''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' was a 1936–1957 weekly British tabloid

Disney comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...

magazine, the first British comic with full colour

photogravure Photogravure (in French ''héliogravure'') is a process for printing photographs, also sometimes used for reproductive intaglio printmaking. It is a photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is grained (adding a pattern to the plate) and ...

printing. It was launched by Willbank Publications and later continued by

Odhams Press Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and th ...

. The comics were said to be "drawn in a slick, smooth style which was clearly influenced by American comics." ''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' featured American reprints as well as original British Disney comics material, including the first

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

comic book serial. The magazine also featured reprints of

Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contribution to Mickey Mouse comi ...

's ''

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 ...

'' comic strip continuities in full colour on the back cover. 920 issues of ''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' were published between 8 February 1936 and 28 December 1957.

Publication history

''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' was inspired by the 1935 launch of ''

Mickey Mouse Magazine ''Mickey Mouse Magazine'' is an American Disney comics publication that preceded the popular 1940 anthology comic book ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories''. There were three versions of the title – two promotional giveaway magazines published f ...

'', the first American Disney newsstand publication. It began as a 12-page tabloid, with four pages in colour — the cover pages and the centrefold. The early covers were drawn by

Wilfred Haughton Wilfred may refer to: * Wilfred (given name), a given name and list of people (and fictional characters) with the name * Wilfred, Indiana, an unincorporated community in the United States * ''Wilfred'' (Australian TV series), a comedy series * ...

— a full-colour comic panel with many characters, with each one saying a joke or a pun. As the American ''Mickey Mouse Magazine'' inspired ''Mickey Mouse Weekly'', the new publication inspired a number of European spinoffs, including Switzerland's ''Micky Maus Zeitung'' (1936–37) and Sweden's '' Musse Pigg Tidningen'' (1937–38), which used Haughton's covers and other British material. The magazine ceased production with its 28 December 1957 issue after Odhams lost the rights to the Disney characters. Disney then published ''Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse'' with Vernon Holding; the relatively unsuccessful magazine was renamed ''Walt Disney's Weekly'' in 1959 and discontinued in 1961. Non-Disney content was continued in Odhams Press' ''Zip'', a 1958 weekly which merged into ''

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

'' in 1959.

Strips

''The De(f)tective Agency''

The first British Disney serial published in ''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' was ''The De(f)tective Agency'' — actually "The Defective Agency", but with the F crossed out, and T written in above. This one-page serial began in issue #45 (12 December 1936), and starred

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled f ...

and Toby Tortoise, from the 1935 ''

Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...

'' short ''

The Tortoise and the Hare "The Tortoise and the Hare" is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 226 in the Perry Index. The account of a race between unequal partners has attracted conflicting interpretations. The fable itself is a variant of a common folktale theme in wh ...

'', assisted by

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

. The stories were written and drawn by Wilfred Haughton. The serial had four stories: * ''The Disappearing Kids'', issues #45–54 (12 December 1936 – 13 February 1937): The detectives investigate the kidnapping of "the famous Mickey quins", finally finding them with

Peg Leg Pete Pete (also called Peg-Leg Pete, Bad Pete and Black Pete, among other names) is a fictional character of The Walt Disney Company. Created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, Pete is traditionally depicted as the Archenemy, arch-nemesis of Mickey Mouse ...

, who begs the heroes to take the brats away again. * ''Spooky Farm'', issues #55–63 (20 February – 17 April 1937) * ''A Tropical Trek'', issues #68–85 (22 May – 18 September 1937): Goofy and Toby are captured by cannibals in the desert. * ''Our De(f)tectives Meet Rivals'', issues #86–103 (25 September 1937 – 22 January 1938): Goofy and Toby compete with a rival detective agency headed by

Horace Horsecollar Horace Horsecollar is a cartoon character created in 1928 at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Horace is a tall anthropomorphic black horse and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. Characterized as a boastful show-off, Horace served as Mickey’s ...

and Sammy Skunk.

Donald Duck

Considered the first

comic book serial, originally called ''Donald and Donna'', which began in issue #67 (15 May 1937), drawn by William A. Ward. There were 15 weekly parts of this first serial featuring Donald and his girlfriend Donna, an early version of

Daisy Duck Daisy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As the girlfriend of Donald Duck, she is an anthropomorphic white duck that has large eyelashes and ruffled tail feathers around her lowest region to suggest a skirt. She is ...

. Donna left the series after the first story, which was continued as ''Donald and Mac'', ''Donald Duck'' and ''Donald Duck with Mac'' for the next three years, ending in issue #222 (4 May 1940). The Donald Duck strip itself continued until the magazine's closure in 1957.

