Mickey vs Mario as pop culture icons?

[UNCgolf]

I think Mario and Mickey are similar in that they both function more as corporate icons than loveable characters in their own right, at least at this point in their history (I think Mario has always been this way, but Mickey was probably different in the past). I know Mickey still has shows targeted at kids and a few shorts, and there is the new Mario movie, but that's about the extent of their use as figures with actual characterization. Mario video games generally aren't popular because of Mario himself (who is barely even a character in most games; he generally doesn't talk etc.) but because they're Nintendo games. Mario is just the figure they use as a springboard for various genres.

 

[jloucks]

Bingo

People starting to raise their own families grew up with Nintendo as their main form of entertainment, and I'd imagine are passing on to their children their interest in them.

Universal made a heck of a deal with Nintendo that I'd imagine Disney wishes they could have landed

I know I certainly did. That very first Super Mario Nintendo console game was amazing back in the day.

 

[NickMaio]

I don't know I still think it skews older for Mickey...I'm 45 years old and grew up with Nintendo and Mario since I was around 7 years old. If I hadn't been local to WDW I probably would have much less Mickey Mouse related knowledge other than the mouse logo everywhere.

30 and 40 year Olds had the wonderful world of Disney every Sunday night.
My wife and I as kids ran to see what the weekend movie was. Also Dinsey was heavily into marketing and advertising tie ins. They were everywhere. Commercials, food, video games....you name it.


Hi, I'm Michael Eisner.......
You had me at hi.....

It's a different world now.

 

[ChrisFL]

30 and 40 year Olds had the wonderful world of Disney every Sunday night.
My wife and I as kids ran to see what the weekend movie was. Also Dinsey was heavily into marketing and advertising tie ins. They were everywhere. Commercials, food, video games....you name it.


Hi, I'm Michael Eisner.......
You had me at hi.....

It's a different world now.

Yes but how many Mickey Mouse movies were there during Wonderful World of Disney?

 

[NickMaio]

Yes but how many Mickey Mouse movies were there during Wonderful World of Disney?

Mickey was almost always there with Eisner.
Back then you could not disassociate mickey from Disney or vice versa.
They were the same thing.

When my family would go to Disney we would say we are going to see Mickey.

 

[jloucks]

30 and 40 year Olds had the wonderful world of Disney every Sunday night.
My wife and I as kids ran to see what the weekend movie was. Also Dinsey was heavily into marketing and advertising tie ins. They were everywhere. Commercials, food, video games....you name it.


Hi, I'm Michael Eisner.......
You had me at hi.....

It's a different world now.

Wasn't that followed by Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom? That might have been Saturday night, but yea, I remember both programs well.

And of course the Micky Mouse Club. The 70's cast for me.

 

[erasure fan1]

Universal made a heck of a deal with Nintendo that I'd imagine Disney wishes they could have landed

I'm not sure they do. Iger has been dismissive of anything video games for his whole tenure. He doesn't get it and never will. I don't think it's coincidence there is nothing coming to at least challenge epic universe. Mario and Nintendo are not a threat to Iger.

 

[Andrew25]

I'm not sure they do. Iger has been dismissive of anything video games for his whole tenure. He doesn't get it and never will. I don't think it's coincidence there is nothing coming to at least challenge epic universe. Mario and Nintendo are not a threat to Iger.

The partnership with Universal and Nintendo is still in its infancy, but I'd imagine he's not too happy about the next few years with Universal pushing out Nintendo films and attractions.

Marvel burnout is real, Star Wars too, and Pixar isn't doing too hot either... Nintendo could have been a breath of fresh air for the company.

I think fans get a little too competitive when it comes to the Universal vs Disney race, Disney ain't going anywhere, but there's a serious question about the impact Epic Universe will have on a park like DAK that can't keep people to park close.

Not everyone has the luxury of time (not even talking about pricing) to visit all the WDW/UOR parks... I'd imagine there's going to be serious competition between both resorts on who can attract more of your park days. Right now most people see Universal as a 1-Day destination thanks to the Hogwarts Express... but what about in 2025? Everybody pretty much "automatically" visits Magic Kingdom, but what about DAK? That's an easy one to give up in favor of the park with Nintendo...

