Who Are Disney’s Fab Five?

Over the last 100 years, the Walt Disney Company has created thousands of characters, many of whom have become pop culture icons. However, there have been few to reach the levels of popularity and pop cultural influence as the so-called Disney Fab Five.

Who are the Fab Five and more importantly — and controversially – which major Disney character is left out? Well, let’s find out.

The Disney Fab Five are, to put it bluntly, the five most recognizable and iconic Disney characters. They are:

Mickey Mouse

Obviously, the “Big Cheese” himself is the main member of the Fab Five. Created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks – with some nomenclature advice form Walt’s wife Lilian, who encouraged her husband to change the character’s panned name from Mortimer — after the Disney Brothers Studio had lost the rights to their first hit character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey made his public debut in the 1928 short Steamboat Willie. In the 95 years since, Mickey has not only starred in countless short films and television episodes, he’s arguably become the most recognizable fictional character in history, with his three-circle silhouette known around the globe as the symbol of the Walt Disney Company. 

Minnie Mouse

Debuting along with Mickey came his longterm love interest Minnie — full name Minerva, according to a 1942 comic strip — Mouse. Minnie arguably became just a popular as Mickey, and has maintained that status over the last nine plus decades. 

Donald Duck

Introduced initially in a nondescript role in the 1934 Silly Symphonies cartoon  The Wise Little Hen, Donalds came into his own in the Mickey Mouse short Orphan’s Benefit later that year. The short featured Donald reciting the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for a group of heckling orphans heckle him. Said heckling leads Donald to fly into massive fits of squawking anger, the origin of the characterization that would define Donald to this day. Donald quickly exploded in popularity, surpassing Mickey during some periods, and the character has starred in more Disney shorts than any other.

Goofy

Goofy first debuted as Dippy Dog in the 1932 short Mickey’s Revue. He gained the name Goofy in 1934’s Orphan’s Benefit (yes, the same one mentioned in the Donald entry) and quickly became one of Disney’s staple characters. Thanks to his iconic laugh and slapstick antics, Goofy became a standout, starring in countless popular shorts. The character had a resurgence in the 1990s thanks to the series Goof Troop and its theatrical continuation A Goofy Movie, both of which have become touchstones for millennials. 

Pluto

The final member of the Fab Five is Mickey’s trusted dog Pluto. Which makes it all the more surprising that the character actually debuted as Minnie’s dog – named Rover – in 1930. His name was changed to Pluto in 1931’s The Moose Hunt, and he’s been Mickey’s best pal ever since. 

While Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto are widely acknowledged as the Fab Five, there are many fans who feel that Daisy Duck deserves to be part of the upper echelon of Disney characters as well. Some insist that the group should include Daisy and be rechristened the Sensational Six, while others believe Daisy should usurp Pluto’s role in the unofficial group. 

Where do you stand on the Daisy debate? Do you agree with the current classification of the Disney Fab Five? Let us know in the comments below.

 

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