Mickey Mouse Ears
By: Mariel
Gutierrez
Oh funny
little mouse ears, what would hat-loving,
kids-at-heart do without you? OK, so maybe
these plastic, circular disks snapped atop a
felt beanie are not as convenient as a
keychain. They may be twelve times larger
than the sought after,
limited edition pins. And yes,
Vinylmations are so darn adorable! But, can
you wear a keychain, pin, Vinylmation, shot
glass, spoon, bell, or any other tiny
collectible on your head? Without it falling
off, of course.
I will
admit: I'm a collector of collections. Many
shoeboxes containing key chains, piggy banks,
and
shot glasses from around the world
are collecting dust in my parent's basement.
My
Alice in Wonderland,
Tinker Bell, and Cast Member pins
occupy a few pages of my brother's pin book
(I'm pretty sure if I buy my own, I would
buy hundreds more pins that I don't have the
money for). And the cute Vinylmations that I
told myself to stay away from? I have three
now, and I'm working on four blank ones.
As for
Mickey Mouse Ears, they're more than
a collection. They're not just a quirky hat
-- actually six quirky hats -- bought on
trips to Walt Disney World and
Disneyland. These babies are the one
collection out of my many collections that I
treasure the most. One reason is probably
because my family and I love us some hats;
we can't get enough of them. In fact, hats
in general is another collection to add to
the list. Then there's the fact that if
you're going to wear a hat in Disney, of
course you have to wear the one type of hat
that fails to shield your face from the sun.
But, you can always do the creative thing
and wear the ears on top of you baseball
cap.
Also, like
other collectibles, Mouse Ears become
immediate keepsakes. Sometimes, Mouse Ears
are the one item you purchase during your
entire stay at Disney, so of course you're
going to love it forever.
On rare occasions, like with me, it's the
first Disney item you own. When I was barely
six months old, my parents took me on my
first trip to Walt Disney World. They bought
me an engraved mug and of course, a baby set
of mouse ears with my name embroidered on
the back. And thus the seed of my little
collection of Mickey Ears was planted.
Mickey Ears circa 1984. It still
said
Mickey Mouse Club instead of Walt
Disney World!
But the main
reason why I and thousands of others adore
those mouse ears? It's because once you don
them, that's when a lot of the fun begins.
It's worn during a first or tenth visit at
Disneyland. It's given a "thumbs up" from
the Big Cheese himself. It gets lost and
found at Space Mountain. It gets stolen by
Captain Hook, but subsequently
returned when Peter reminds Hook that
crocodiles enjoy the taste of rude pirates,
true story! It gets
chased down Main Street when a surprising
gust of wind blows it off because you were
too stubborn to pull the string around your
chin. They're more than an extra set of
ears. They become a part of the experience,
and a part of the memory. And if you own
more than one set of ears, most likely each
one has its own story.
My Safari
Minnie Ears was purchased on my family's
first trip to
Animal Kingdom, and our first trip
back to Walt Disney World after a four year
absence. The St. Patrick's Day Ears was on a
celebratory trip to Disneyland after I found
out I would be moving to California. The
prototype of the
Golden Ears was when I participated
in a
Disneyland 50th Anniversary
commercial. Those are just a few stories
that each of my ears hold. Imagine the
millions of other stories that ears around
the world possess.

From top to bottom: Animal Kingdom
Safari Minnie Ears, Disneyland St. Patrick's
Day Ears, DL 50th Anniversary
Golden Ears Prototype, DL 50th
Anniversary Golden Ears, WDW College Program
Graduation Ears, Baby Ears
Eventually
the wonderful world that is Disney caught on
to this sentiment. After selling millions of
ears year after year, how could they not?
Fifty odd years since the Mickey Ears hat
conception, the ultimate personalization of
Mickey Ears was created. In March 2008, Le
Chapeau in
Magic Kingdom was the first Disney
resort shop to offer guests the opportunity
to create their own personal set of Mickey
Ears. In just four easy steps, guests could
create their ideal hat to suit their
personality or the occasion for their visit.
Choose a base, choose some ears, choose a
few patches, and embroider a name. That
simple! And guess who did just that last
month in Disneyland!
My 2011 Birthday Ears made in
Disneyland!
Personalization is just one form of
evolvement the Ears have gone through. Since
Roy Williams, Chuck Keehne, Hal Adelquist,
and Bill Walsh first created the Mickey Ears
for the 1950s "Mickey Mouse Club," there
have been myriad of Ear variations. The
traditional hat consists of a black felt
base, black plastic ears, and a Mickey Mouse
patch. The Mickey Mouse patch originally had
the words "Mickey
Mouse Club" included, to be similar
to the hats worn by the
original Mouseketeers.
Eventually
"Mickey Mouse Club" was replaced with "Walt
Disney World" or "Disneyland," depending on
the resort you're in.
Baby Mouse Ears popped up, as did Bride and
Groom themed ones, then different colored
bases, like pink or blue. And today, well,
Mouse Ears are themed to mimic the
appearance of everything from popcorn to
mouse-eared ice cream, to R2-D2, to Kermit
the Frog. So, whatever the occasion, a guest
can find the perfect set of Mouse Ears to
complement their Disney trip. And now with
new limited edition hats popping up, like
the Walt Disney World 40th
Anniversary Ears, you can bet that in the
future more and more creative Mouse Ears
will be joining Disney keepsake collections
around the world.