Friends and Relatives of Mickey Mouse Quiz

Answer: Mortimer and Ferdinand

Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse are twins. They appeared in Mickey's comic strip in 1932. They were first presented, like Donald Duck, without pants, but soon became more respectably covered with trousers. Sadly, the creators of these characters decided to remove Ferdie in 1943 because the twins were too much alike. Huh? They're twins for goodness sakes. Floyd Gottfredson, their creator, planned to bring Ferdie back as an intellectual, complete with an Eton hat. Alas though, he never got round to doing so, and, for a long time, Morty was on his own.

In more recent times, Ferdie has re-appeared once more and both he and Morty are usually depicted as champion football players. How dull.

Answer: Butch the Bulldog

Also known as Pluto the Pup, Mickey Mouse's dog, Pluto normally doesn't speak. For a short time in his early career, he did so however. Created in 1930 by the Walt Disney studio, Pluto today is a mixed breed, but, once again during his early career, he was portrayed as a bloodhound.

He appeared in 89 films between the time of his creation until 1953 - several of which were nominated for Academy Awards. One of these actually did win an Oscar in 1941. This was called "Lend a Paw", with a storyline based around Pluto saving a kitten, which Micky Mouse adopts, resulting in Pluto becoming jealous. Pluto also has a girlfriend from time to time.

She is Dinah the Dachshund, and their romance begins after Pluto rescues Dinah from the pound. This lovable pet belonging to Mickey Mouse is believed to be named after the newly discovered dwarf plant, Pluto, in 1930.

His first appearance in a starring role was in the animated cartoon "Playful Pluto" (1934), in which he gets stuck on fly paper. His arch enemy is Butch the Bulldog, and he also has ongoing skirmishes with the two troublesome chipmunks, Chip and Dale, from time to time. Pluto first fell out with Butch when Pluto tried to steal Butch's bone - and the two have been fighting ever since.

Answer: Horace Horsecollar

Horace is as a horse who acts, speaks and dresses like a human. He's a bit of a cheerful know-everything, who now and then helps Mickey with his detective work. He was one of the leading characters in the Mickey Mouse cartoons from 1932 until 1942, but then assumed a much lesser role for almost forty years until making a resurgence in the 1980s. Let's hope he's around for a long time yet. Bill Farmer, the man behind Horace's voice (and Goofy and Pluto as well) said he created Horace's voice on the spot following a surprise request from the director, and it is a type of combination of the voices of Ben Stein and Jim Bacchus.

Answer: Amelia

Did you know that Mickey had a sister? I didn't. However, Amelia is Mickey's older sister and has been around since 1932 when she was introduced in that year as Morty and Ferdie's mother. Her husband's name was given as Frank, but still by 2017, Frank has not been given a form or a personality. Amelia was drawn a lot older than Mickey at first and was overweight and dowdy - so much so that she looked more like his aunt.

In more recent times, however, she has slimmed down considerably and her appearance altered to make her appear younger and closer to Mickey in age.

Answer: True

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was created by Walt Disney and his brother Roy after they had formed the Disney Studios. It was there, in 1927, along with Ub Iwerks, that Disney created the famous Oswald for Universal Studios. Initially, even, Oswald could be said to be more popular than Mickey Mouse, because he had a perkier personality and was more adventurous, whereas Mickey had a more serious side but was prone to getting into terrible predicaments. Who knows where Oswald could have taken Disney, but, following a disagreement over a contract with Universal, that studio retained the Oswald Rights - and Disney went on to create the famous Mickey Mouse instead in 1928. Oswald made 194 films over the next ten years, but these were released in the US only.

In 2006, Oswald the Rabbit finally made it back to Disney again when the studio acquired the rights to him once more. Home at last.

Answer: Minnie

Minnie, whose real name is Minerva, is a country girl by heart as her parents own a farm. When first introduced to us, her grandparents (Marshal and Matilda) were still alive and her favourite relatives were Uncle Milton and Millie and Melody, her twin nieces. Designed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, she first appeared in 1928, so it was almost to be expected that she would be portrayed as a roaring twenties flapper.

Her dress flapped when she walked and was so short that it usually revealed a daintily patched set of knickers.

She wore black stockings that were all the rage at the time, and her shoes were oddly overlarge for her feet, causing her to lose them on the odd occasion. Along with Mickey she was redesigned twelve years later, with her standard hat replaced by bows and those oversized shoes adorned with bows as well.

Her personality, too, was redesigned to become more like the Minnie we know today. She was once portrayed as very flirtatious and playful but by 1940, she was a lot more conservative in outlook - and a much more suitable partner for Mickey.

Answer: Blonde

Madeline Mouse is Mickey's cousin. She is normally portrayed as a blonde, but now and then the animators gave her all over blonde fur instead. Madeline wasn't around for very long, but did feature in a serial, known as "Love Trouble", that ran for several months in 1941.

Answer: Clarabelle

Clarabelle Cow was created by Disney and Iwerks in 1928, along with many others of the more popular characters. She has the occasional fling with Horace Horsecollar, and flirts now and then with another friend of Mickey, but mostly she's content to hang around with Minnie and the rest of the gang.

Her role is mostly as a supporting cast member, except in Italy where she is very popular. It's those flashing dark eyes, no doubt. Clarabelle first appeared in Mickey's debut film "Steamboat Willie" in 1928, so her ancestry is as long as his.

Answer: Dippy Dawg

Goofy was created in 1932, with a southern drawl, fully clothed, known then as Dippy Dawg, and possessing anything but a dazzling IQ. He did have his moments of brilliance, however. His later appearances always have him wearing a turtle neck jumper and that, along with his hat, just wouldn't be Goofy without them.

At first he was portrayed as older than the Goofy we have come to know and love, but later in the year of his creation, he was re-drawn as a younger version and was renamed Goofy. Two of his short films received Oscar nominations. Along with Donald Duck (my personal favourite) and Mickey, the three friends are often portrayed together.

Answer: Opera singing

Clara Cluck makes me laugh. First appearing in 1934, she has appeared on and off in cartoons ever since. Normally shown as a friend of Daisy Duck as well as Mickey, Clara is an opera singer and clucks a simply deee-vine aria, particularly those modelled on Puccini's "Tosca".

Her singing is meant to be a send up of the Bel Canto style popular at that time in history. At one stage in her cartoon life, Clara falls in love with Donald Duck, much to his horror. She chases him relentlessly, posing seductively whenever she sees him before puckering up her beak and trying to kiss him.

Indeed she almost got that reluctant duck to the altar, except Daisy Duck foiled her plans at the last moment. So she switched her attention to Gus Goose instead. You have to watch out for those opera singers.

It's all the passion about which they're always warbling.