The Mystery of the Extra Statues Solved

Photo Credit: Shari Meyr, MagicalDisney.com
"Circle Vision" (left) and "Chocolate Mouse" are two Mickey InspEARation statues that were on display at Walt Disney World, though neither of them is included on the "official" list of 75 created to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary.

Visitors to Walt Disney World may have been doing a double take when checking out the 75 Mickey InspEARation statues recently displayed at the Magic Kingdom. The official list, created by Disney Consumer Products and offered to guests at the Resort, provided the names of each statue and the artist who created it. However, those checking off the ones they visited may have been a little confused to see that there were two on display that weren't listed on the promotional handout.

Among the 75 Mickeys were "Circle Vision" by Luis Fernandez and "Chocolate Mouse" by Randi S. Johnson - two extra statues created for the event to take the place of ones pulled offstage in case of refurbishment needs.

"We created two additional statues to substitute for the official 75 in case something terrible happened to them," said Maria Gladowski, spokesperson for Disney Consumer Products.

Gladowski said that the extra statues also served as a "thank you" for the dedication that Fernandez, an employee of Disney Consumer Products, and Johnson, president of TivoliToo, the company that created the statues, displayed in moving the project to completion.

Unfortunately, the number of statues on display at Walt Disney World are no longer a source for confusion. Originally scheduled to remain at the resort through April, they are now being transported to Philadelphia in order to have them on hand at the Walt Disney Company's annual stockholders' meeting March 3. In yesterday's Orlando Sentinel, David Brady, a Walt Disney World publicist, said that the decision to send the Mickeys to Philadelphia Wednesday "just came up. I don't think there was time to create any signs."

After the shareholders' meeting they will tour the nation with 75 statues being distributed evenly to 5 cities at a time. Fifteen each will make their way to Altanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland and Chicago from May 18 to July 20 before moving on to Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City and Houston August 17 to October 21, according to the Mickey InspEARation web site. Gladowski said that all 75 - or should we say 77? - will be reunited for display at Disneyland, New York and Washington D.C. Exact details on when they are expected to arrive at these locations are still being hammered out.

Also still undecided is whether all 77 statues would be part of the Sotheby's auction planned for 2005. Labels on the two extra statues indicate the artists' chosen charities are the Make-A-Wish Foundation (Fernandez) and the Ronald McDonald House of the Twin Cities (Johnson).

The statue program, deemed "Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations," brings together Disney legends, artists, actors, athletes, performing artists and painters who lent their creative talent or simply creative inspiration to the program that culminated in one-of-a-kind statues of Mickey. The unveiling of the 700-pound, 6-foot-tall Mickey statues kicked off 18 months of celebration honoring Mickey Mouse's 75th Anniversary.

- Story by Matthew Walker
Posted February 27, 2004

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