A photograph authentically exhibits Mickey Mouse dropkicking a toddler at Disneyland.
A person generated the pretend image with an artificial-intelligence software. Additional, the story accompanying the picture originated with a Fb web page describing its content material as satire.
A Disney-themed rumor made the rounds on-line in September 2024 claiming {that a} image confirmed a Disneyland solid member portraying Mickey Mouse who dropkicked a toddler, after the kid referred to as the famed character “annoying.”
For instance, a Fb person shared (archived) the picture and story, which appeared to point out the dropkick occurring on the Anaheim, California, theme park on its famed entryway generally known as Important Avenue, U.S.A.:
The Fb web page named Justice League of Hope and Busterfriends of The Ghostbusters additionally posted (archived) the image and story:
The story started:
Mickey Mouse Drop-Kicks Toddler at Disneyland After Being Referred to as ‘Annoying’
Disneyland, Anaheim – September 9, 2024 — What began as a typical magical day at Disneyland shortly become a weird spectacle when the long-lasting Mickey Mouse allegedly drop-kicked a toddler for repeatedly calling him “annoying.”
Based on witnesses, the toddler, recognized as 3-year-old Timmy Thompson from Bakersfield, was eagerly awaiting his probability to satisfy Mickey. Nevertheless, after what one bystander described as “an excessive amount of sugar and method an excessive amount of pleasure,” Timmy allegedly began taunting Mickey, saying, “You are annoying, Mickey! You are not even actual!”
At first, Mickey appeared unfazed, sustaining his common animated demeanor. However because the verbal assault escalated, witnesses say the world-famous mouse, standing in the course of Important Avenue U.S.A., had had sufficient.
“I noticed Mickey flip round, pause for a second, after which—BAM! He drop-kicked that child,” mentioned Karen Fischer, a shocked onlooker who was ready in line at a churro stand. “He was in full costume, too. It was wild. I did not know if I used to be watching a dwell present or if Mickey had lastly snapped.”
The remainder of the story claimed customers virally shared footage of the incident on social media, purportedly exhibiting the dropkick despatched Timmy, the toddler, hovering into a close-by popcorn stand.
The story claimed Disneyland issued a press release studying, “The security and well-being of our friends is our prime precedence. We’re investigating this incident involving Mickey Mouse. This isn’t the habits we promote on the Happiest Place on Earth.”
Different customers on YouTube and X additionally shared the image. Some readers appeared to interpret the picture and rumor as an incident that actually occurred.
Nevertheless, there was no proof of Mickey Mouse dropkicking a toddler at any Disney park, nor did Disneyland problem any such assertion in response. Fairly, the purported picture was a pretend generated with an artificial-intelligence software and initially shared by a Fb web page that calls its content material satire.
Origins of the Mickey Mouse-Toddler Rumor
The pretend image and rumor about Mickey Mouse and the toddler originated with Casper Planet — a Fb web page that described its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. The bio of Casper Planet said, “Delivering the Snews that does not matter on to your Snews feed. Did we are saying that is satire? Satire, satire, humor, satire and opinion, names/places are made up.” The web page additionally displayed its location as “Satire Avenue.”
The web page’s proprietor or house owners initially posted (archived) the picture and rumor on Sept. 9.
We emailed Casper Planet to ask for the title of the AI software it used to create the pretend image or if the group might specify the place it discovered the picture, if another person created it. After we printed this text, we acquired a response from the web page’s supervisor, Justin Hathaway. He advised us, “The picture was posted in an AI group, so I am unsure which program was used. Typically, these photos and memes give me inspiration.”
Snopes addressed different claims about Mickey Mouse prior to now, together with the assertion that Disney planned to retire the character forever and a rumor that a cartoon showed Mickey inappropriately making Swiss cheese.
For background, we beforehand wrote about why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that decision their output humorous or satirical.
