Disney gets ready to celebrate Mickey Mouse's birthday

October 21, 2016, 3:02 PM · The Walt Disney Company is getting ready to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 88th birthday next month by sending its icon on a world tour. And fans at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts will be invited to celebrate the Big Cheese's big day on Nov. 18, too.

Disney has given Mickey a new Instagram account, on which he'll be documenting his travels leading up to his official birthday — the anniversary of the 1928 premiere of Steamboat Willie at the Colony Theatre in New York City. The hashtag for posts across all social media is #HappyBirthdayMickey.

Talk about lucky! I’ve got the best pals around the world. Can’t wait to meet you all! —Mickey #HappyBirthdayMickey

A photo posted by Mickey Mouse (@mickeymouse) on

Walt Disney World and Disneyland will be giving out "Happy Birthday Mickey!" buttons on the 18th, and Disney will run a special pre-parade unit honoring Mickey on that day at Disneyland. At Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, the party will be a specially-themed Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! street party.

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Also next month, Disney will be taping its annual Christmas television special across the four Disney World theme parks, from Nov. 9 through 13. In a change from previous years, there will be no taping of the Magic Kingdom Christmas parade, as it will not appear in the show. Disney is said to be taping parade footage at Disneyland for the show this year, but Disney hasn't confirmed a taping date for that yet. Once the centerpiece of the annual Christmas morning telecast, the Disney Christmas parade's role in the show has shrunk in recent years, as Disney has used the show on its ABC television network to promote more of its movie, television and recording properties instead of just the theme parks.

Replies (1)

October 22, 2016 at 7:17 AM · It sounds like an interesting social media blitz. Nice to see them doing something since Disney is usually a little behind the times when it comes to social media.

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