The Mouse as Hero

Mickey Mouse became a symbol of the Average Joe – deeply fallible yet loveable

But as the world changed and art changed to reflect the world Mickey changed as well

So by watching the ways in which Mickey changed we can learn a lot about the world and also about ourselves

The original Mickey shows him as a welcoming, happy person that we can all easily relate to. This reflects Walt Disney’s philosophy, that people were innocent, fun loving individuals who, through no fault of their own, were forced to confront The Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Heavenly Virtues

Gradually, Mickey was taken up by artists seeking a quick way to communicate their ideas about humanity in relation to its environment or context.

Andy Warhol was first, he revolutionised art when he started using everyday characters like Mickey as artworks that were meant to be purely commercial and devoid of emotional content. Did he make it?

Street artist turned superstar, Keith Haring also used Mickey to symbolise the dawn of materialism – an age when greed was good

The present day street artist Banksy takes a very different view. As an omniscient critic of present day humanity Banksy tells us where we are going wrong. People love him, he is also a superstar whose work is collected by celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

You have been forbidden to explore Banksy’s ideas about terrorism but is there anything terrifying in this image? In fact what is Banksy telling us about terrorism?

To sum up what you have discovered today we could say that: 1.Disney was a philosopher recounting stories about the way in which ordinary human beings deal with the postitves and negatives they face in a good natured way. 2.Haring was also a philosopher reflecting back to the people of his era what they had become: superficial, greedy and materialistic. 3.Banksy is also a philosopher. He connects with people who are able to recognise how things are changing for the worst but who know that by being our best selves we can change things. 4.What about YOU what will your message be about the world now that you cannot talk about terrorism? 5.Use Mickey to give humanity a message that you think will help it.