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  • welcome the TPM vids Disney beat, Where we talk about all things Disney.

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  • You confined us at TPM videos as the face of the Walt Disney Company.

  • Mickey Mouse is one of the most recognizable characters toe every generation alive today.

  • Mickey made his first debut in 1928 and although his overall looking design has changed over the years, one proportionate aspect of the design has pretty much remained the exact same.

  • When Mickey Mouse was first introduced, he had more of a pear shaped head, which then evolved into a more round design.

  • But what makes Mickey so recognizable is the circular design of his ears.

  • No matter what medium you see him in, his ears are always perfectly round.

  • Even if we can't see his face, this outline has become the standard of identifying the famous Disney rodent.

  • Our minds immediately recognized the silhouette as Mickey Mouse, whether you're a Disney fan or not.

  • Now Mickey Silhouette can be found in the form of hidden Mickeys all around the Disney theme parks, hotels and water parks.

  • If you aren't familiar with a hidden Mickey, it's 11 large circle on two smaller circles make up the silhouette of Mickey Mouse.

  • Now the image and silhouette of Mickey Mouse is used a lot around the theme parks.

  • But not all of them are actually hidden.

  • Mickeys, A true hidden Mickey, isn't meant to be seen immediately.

  • Usually it blends in with whatever it's designed into and requires a little bit of extra searching.

  • Take, for instance, this mural in Mickey's Phil harm adjective at Magic Kingdom.

  • Among all the musical instruments, you'll find this cluster of dots hidden within the painting.

  • They're so tiny that you really need to be up close to see that the three dots actually form the silhouette of Mickey knows.

  • Another example this time at Disneyland in California would be the statue of Mr Toad in Mr Toad's Wild Ride.

  • If you take a look at his eyes, you'll see a red highlight at the bottom.

  • If we go and even closer, you'll realize that this is the silhouette of Mickey Mouse.

  • These are the true hidden mickeys, so something like a gate or a sign from the sermon keys.

  • Gift shop wouldn't be considered ahead.

  • And Mickey, since it's too obvious, remember, Hidden is the key word in Hidden Mickey.

  • Today there's literally hundreds of hidden Ricky's around the Disney theme parks.

  • They've become a huge part of Disney fan culture, but you might be wondering, exactly how did the hidden Mickeys start?

  • Well, there was a time when guests visiting the parks weren't even aware that Hidden Mickeys were an actual thing.

  • It's said that the concept didn't even officially begin until the late 19 seventies, when Epcot Center was being designed.

  • That's right.

  • So that means there were really no official hidden Mickeys designed and placed into Disneyland or Magic Kingdom when both those parks first opened.

  • Or maybe there was.

  • You can trace the concept of a hidden Mickey all the way back to the beginning of Disney's animated feature films.

  • In the 1937 feature film Snow White, there's a scene where dopey gets the hiccups and bubbles appear.

  • Three of these bubbles actually form the outline of Mickey Mouse.

  • Did you see it?

  • That's definitely a hidden Mickey, even in the 1940 animated feature film Pinocchio.

  • The Mickey Mouse outline is designed right into the chair in Japan.

  • Does workshop.

  • Dumbo in 1941 also has a hidden Mickey in the Bubbles when Dumbo is taking a bath.

  • So this tribute to the big boss of the Walt Disney Company really started with animators back in the 19 thirties.

  • Although the beginning of hidden mickeys in the theme parks didn't officially begin until the late seventies at Walt Disney World, there's been speculation that the 1st 1 actually made its debut at Disneyland in 1955.

  • The Rocket to the Moon attraction, which later became Flight to the Moon, was an opening day tomorrow.

  • Land attraction.

  • In this scene of the rocket taking off, you'll notice three circular objects on the ground, which appeared to form a very familiar icon.

  • This hidden Mickey has yet to be confirmed by anyone at Disney, but there's no denying that this is the outline of Mickey Mouse.

  • Now we're gonna fast forward to the planning and design stages of Epcot Center.

  • In the late 19 seventies, Disney knew they wanted this park to have a much different identity than Magic Kingdom.

  • You could say it was a theme park concept Beardmore towards adults, and Disney knew they wanted to sell alcohol at this park.

  • At the time, the Disney brand and alcohol didn't mix, so this meant that there wasn't gonna be any recognizable Disney characters at Epcot Center.

  • Imagineers were immediately faced with a challenge.

  • How could they possibly design a Disney theme park without including beloved Disney characters like Mickey Knows?

  • Well, Imagineers came up with a little idea to subtly hide the Mickey Silhouette in design elements at this new theme park.

  • Surely guess wouldn't notice, right?

  • Well, at first they didn't.

  • And for many years the Hidden Mickeys at Epcot were actually an inside joke in secret, just between a select number of Imagineers.

  • No.

  • One Alison knew about them.

  • Now, since October of 1982 AA lot has changed around Epcot Center.

  • I mean, now it's just called Epcot.

  • So many of the original hidden mickeys are no longer in the park like the one that could be found in the loading area of maelstrom.

  • Although it was added in 1988 it was still a highly secretive tribute at the time, but one of the original world showcase examples from 1982 can still be found to this day in the Germany pavilion above the Does coffe house store.

