Bret William Iwan (born September 10, 1982) is an American voice actor and illustrator. He has been the fourth official voice of

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

following the death of

Wayne Allwine Wayne Anthony Allwine (February 7, 1947 – May 18, 2009) was an American voice actor, sound effects editor and foley artist for The Walt Disney Company. He is best remembered as the 3rd official voice of Mickey Mouse. He is the longest-tenured ...

in May 2009.

Early life

Iwan was born on September 10, 1982, and raised in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

; he is the son of Bill and Fiona Iwan. He attended LeRoy High School in

Le Roy, Illinois Le Roy (also styled "LeRoy") is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,560 at the 2010 census. Geography Le Roy is located at (40.347168, -88.762293). According to the 2010 census, Le Roy has a total area of , of ...

, from 1996–2000. He graduated from the

Ringling College of Art and Design Ringling College of Art and Design (RCAD) is a private art and design school in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded by Ludd M. Spivey as an art school in 1931 as a remote branch of Southern College but separated by 1933. History The origins of ...

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

, in 2004. Iwan was previously an illustrator at

Hallmark A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''hallmark'' can al ...

Career

Iwan was hired to voice

and replace

after the latter died on May 18, 2009. They never had the chance to meet each other. Iwan had previously understudied for the role when Allwine was facing health difficulties, and Iwan credits Allwine's archival work as providing excellent mentorship. Iwan first recorded Mickey Mouse dialogue for the

Disney's Animal Kingdom Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...

theme park as well as the 2009 shows ''Disney On Ice: Celebrations'' and ''Disney Live: Rockin' Road Show''. He voiced Mickey Mouse in ''

Have a Laugh! ''Have a Laugh!'' is an American animated comedy series produced by the Walt Disney Company for the Disney Channel. The series is a set of interstitials, presenting edited versions of classic ''Mickey Mouse'' cartoons that lasted from 2009 to 201 ...

''. He gave his first full performance as Mickey Mouse for the English version of the PlayStation Portable game ''

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios for the PlayStation Portable, serving as the sixth installment in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series. The game was relea ...

''. His first voice-over work in a Disney Park could be heard in the Animal Kingdom closing show "Adventurers' Celebration Gathering" as well as on the

Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover The PeopleMover is an urban mass transit PeopleMover system attraction in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Designed as an urban mass-transit system of th ...

attraction at the

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...

in which, upon passing through Mickey's Star Traders, Mickey responds with his signature laugh and says, "That's right, it's outta this world!"

Personal life

Iwan is gay, and thus the first

LGBTQIA+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is an ...

performer to voice Mickey Mouse. He married his longtime partner, art director Douglas Hoffman, in July 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theme park attractions

References

External links

*
Bret Iwan at Voice Chasers

Bret Iwan Interview
1982 births Living people 21st-century American male actors American gay actors American illustrators American male voice actors American male video game actors American people of Welsh descent Disney people Artists from Pasadena, California Gay artists Male actors from Pasadena, California Ringling College of Art and Design alumni 21st-century LGBT people {{US-voice-actor-stub