The story behind 100 Mickeys...
By Eric Robison

When I received the proposal to paint 100 Mickeys, I was excited and anxious to begin. I packed up my paints and brushes and flew to a little island in the Caribbean to commence this ambitious undertaking.

The inspiration of Nature's colors there and the occasional plunge into the river was enough to initiate a great start. I returned two weeks later with the first 21 Mice in my suitcase. That was easy. The next 79 were a bit more challenging and took 16 months to finish. The challenge was trying to make each one different in pose, style, or medium. As well as paying homage to the history of Mickey.

It is a collection of paintings that I'll never forget achieving and a dream project for any artist to take on. I am honored that I was asked to perform such a feat. I want to thank the Disney Company for allowing me to express myself in so many ways and I am honored to represent Walt's wonderful creation - Mickey Mouse...An American Icon.

MM 051- The Apprentice - Sketch

"Mickey Sorcerer is the icon for Walt Disney Imagineering…the theme park division
of the Disney Company…this is where I started with the Company as a Show Designer
of theme park concepts… I was there for seven years."

MM 052 - Southbound - Study

"Pencil study for "Southbound" painting."

MM 053 - MMMouse

"M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M Mickey."

MM054 - Blue Pants

"I wanted to "colorize" a black & white idea."

MM 055 - Off Model

"I sketched this Mickey off of a model sheet and "collaged" over it…it was a set of concepts that I did for Florida back in 1993."

MM 056 - American Mouse

"Some people thought I did this after the September 11th tragedy; it's not true… I painted this on the 4th of July 2001 (my daughter Taryn's birthday). However, I did paint a similar one after September 11th for charity."

MM 057 - Angie's Mouse

"Angie's mouse"…my wife's favorite…I painted this in front of a crowd at The Disney Gallery on the balcony. This hung in my dining room for 6 months
before giving it [back] to Disney."

MM 058 - Ecstatic

"I think that I drew his ears too far apart."

MM 059 - Tee It Up - Study

"Painted during the final four basketball playoffs."

MM 060 - Spooked

"Happy Halloween!!!!!!"

MM 061- Vintage Series 5

"The smallest of the collection."

MM 062 - Vintage Series 6

"Another tin toy influence."

MM 063 - Hotel Coaster Mouse

"I painted over a Disney glass coaster from my Disneyland Hotel room…
I was desperate for ideas, can you see the coaster outline under the paint."

MM064 - Wash and Tumble

"I finger painted this on a box cover to deliver my paintings… Disney liked it and included it as one of the 100. They said that it looked like Mickey was washed and tumble dried."

MM 065 - Checker Mouse

"On woven paper…I love different papers… I saw this and had to use it… I dipped the back of a pencil in paint and stippled each square."

MM 066 - La Souris de St. Claude

"Inspired by the colors of the river in St. Claude, Guadeloupe."

MM 067 - Little Maestro

"Here's Mickey directing the score of this latest animated film."

MM 068 - California Roll

"A play on words…sushi and the California lifestyle."

MM 069 - Blue Blush

"His blue-daiquiri ice face reminds me of a…sorbet. prints."

MM 070 - Morning Pane

"I wanted this to look like a frosted window pane in the morning. My friend Patrick
and I named this one, I was in a melancholy mood."

MM 071- Mouse-a-Motion

"My personal favorite… I painted this on the floor while resting a broken ankle."

MM 072 - Uptown Mouse

"It was Oscar week in Hollywood… Mickey is bow -tie formal for the Academy Awards."

MM 073 - Peanut Butter and Chocolate

"It's not really peanut butter and chocolate…but I thought about it."

MM074 - Dancing in the Rain

"I wanted to contrast Mickey's joy with a darker palette I thought that the emotional
exchange was interesting."

MM 075 - Splatter Mouse

"There are no brushes used on this one. I had a great time with this piece… it was so big; so I could splatter paint about freely, as well as use my fingers and forearms to paint. I literally threw gobs of paint at the canvas."