This Week in Animation History: Disney’s Day of the Dead Problem, Wayne Allwine and ‘Shrek 2’

One year ago this week
Digging into Disney’s “Day of the Dead” Problem: Last week after word got out that Disney was seeking to trademark “Día de los Muertos” in preparation for its 2015 release of a Pixar animated feature inspired by the traditional Mexican holiday, several online communities were outraged. The backlash kicked into high gear when cartoonist and illustrator Lalo Alcaraz shared a poster of a Godzilla-like Mickey Mouse under the words, “It’s coming to trademark your cultura.”

Five years ago this week
Wayne Allwine (1947-2009): Wayne Allwine, the official voice of Mickey Mouse, the third person in history to play the character in various movies and TV shows, has passed away. According to Wikipedia, Allwine’s first appearance as Mickey was voicing the animated lead-ins for The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1977. His first appearance as Mickey for a theatrical release was in the 1983 featurette Mickey’s Christmas Carol and he has provided the voice for Mickey Mouse ever since.

Ten years ago this week
Shrek 2 Opens Huge: DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 2 had an estimated U.S. box office gross of over $125 million for its first five days of release.