SIVACRACY.NET: Can someone help me find the story behind these Mickey artifacts?

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Can someone help me find the story behind these Mickey artifacts?

Ok. I am working on a book about Mickey Mouse in American culture. It's a broad survey of the ways the Mickey image means different things in different contexts. This corporate spokesmouse is much more than a cartoon character.

So I need to unleash the distributed knowledge of thousands of readers. Can someone tell me more about the origins of these two images?

The black light hippie Mickey shirt:

And the "Hey Iran" Mickey, giving the finger to the Ayatollah, circa 1980:

Anyone know the story behind the design and sale of these images?

Posted by Siva on July 21, 2006 09:54 AM | Permalink

Comments

I can tell you that I first encountered the peace-sign Mickey (you call him the "black-light hippie" Mickey) in the form of an iron-on transfer for making your own T-shirt sometime around 1968 or 1969.

I assume you've already encountered the "Disneyland Memorial Orgy" from around the same timeframe.

see: http://www.illegal-art.org/print/popups/orgy.html

Posted by: MaggieL | July 21, 2006 01:57 PM

Early issues of the National Lampoon had advertisements for posters and T-shirts featuring Mickey Mouse (and many other copyrighted characters) in subverted contexts. The artwork was generally excellent, though, not like the items you've got here. (How'd they get away with it for so long?)

Posted by: DarthCider | July 21, 2006 08:23 PM

Posted by: DarthCider | July 21, 2006 08:27 PM

Hi Siva,
I distinctly recall seeing the "Hey Iran" image for the first time in the fall 1980 school year. I was attending jr high in Philly. Kids wore this image on t-shirts to school and did not get sent home for its obvious profanity. It was no secret, as far as I recall no parents complained. My dad thought it was great, he voted for Reagan that same year.
I'm sure this was a use of Mickey's image not approved by Disney, but probably not hotly pursued legally either. It was pretty popular. I actually use this image in a history lecture on the Reagan years.

Posted by: BillB | July 24, 2006 04:00 PM

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