Why would Mickey Mouse be massively searched on Google in 2023?

Created in 1928 by Walt Disney and his designer Ub Iwerks, Mickey Mouse is undoubtedly one of the most iconic characters in pop culture history.

An essential emblem of Enchanted Studios, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, the famous mouse has accompanied the firm for decades and remains its main face to this day.

But in 2023, Mickey (due to enter the public domain next year) made headlines in a particularly surprising way. Indeed, as we learned this week — while Google revealed which movies and stars were the most viewed by users of the year — the most frequently asked question in the famous engine study is about Disney’s mouse, and it’s particularly troubling. .

“How did Mickey Mouse die?”

According to numberThis is a phrase that users have massively typed into the search bar, in France and around the world. Thus, this strange request is in first place in the 2023 French ranking of “general questions”, in which we also find national politics, international conflicts or televised events.

But then… where could this incredible question come from? As explained in the article on the site FocusIt appears to stem from a trend launched on TikTok in February, prompting users of the popular social network to film their reactions after being asked to Google “how did Mickey die”.

Thus, some received answers that were disturbing to say the least, such as the explanation that the mouse’s heart “exploded” or that Wednesday Addams (the protagonist of the recent Netflix series) killed him.

Fortunately for Disney fans, despite this disgusting and unusual trend, Mickey never met such a fate, neither on the screen nor in the company’s theme parks, where he is still and always an emblem.

(Re)discover our video dedicated to Walt Disney…