  • There's these three statues.

  • King Philip.

  • The first is the figure on the far left, and if you look up at the center of his crown, you'll see this original Epcot Center.

  • Hidden Mickey.

  • Now World Showcase boasts many more hidden Mickeys, but a lot of them aren't originals that opened with the park.

  • One well known example could be found in the Canada Pavilion on the top of this totem pole.

  • It was added in 1998 when Disney introduced the first wooden totem pole to the pavilion.

  • The originals were just fiberglass.

  • The Italy Pavilion has been home to the Neptune Fountain since 1982 but during a re firm around 2003 the rock work behind the statue was re sculpted.

  • Ah, hidden Mickey was suddenly added into the rocks, and once you're aware it's there, it's the only thing you can see Now.

  • Sometime around the late 19 eighties, a Walt Disney imagineer let it slip to a theme park cast member that they actually designed hidden mickeys in tow.

  • Epcot.

  • Well, secrets are hard to keep, right, so that one cast member ended up telling another cast member.

  • Then the domino effect took place.

  • And now more than just the Imagineers were in on the secret.

  • Once Disney MGM Studios opened in May of 1989 Imagineers continued their inside joke of placing hidden Mickeys into this theme park as well.

  • They actually took it a step further, though, and designed the largest hidden Mickey right into the layout of Disney MGM Studios.

  • So when guests are walking past Echo Lake, they're actually walking past Mickey's right here.

  • Now, one person who got wind of the Whole Secret Hidden Mickeys happened to be a cast member by the name of Arlen Miller.

  • In 1989 Miller was the first person to write an article about Hidden Mickeys.

  • At the time, he was a writer for the Disney World Cast Member newspaper called Eyes and Ears.

  • The editors of the paper confirmed his hidden Mickey findings with late Walt Disney Imagineer Marty Skill are.

  • The article was published on November 30th 1989 and it was at this moment that every Walt Disney World's cast member was now in on the secret.

  • At the time, Disney newsmagazine had been in circulation since 1965 and was a quarterly magazine published by the Walt Disney Company.

  • The magazine was consumed by audiences around the world, and when they got wind of Miller's eyes and ears article, they reached out Disney newsmagazine, then went on to connect with Walt Disney Imagineer David Fisher.

  • In the December 1991 issue of the magazine, David Fisher wrote an article titled The Secrets of Walt Disney World.

  • Mickey, Mickey everywhere.

  • This was the first time the concept of the head in tribute to Mickey Mouse was released publicly and frankly, it was the start of the hidden Mickey craze.

  • When the Internet became more mainstream, more and more people were able to share their hidden Mickey findings, and we're now in on the secret.

  • So once the Disney community was buzzing with the idea of hidden mickeys, existing attractions began to get ahead, and Mickey's added, Take, for instance, the ballroom scene in the Haunted mansion.

  • Both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland's ballroom scene have a hidden Mickey formed out of a dinner plate and two side plates on the table Disneyland sounded.

  • Mansion opened in 1969 and you can see here from this promotional footage in 1970 that the plates are spaced much further apart and don't really resemble the Mickey Silhouette.

  • Since the items on the table are just set dressings.

  • It's actually rumored that the Hidden Mickey was created by cast member who just had access to that area of the attraction.

  • It's unknown whether this one appeared at Magic Kingdom or Disneyland first, but today you can most certainly find this hidden Mickey in both parks.

  • Disney themselves has never really released an official list of all the hidden Mickeys, but there's a lot of them, and some are easier to find than others.

  • The hidden Mickey that's worked into the French horn in Mickey's Phil Harm adjective is much easier to spot than this Hidden Mickey and the Walk Village.

  • That's part of the queue for Star tours at Hollywood Studios.

  • It's hidden in one of the trees, but it's really small.

  • This sideways, hidden Mickey on Goofy Sky School at Disney California adventure is much easier to spot than this one at Animal Kingdom.

  • The Flamingo Island on Kilimanjaro Safaris actually makes up the outline of Mickey Mouse.

  • One little tip.

  • Thio easily spot a hit and Mickey, it's always keep an eye out for bubbles Like you saw in the examples from the Disney animated films, they're a perfect way to hide a tribute to the most.

  • The Marquis signed for a Voyage of the Little Mermaid at Hollywood Studios, the Showtime Board for Finding Nemo, the musical at Animal Kingdom and the Carpet at Disney's Art of Animation Resort in Walt Disney World are just some examples.

  • Disney fans today have come to expect Head and Mickey's scattered all throughout the theme parks and resorts.

  • But overall, Walt Disney World in Florida has a lot more hidden mickeys than the Disneyland resort in California.

  • It's sort of become an obligation for Disney Imagineers to include them in any new land or attraction.

  • And although Hidden Mickeys aren't as secretive as they once were in the 19 eighties, you never know where that next one's gonna pop up.

  • So what are some of your favorite hidden mickeys around the Disney theme parks or any other ones mentioned in this video ones you hadn't heard of?

  • I'd love to know, leave a comment down below to start a conversation.

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welcome the TPM vids Disney beat, Where we talk about all things Disney.

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