FYI, DAK is my favorite park in Orlando..

 

[Robbiem]

I'm not sure they do. Iger has been dismissive of anything video games for his whole tenure. He doesn't get it and never will. I don't think it's coincidence there is nothing coming to at least challenge epic universe. Mario and Nintendo are not a threat to Iger.

Iger and Video games are like the internet was to Eisner. They don’t see where the trend is going and hang on to what they know. Its like Kodak with digital. I don’t think video games will ever replace movies and TV but they will become more relevant with each generation in the same way that movies replaced books or radio of music as a proportion of people’s leisure time. I say that as someone who isn’t interested in gaming but understands why people are

 

[Magicart87]

Most popular? It’sa me! Mickio!

Close. But he needs a Pikachu tail and Minecraft sword.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Yes but how many Mickey Mouse movies were there during Wonderful World of Disney?

Not that many, but at least for a while on TV you saw Mickey and co on a seasonal basis thanks to Disney's Halloween Treat, Mickey's Christmas Carol, From All of Us to All of You etc. The holiday specials were a great showcase for older Disney properties and characters,

Now we don't even have that anymore, except the new Disney+ stop motion cartoons (which I appreciate).

 

[Disstevefan1]

In Mickey VS. Mario, thanks to Walt, no matter how much the current TWDC does to damage the brand, Mickey is still king.

 

[SpectreJordan]

Random thoughts about the relative ability for anyone in the world to recognize characters, I believe Mickey Mouse has usually been the most recognizable in surveys but I bet Mario is close.

What's interesting to me is that for a long time, outside of the theme parks, Mickey didn't really have a lot of media on his own. There was the recent Mickey Mouse shorts and the kids show but in the 80's, 90's...not much? (or I entirely missed it). Mickey does get a lot of built-in credit for being the face of Disney as a whole and on tons of marketing material and just the logo itself.

Mario on the other hand didn't have any theme park presence until recently but has been featured in dozens of video games since the early 1980's (featured first in Donkey Kong), cartoons, live action (wishing I could ignore the 90's Super Mario movie but it is there). He's also become a cultural icon outside of just the games themselves, but I think due to the sheer volume of how many Mario games have been sold (hundreds of millions) and it reaches a wide demographic....or wide for those probably under 50 years old.

Mickey probably has far greater reach in popularity for people who grew up before the 1980's.

It's just something interesting to think about for me since Mario is now joining the theme park realm and also had a very successful movie recently. I think Mario is still extremely popular and Mickey is maintaining his popularity.

Mickey benefitted from TV airings of the classic shorts during this time. I became a super fan at a super young age because of those shorts airing on the Disney Channel. I don't think most of those shorts have aired on TV in 20 years & they're very clunkily added on Disney+. It's a shame that they're not easily accessible for new generations of kids. The newer Mickey shorts are fantastic but they just ended, so it'd be nice to rely on the classics for kids again.

They need to keep adding more shorts to D+ & create a giant playlist for them so that they can just autoplay like TV shows do.

I don't feel like Mario is at Mickey's level just yet, but he's on the pathway to get there. Nintendo has done an amazing job at keeping this character at the forefront &, more importantly, keeping him relevant. Mario's "main" games are almost always incredibly high quality & some of the biggest releases of their year. Mario is associated with consistent high quality, Mickey really isn't. Mickey stuff is usually just fine; rarely is it ever raved about.

 

[flynnibus]

Mario video games generally aren't popular because of Mario himself (who is barely even a character in most games; he generally doesn't talk etc.) but because they're Nintendo games. Mario is just the figure they use as a springboard for various genres.

You are wrong here. Mario has a personality and character... which is exactly why the latest movie was no shocker in his portrayal or his behavior.

Nintendo games across the board have almost never had much speech - period. This goes all the way back to the PS1 vs cartridge era limitations. Nintendo's style is use snipets of speech or emotional sounds... while the competition moved to FMV interludes and dialogue. This isn't a Mario thing - this is a Nintendo game style thing. And Mario has portrayed his character traits extensively in the Super Mario World games for decades.

