Hidden Mickey

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A Hidden Mickey mixed in the spots of a closed Disneyland shop.

A Hidden Mickey is a subtle formation of a silhouette of the head of Mickey Mouse and his two ears, or a more complete representation of Mickey Mouse (such as Mickey mixed in with a crowd or in the background). Mickeys may be painted, made up of objects (such as rocks, or three plates on a table), or be references such as someone wearing Mickey Mouse Club "ears" in a painting.

When the shape of Mickey Mouse is used as an obvious part of the design, such as Mickey ears on the top of lampposts, it is considered decorative. A true Hidden Mickey is one that is not obviously meant to be seen, such as when a Disney artist places the shape of Mickey in a context that would normally not contain Mickey Mouse.

Hidden Mickeys are slipped into animation cels in nearly all Disney animated classics, hidden in architecture and attractions in Disney parks and resorts and studio buildings and many other Disney related features.

Within the parks

There are many Hidden Mickeys in the Disney theme parks. At Epcot in Walt Disney World, a list used to be available documenting the "official" Mickeys that the resort knew about. One of the first publicly documented Mickeys was in a mural above the entrance to the Body Wars attraction at Epcot. This Hidden Mickey was featured as a trivia question in an Epcot center kiosk.

Although once considered a secret, Hidden Mickeys are now quite public; with modern Internet communication and digital cameras, Hidden Mickeys are easy to learn about and document. Since Imagineers can not put their names on their works (whether a ride, an ambient entity, or topiary), they can place a Hidden Mickey as their signature.

The Walt Disney World Explorer CD-ROM was possibly the first official Disney material to actively promote Hidden Mickeys. While touring the virtual theme parks, shapes of Mickey Mouse were inserted into pictures and the user could click on them to find them. Finding ten of the Mickeys on the disc played a bonus video, in which after the video causes the counter to go back to zero and the found Hidden Mickeys to be "rehidden".

The Virtual Magic Kingdom multiplayer game offers multiple quests that involve searching for Hidden Mickeys, although these Mickey hunts do not involve locations of real-world Hidden Mickeys from the actual resorts. (Likewise, the Walt Disney World Explorer's Hidden Mickeys do not correspond to in-park ones.)

A few Disney resort attractions that contain Hidden Mickeys include Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!, The Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Soarin' Over California.

Guests at some Disney resorts, such as Disney's Wilderness Lodge, can ask for "hint sheets" containing riddle-like clues that indicate Hidden Mickeys concealed within the resorts' decorations. If guests are unable to find the Mickeys on their own, they can ask the resort staff for additional clues or to reveal them outright.

A book, fittingly titled Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets (by Steven Barrett), is sold at kiosks throughout the parks.

Possibly one of the largest Hidden Mickeys, the center of the Disney-MGM Studios theme park was laid out so that, when seen from above, it resembled a very large Mickey Mouse head. The layout has since changed; Mickey's right ear has been removed by the construction of Sunset Boulevard, and his face is covered up by The Sorcerer's Hat.

Others are hidden in plain sight, or more properly in "plane" sight. Satellite views show a Mickey-shaped lake on the infield of Walt Disney Speedway near the parking lot entrance to the Magic Kingdom. While not in a park, or even on Disney property, a plot of land on the shores of Trout Lake in Clermont Florida has been landscaped into the world's most recognizable mouse.

Probably the easiest Hidden Mickey to spot is a Mickey-shaped high-voltage power pole near Disney World in Orlando.

Films and other media

Films known to include Hidden Mickeys

• Santa's Workshop (1932, a partially obscured Mickey can be seen in Santa's bag at the 5:54 mark)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
• Peter Pan
• Cinderella
• The Black Cauldron
• Tron
• The Little Mermaid
• Beauty and the Beast
• The Lion King
• Treasure Planet
• Lilo & Stitch
• The Lion King 1½
  • There are 20 different Hidden Mickeys seen in the backgrounds of The Lion King 1½. The DVD features a DVD game entitled Hidden Mickey Hunt which allows you to find all 20 Hidden Mickeys.
• The Sleeping Beauty
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Shrek 2
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
• Aladdin
• Toy Story
• Recess: School's Out
• The Haunted Mansion

Other Hidden Mickeys

There is a hidden mickey in a mural hanging in the Noah's Ark restaurant in Teaneck, New Jersey. Mickey can be seen sticking his head out of the kangaroo's pouch.

See also

• Hidden "Mickey 50 Ears"

External links

• Hidden Mickeys of Disney
• FindingMickey.com - Hidden Mickeys of Disneyland Resort, Anaheim CA
• A guide to Hidden Mickeys at Disney parks, resorts, and cruise ships