing happen to him.
- In her appearances in the black & white shorts, her heels would often slip out of her high heels. This was likely to point out the fact that her high heels were too big for her feet.
- Eek, a Mouse!!: Oddly enough, one comic showed her being terrified of a normal mouse.
- Expy: She was originally styled after Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's wife Ortensia. They had near identical roles and dressed almost exactly alike. Divergent Character Evolution began after a few years.
- Formerly Fat: "Doggone Biscuits" reveals she used to be morbidly obese.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Depending on the Artist.
- Fur Is Clothing: In the short, "The Karnival Kid", when Mickey makes Minnie a hot dog, she reaches for a coin in the fur of her leg as if she's wearing stockings. When Mickey denies her payment, she puts the coin back in her fur.
- Furry Confusion: She has a pet kitten named Figaro.
- The Heart: She often takes this role due to her girly, sane, and sweet personality.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Again, Depending on the Artist. Sometimes she just wears a skirt and shoes, sometimes she wears a full dress
- Happily Married: According to Walt, Mickey and Minnie are canonically married however the two can be in any stage of a relationship depending on what the plot requires. Again, though, their sexual and familial escapades are left ambiguous.
- Happy Holidays Dress: The recent "Victorian Minnie" outfit shows her in a light yellow dress trimmed with white fur.
- Hartman Hips: In Mickey Mouse, she now sports a fat round bottom. "Carnival" in particular has her emphasising its size.
- Hotter and Sexier: In a way different way than what one would expect, but not too extreme. As the years have gone by, Disney has added several instances of her emphasizing her hips, making naughty jokes, and generally being more saucy and sensuous in nature. Runaway Brain has her shopping for swimsuits and teasing a Julius-possessed Mickey, and several bits of artwork cards in Disney Magical World have her in lightly suggestive poses.
- Iconic Outfit: Her hairbow and red dress with the white polka dots.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Towards Figaro the kitten from Pinocchio. That's right, an anthropomorphic mouse has a kitten for a pet!
- The Ingenue: In some/most versions. Sauciness/down-to-earth qualities may vary.
- Men Like Dogs, Women Like Cats: Minnie is often shown having a pet kitten named Figaro, while her lover Mickey has a pet dog named Pluto.
- Nice Girl: Most of the time, however she's not above getting revenge when slighted.
- Nice Mice: Like Mickey, she is a notable example of a nice and heroic mouse.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Minnie is rarely, if never, called "Minerva" (except for fan fiction).
- Out-of-Character Moment: While she's always sweet-natured, she encourages Mickey to rip Julius' ears off in Runaway Brain and Julius was still in Mickey's body when she said that.
- Outdated Name: Has had a similar experience as Mickey. "Minnie" is a name that will occasionally appear in period pieces but has fallen out of favor due to associations with Minnie Mouse.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her outfits have become increasingly more pink.
- Rodents of Unusual Size: Much like Mickey, Minnie is still one of the shorter Disney regulars, but only nominally smaller than an anthropomorphic duck or dog within the same universe. She ironically has a pet kitten, Figaro, whose height difference is comparable to that against a real life human owner.
- Satellite Character: Initially didn't have much of a personality outside of her interactions with Mickey, though she would care for Pluto and Figaro in some of their shorts to maintain appearances during the 40s and 50s. Some later projects such as House of Mouse have tried to subvert this and make her an individual character, usually by making her a foil for Daisy.
- The Smurfette Principle: Daisy is part of The Sensational Six, but not of The Fabulous Five. Minnie is present in either case, being the sole female in the latter.
- Species Surname: She is a mouse whose surname is "Mouse".
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Design wise, she's basically Mickey with eyelashes, a bow and a dress.
- True Blue Femininity: It was not uncommon to see her wearing blue in older appearances. In the last 30 years she's began leaning toward pink and red though.
- Women Are Wiser: Several cartoons depict her as slightly more level headed and responsible than Mickey.
