Mickey Mouse Around the World Trivia Quiz

Answer: Germany

Not only is Micky Maus the name of the character in German, it is also a magazine title, created originally in 1951. As well as Mickey, it features other Disney characters. Maus is the German word for mouse.

There is another German connection to Mickey, as the animator who fleshed out Walt Disney's original idea was Ub Iwerks, born to a German immigrant family.

Answer: China

This is another more or less direct translation of the English name, with laoshu, sometimes just shu, being the Chinese word for mouse. As in Germany, it is also a magazine featuring the characters of Disney and named for the most famous.

Disney seems popular in China, with Hong Kong Disneyland opening in 2005 and Disneyland Shanghai in 2016. No doubt Mickey has waved to quite a few Chinese people over the years.

Answer: Sweden

Strangely, Mickey Mouse is less popular in Sweden than in most countries. It seems that he is seen as too perfect and the Swedes prefer Donald Duck, with his flaws.

According to my research, it is a Scandinavian tradition to watch 'Kalle Anka's Jul', better known to English speakers as 'Donald Duck's Christmas', on Christmas Eve. The cartoon dates from 1958.

Mickey only came about after Walt Disney's first, and successful, creation Oswald the Rabbit was claimed to be the copyright of the distributor. Disney had to come up with something new quickly to avoid the failure of his business.

Answer: Finland

This is a direct translation of the English name, with hiiri meaning mouse in Finnish, and in Estonian. Donald Duck is Aku Ankka.

Finnish actor Antti Pääkkönen provides the voice for Mickey Mouse in the Finnish version of the cartoons about the character. Disney lays down strict rules about how the character should sound - the voice needs to be falsetto, but not squeaky, and the actor has said that maintaining this is demanding.

Answer: Italy

You've probably spotted that this is the only name in the quiz which isn't a version of Mickey Mouse in a foreign language, and there's a reason for that. An Italian publisher of comics began printing cartoons of Mickey Mouse in 1932 in his children's newspaper, named 'Topolino'. Unfortunately, he had not secured the rights to use the character, and Disney's Italian representative soon put a stop to this.

The solution, to circumvent this breach of copyright, was to change the name of the publication to two words, Topo Lino, as topo means mouse in Italian, and alter the appearance of the mouse in the cartoons. The mouse was renamed Topo Lino too. Eventually, legal matters were resolved and the name changed back to Topolino. The name was so well established, that it was retained, rather than being changed to Michele Topo..

Answer: Indonesia

You won't be surprised to learn that tikus is the Indonesian word for mouse, so the name is another direct translation. Indonesian television shows the original cartoons with voices provided by local actors.

The way the characters look doesn't vary no matter which country you see them as this is strictly controlled by the Walt Disney Company. Since Mickey was created, by Walt Disney himself during a train journey in 1928, Mickey Mouse has become one of the most recognisable characters of all time.

Answer: Hungary

The Hungarian name just means Mickey Mouse in that language. Although Disney's creations are popular throughout Europe, at the time of writing (2023) there is only one park, called Disneyland Paris. This opened in 1992 after a long search for suitable sites in several European counties, including the UK, Spain and Italy. It seems Paris was chosen due to its accessibility to many European residents.

According to most sources, the French name for Mickey Mouse is Michel Souris, while some countries, like Denmark, just call him by his original English name.

Answer: Poland

No surprises that myszka means mouse in Polish, showing that the spread of Disney's characters across the world has meant little change to the names chosen by their creators.

Of course, if Walt Disney had kept the original name of Mortimer, the translations might have been very different. It was his wife who persuaded him that Mickey was a friendlier name. The first two cartoons Disney created featuring Mickey didn't gain much attention, with 'Steamboat Willy' being the one that started the Disney empire.

Answer: Mexico

As raton is the Spanish word for mouse, this is how Mickey Mouse is known in many Spanish speaking countries. He was sometimes called El ratón Miguelito/Miguelín in earlier times, but the shorter version seems more common now.

The artist Thomas Kinkade created a series of paintings showing Mickey and Minnie in various locations, with Mexico being one of them - Mickey is wearing a poncho. Other countries they visited in Kinkade's imagination are Ireland, Greece and Australia.

Answer: Iceland

As with most of the names, this is a direct translation into Icelandic with mus being the word for mouse, and Mikki being their version of Mickey. Minnie (Minerva) is called Mina Mus.

Although there are no Disney parks in Scandinavia, the Disney company does run tours to the country and events are organised featuring the Disney characters. Iceland did find itself described as 'Disneyland Iceland' in 2016 when American tourists outnumbered residents.