Why does Mickey Mouse wear white gloves?

Mickey Mouse’s fifth short, “The Opry House,” introduced a major addition to Mickey’s wardrobe – his white gloves.

The gloves debuted in a film short that was released on March 28, 1929. During the first four films, Mickey didn’t have the gloves, so why now? The reasons are a bit more practical than you might think.

One reason is the white gloves contrast Mickey’s body, which is black. Remember Mickey Mouse did not appear in color until The Band Concert in 1935. So, this was a way to distinguish the hands from the body.

The second reason was to save time and money. You see by having Mickey, and later other characters, wear gloves the artists didn’t have to worry about drawing hands for the various characters. They didn’t have to spend time doing detailed work on their hands, thus saving time and money.

It’s the same reason Mickey and all other characters have four fingers.

Walt Disney explained it this way: “Artistically five digits are too many for a mouse. His hand would look like a bunch of bananas. Financially, not having an extra finger in each of 45,000 drawings that make up a six-and-one-half minute short has saved the Studio millions.”