''Shuffled Symphonies''

''Shuffled Symphonies'' was an early illustrated text feature by Basil Reynolds, which initially paired a character from the ''

'' cartoons with a character from the ''

'' shorts. Over time, it transitioned to stories about Mickey and friends embarking on science-fiction and fantasy-themed adventures, including a story about Donald, Mickey and Mickey's nephews traveling in a time machine to the future. The feature began in issue #1 (8 February 1936), and continued until at least #210 (10 February 1940). Reynolds left ''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' in 1940 for military service in World War II. After the war, he returned to the weekly in 1947, contributing off and on until 1954. A card game called Shuffled Symphonies was produced in 1939 by Pepys Games, based on the title of this weekly feature. The cards featured full-colour images of the ''Mickey Mouse'', ''Silly Symphony'' and ''Snow White'' cast.

Other strips

*''Billy Brave'' (

Tony Weare Tony Weare (1 January 1912 – 2 December 1994) was an English comics artist best known for drawing ''Matt Marriott'', a daily Western strip written by Jim Edgar, which ran in ''The Evening News'' from 1955 to 1977. Tony Weare was born at W ...

, 1950–57) *''Bobby and Chip'' (

Otto Messmer Otto James Messmer (August 16, 1892 – October 28, 1983) was an American animator known for his work on the Felix the Cat cartoons and comic strip produced by the Pat Sullivan studio. The extent of Messmer's role in the creation and populari ...

) *''Bongo'' ( Basil Reynolds) *''Danny the Lamb'' (Basil Reynolds) *''

Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...

'' (

Jim Holdaway Jim Holdaway (1927–1970) was a British illustrator, who contributed art for numerous comic strips. His best known work was on the ''Modesty Blaise'' comics written by Peter O'Donnell. Art career Jim Holdaway was born in 1927 in Barnes Co ...

, 1955–57) *''Doc's Woodland Wonders'' (Basil Reynolds, 1948–49) *''

'' ( William Ward, 1937–57) *''Don o' the Drums'' (

Ron Embleton Ronald Sydney Embleton (6 October 1930 – 13 February 1988) was a British illustrator who gained fame as a comics artist. In the 1950s and 1960s, Embleton also pursued a career as an oil painter, and he exhibited his works widely in Britain, Ger ...

, 1957) *''Gordon Gale, Air Rover'' (Stephen Chapman, 1936) *''Ian on Mu'' (Hugh Stanley White) *''Kidnapped'' ( Joan Martin May, 1948) *''Li'l Wolf'' (Basil Reynolds) *''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'' (reprinted American strip by Ed Kressy) *''

'' (

, Victor Ibbetson, Ronald Nielsen, Basil Reynolds 1936–57) *''Monty Carstairs, Special Agent'' ( Cecil Orr,

Frank Bellamy Frank Bellamy (21 May 1917 Khoury, George. ''True Brit: Celebrating The Comic Book Artists Of England'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2004). – 5 July 1976) was a British comics artist, best known for his work on the ''Eagle'' comic, for which h ...

, 1951–56) *''Mumbles'' (Basil Reynolds) *''Peter Puppet'' (Basil Reynolds) *''Robin Alone'' (E. O., 1950–57) *''Rogers' Rangers'' (

, 1953) *''Sea Shanties'' (

Reg Carter Reginald Arthur Lay Carter (6 December 1886, Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast a ...

) *''Secret in the Sands'' (Frank Bellamy, 1953) *''

The Secret Seven The Secret Seven or Secret Seven Society is a fictional group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton and based on the publisher’s children. They appear in one of several adolescent detective series which Blyton wrote. The Secret Seve ...

'' (

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...

& George Brook, began 21 July 1951) *''Shuffled Symphonies'' (Basil Reynolds) *''Skit, Skat and the Captain'' (Basil Reynolds, 1936–40) *''Strongbow the Mighty'' (Ron Embleton, 1954–57) *''Troubles of Father'' (Reg Carter) *''

True-Life Adventures ''True-Life Adventures'' is a series of short and full-length nature documentary films released by Walt Disney Productions between the years 1948 and 1960. The first seven films released were thirty-minute shorts, with the subsequent seven films ...

'' (Basil Reynolds) *''Walt Disney's Living Desert'' (Frank Bellamy, 1953)

Spin-offs

''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' had an annual 64-page December supplement for the first four years – ''Mickey Mouse Holiday Special'' in 1936, 1937 and 1938, and ''Mickey Mouse Christmas Special'' in 1939.

References

External links

*
920 issues

Page at Mouseplanet.com
{{Disney comics navbox Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom 1936 comics debuts 1957 comics endings Magazines established in 1936 Magazines disestablished in 1957 Mickey Mouse comics Disney comics titles Defunct British comics Odhams Press titles