 

[UNCgolf]

You are wrong here. Mario has a personality and character... which is exactly why the latest movie was no shocker in his portrayal or his behavior.

Nintendo games across the board have almost never had much speech - period. This goes all the way back to the PS1 vs cartridge era limitations. Nintendo's style is use snipets of speech or emotional sounds... while the competition moved to FMV interludes and dialogue. This isn't a Mario thing - this is a Nintendo game style thing. And Mario has portrayed his character traits extensively in the Super Mario World games for decades.

I didn't say he has no personality at all.

However, his character/personality is quite limited in most of his appearances, and more importantly it's not really relevant to the popularity of Mario games. The vast majority of people aren't playing them because of Mario's character traits; people generally don't have a strong connection to him as a developed character beyond simply enjoying the games he's in.

And I say this having played Mario games since the original Super Mario Bros. on NES.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Younger Kids- teens - 20 something - Mario for the win.
Older 30's-40's-50's+ - Mickey

I agree:

I don't have young kids but a good friend does. She is taking her 6 and 7 y/o sons to Universal in a year. They are most excited about the Harry Potter lands; can't wait to go there and experience it all. Then I told them Mario was coming in 2025 and she said that they loved Mario.
I know this is one family, but it shows what some kids are into now.

 

[Surferboy567]

Mismanaged. Lack of new content and the growing concerns over sensitivity about the kind of humor depicted in those cartoons. Too much stuff that is no longer politically correct or considered suitable for kids.

I still think bugs is popular enough. Maybe I’m biased though because I like the tunes.

That being said Mickey rules supreme. Mario isn’t far behind though. I can also argue Kingdom Hearts is quite popular both in Japan and the states. Mario is of course more popular. I do remember how crazy the smash hype was toward the end when the two met (Sora & Mario but Sora can be seen as an extension of Disney). That blew my mind, as I’m sure it did for others.

EDIT: Mario has also been a huge part of my life. Super Nintendo World was very fun.

 

[NickMaio]

I agree:

I don't have young kids but a good friend does. She is taking her 6 and 7 y/o sons to Universal in a year. They are most excited about the Harry Potter lands; can't wait to go there and experience it all. Then I told them Mario was coming in 2025 and she said that they loved Mario.
I know this is one family, but it shows what some kids are into now.

I have been teaching grade 4 for 12 years now.
It's easy.
Mario wins hands down for that age group.

Most don't even like Disney movies vs DreamWorks.

 

[flynnibus]

I didn't say he has no personality at all.

However, his character/personality is quite limited in most of his appearances, and more importantly it's not really relevant to the popularity of Mario games. The vast majority of people aren't playing them because of Mario's character traits; people generally don't have a strong connection to him as a developed character beyond simply enjoying the games he's in.

I don't agree at all. People know and expect things from Mario content... different from Kirby... different from MegaMan.. different from link... different from yoshi, etc.

Is he replacable in some games? Sure, I mean that's how we get Lugi and all the cast in other games.. and Mario Kart is just as fun with other characters as Mario.

But people are buying more than a platformer when they buy Mario games.. which is why they've been able to put him in so many other games as the draw... and successfully.

 

[UNCgolf]

I don't agree at all. People know and expect things from Mario content... different from Kirby... different from MegaMan.. different from link... different from yoshi, etc.

Is he replacable in some games? Sure, I mean that's how we get Lugi and all the cast in other games.. and Mario Kart is just as fun with other characters as Mario.

But people are buying more than a platformer when they buy Mario games.. which is why they've been able to put him in so many other games as the draw... and successfully.

It's funny you say that, because to me this is one of the reasons he's essentially a corporate icon. People aren't buying those games because they want to see more of Mario as a character, they're buying them because it's a signifier of quality. They don't expect dialogue and a deep story with character development. He can be tossed in just about anywhere and it works because there's not enough depth to him to make him feel out of place.

He's a mascot -- much like Mickey Mouse.