February 7, 1947 – Birth of Disney Legend Wayne Allwine, Former Special Effects Technician and Former Voice of Mickey Mouse
“Wayne was fond of saying, ‘We only carry the torch of these characters for a while, and then we pass it on.’ Well, he just carried it a little bit higher than anyone else.” – Bill Farmer, current voice of Goofy.
Wayne Allwine, best known as the third voice actor of Mickey Mouse, was born on February 7, 1947, in Glendale California. Active on stage and screen from an early age, Allwine ended up performing in bands until 1966, when he began to work for Disney in the mailroom, which was known as “traffic” in those days. Allwine recounts how he got the job at Disney, as well as how he became Mickey Mouse:
“I had wanted to work for Disney since I was a kid, but didn’t know how to get in. Well, one of the bands I was playing with, Tom Jackman’s father – Tom was the leader of the band – his father Bob Jackman ran the music department. And Bob gave me an application and a recommendation, and I started in the mailroom…way, way back when. And the thing that’s funny is a little known fact: Bob Jackman, after Pinto Colvig had left the studio, Bob supplied the voice for Goofy in several of the cartoons. So, in essence, Goofy hired the future Mickey…
“But I started out carrying mail. I saw Walt a couple of times, but we only spokeonce. He was very sick. [But] it was a magic time, it really was. 1966. John McCarthy was running traffic, as the mailroom was called back then, and just said, ‘Take a walk around, see what you wanna do.’ So I walked around, and the first thing I thought of, ‘Well, I’ve done some acting. Wardrobe looks like fun.’ Cause I love clothes, love clothes. Did that for a while. Went back into traffic and said, ‘Gee, I don’t really know what I wanna do, Mac. I might leave. I might leave for a while and just see what’s on the outside.’
“So great. I left, and I got a call about two months after I left, saying, ‘Would you like to come in and learn Jimmy MacDonald’s job?’ Now, at the time, I didn’t know who Jimmy was. ‘Sure. What am I supposed to do?’ ‘Follow Jimmy. Do everything he does.’
“So, I followed Jimmy, and I learned how to do sound effects. Jimmy only voiced Mickey for radio interviews; I think he was on the Dave Letterman show twice. But other than that, he didn’t do Mickey…he was having a rough time and couldn’t really voice Mickey any longer. And the studio had an open audition. An actor didn’t show up. There was a call from the soundstage: ‘Send the kid down. He works with MacDonald.’ Three months later Lou Debney stopped me and said, ‘Kid, you gotta join the Screen Actors Guild. They’re gonna use you.’
“And that’s how I became Mickey Mouse.”
Allwine provided the voice for Mickey in Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Runaway Brain (1995), and The Three Musketeers (2004). He also voiced the character in the television shows Mickey’s Mouse Works, House of Mouse, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as well as in the video game series, Kingdom Hearts. “The main piece of advice that Jim gave me about Mickey helped me keep things in perspective,” Allwine recalled in a 2004 interview with Leonard Maltin. “He said, ‘Just remember, kid, you’re only filling in for the boss.’ And that’s the way he treated doing Mickey for years and years…Mickey’s the real star. You know, you just have to love the little guy while you have him, because he won’t be yours forever.”
Allwine (L) working with some of the special effects tools designed by Jimmy MacDonald (R)
In addition to his voice acting, Allwine was an accomplished sound effects technician, winning an Emmy and a Golden Reel Award for his work in Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, and another Golden Reel Award in 1986 for his contributions to the Disney animated feature The Great Mouse Detective.
One of the little known facts about Allwine is that in real life, he was married to the voice of Minnie Mouse, Russi Taylor. “It was just a total friendship, and the next thing you knew, we were just sort of like, always together,” Taylor said of how their relationship developed. On October 13, 2008, the couple were inducted as Disney Legends.
Mickey (Allwine) and Minnie (Taylor) together
On May 18, 2009, Allwine passed away at the age of 62. The game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, his last vocal project as Mickey, was dedicated in his memory. “Wayne’s dedication to preserving the legacy of the character who began with Walt Disney himself was steadfast,” Tony Anselmo, voice of Donald Duck and close friend, said about Allwine. “He was one of the kindest men I ever knew, a true gentlemen, and funnier than any professional comedian. A truly gifted and talented man.” Allwin’s voice is still heard at parks around the world, as well as on television on the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. “It’s a great honor,” Allwine said of voicing Mickey. “It’s a great honor to represent what Walt loved so dearly, and what Jimmy kept alive so well.”
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