Fact Check: Are Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Getting a Divorce?
Claim:
The classic Disney characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are breaking up and/or getting a divorce.
Rating:
On Oct. 14, 2023, Mouse Trap News published an article claiming that Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were getting divorced. CNN previously reported that Walt Disney had decided the two Disney characters were married, even though there was never any official marriage onscreen.
The Mouse Trap News article stated:
BREAKING: Mickey and Minnie Mouse Are Getting Divorced
Mickey and Minnie Mouse are two of the most popular cartoon characters of all time. In fact, Disney World and Disneyland exist solely because “It was all started by a mouse”. However, very few people realized that Mickey and Minnie were actually married. Well, that doesn’t matter anymore with the breaking news that Mickey and Minnie Mouse are officially getting divorced.
Mouse Trap News' website also promoted the claim in social media posts, including a TikTok video that had 1 million views at the time of this check:
We found comments under the TikTok post that indicated people believed the story was real. "No no no why not Mickey and Minnie," one person commented.
This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. Mouse Trap News isn't a real news site. On its About page, the website says that every story on its website is fake:
Mouse Trap News is the world's best satire site. We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff. From Disney Park announcements to Disney Hotel and resort news to made-up Disney partnerships, you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun.
The Mouse Trap News article was posted after Disney fan blog Inside the Magic posted an article on Oct. 10, 2023, with the headline, "After 95 Years, Disney Officially Breaks Up Mickey and Minnie." The Inside the Magic article also claimed that Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were getting a divorce.
However, the Inside the Magic article appeared to be nothing more than clickbait. It based its article upon Disney's "What If...?" variant comic book covers series.
https://www.facebook.com/drcomicsmrgames/posts/pfbid0ebqWojTReMXRhRSsoFPu3uhATXHqAY2Q2aNbzTAQgEoaENJvkVLTJCUvevB2eAcHl
One of the variant covers showed Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Daisy Duck as various Avengers characters. The cover did not show any evidence of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse getting a divorce.
We've previously fact-checked other satirical claims made by Mouse Trap News, like an article the website published in October 2023 that claimed a "Taylor Swift Eras Ride" would be coming to Hollywood Studios, a theme park located in the Walt Disney World Resort. We've also previously fact-checked other claims made by Inside the Magic, like a clickbait article the fan blog published in August 2023 that claimed Disney was ending Disney+.
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.
Sources:
LaMagdeleine, Izz Scott. “‘Taylor Swift Eras Ride’ Coming to Disney World?” Snopes, 13 Oct. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/taylor-swift-eras-ride-disney/.
Liles, Jordan. “Disney Is Not Ending Disney+, Despite Clickbait Headline on Disney Fan Blog.” Snopes, 22 Aug. 2023, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disney-plus-not-ending/.
Mikkelson, David. “Why We Include Humor and Satire in Snopes.Com.” Snopes, 15 Aug. 2019, https://www.snopes.com/notes/why-we-include-humor-and-satire-in-snopes-com/.
Smith, Sam. “Disney Celebrates the X-Men and Avengers’ 60th Anniversary With What If...? Variant Covers.” CBR, 10 Oct. 2023, https://www.cbr.com/disney-x-men-avengers-anniversary-what-if-variant-covers/.
Trammell, Kendall. “6 Mickey Mouse Facts You Probably Didn’t Know.” CNN, 18 Nov. 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/18/entertainment/mickey-mouse-fun-facts-trivia-trnd/index.html.
https://mousetrapnews.com/about/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.
