The Mouse has certainly become an amazingly popular cultural icon, touching people's lives in different ways. My favourite Mouse story concerns the start of World war 2: on 1st September 1939 the BBC Television Service was abruptly shutdown because of the declaration of war. This was mid way through a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Seven years later when the BBC Television Service restarted, it began at exactly the same point in the Mickey Mouse cartoon that had been interupted all that time earlier!
Regards
Rob