Le Journal de Mickey facts for kids

Le Journal de Mickey is a super popular weekly French comics magazine. It started way back in 1934! This magazine is packed with exciting Disney comics from France and all over the world. Today, Unique Heritage Media publishes it.

The magazine mainly features the adventures of Mickey Mouse and his Disney friends. But it also includes other cool comics. Many people say Le Journal de Mickey helped create the "modern bande dessinée" (French comics). It's now the most popular French weekly magazine for kids aged 8 to 13.

How Le Journal de Mickey Started

The Big Idea Behind the Magazine

Paul Winkler owned a company called Opera Mundi. Since 1928, his company shared comic strips from America in France. One of these was the American Mickey Mouse comic strip. It appeared in a newspaper called Le Petit Parisien starting in 1930.

In 1931, Winkler's company teamed up with a publisher named Librarie Hachette. They published books of French comics. Together, they reprinted the Mickey Mouse comics. These books were a huge hit! They sold over 500,000 copies.

Creating a New Kind of Kids' Newspaper

In 1933, Winkler had a brilliant idea: he wanted to make a newspaper just for kids. Back then, most kids' magazines were for very young children. They had big print and simple stories.

Winkler believed older kids wanted "a cheerful and entertaining newspaper." He felt Mickey Mouse was the perfect character to lead this new kind of paper. Mickey was already popular with people of all ages.

Winkler suggested his idea to many publishers, but they all said no. Finally, Robert Meunier du Houssoy from Librarie Hachette agreed. But there was a catch: Winkler had to be the main editor. Le Journal de Mickey became the second weekly Mickey Mouse magazine in the world. Italy's Topolino came out two years earlier.

The First Issue and Its Success

What Was Inside the First Magazine?

The very first Le Journal de Mickey came out on October 21, 1934. The front page featured an American Mickey Mouse comic strip. It was drawn by Floyd Gottfredson. It even included its usual extra strip, Silly Symphony.

The first issue had eight pages. Four of these pages were in color. Besides the Disney comics, there were other fun strips. These included Pére Lacloche (Pete the Tramp) and Les Malheurs d'Annie (Little Annie Rooney). There were also black-and-white comics like Jim-la-Jungle (Jungle Jim).

The magazine also had two exciting stories, a crafts section, jokes, puzzles, and even a short interview with Mickey Mouse! There was a column called "Dans le Monde Entier." It talked about new inventions like planes, trains, and cars.

An Instant Hit with Readers

The paper was an immediate success! The first issue sold an amazing 300,000 copies. This number grew even more over the next few years. Hachette made back all their money in just four months. After the first issue, Winkler even traveled to Hollywood to give a copy to Walt Disney himself.

Winkler had a clever way of making the American comics feel French. He added playful text, French jokes, and literary references. Because Le Journal de Mickey was so popular, older children's magazines seemed old-fashioned. Many of them either stopped publishing or changed their style between 1936 and 1939.

Le Journal de Mickey Before World War II

New Features and Popularity

Le Journal de Mickey was different from earlier French kids' magazines. It was much bigger (about 27 by 40 cm). It also used speech balloons in comics, instead of text captions below the pictures. These comics were mixed with French stories. Readers could also interact through letters, contests, and the special Club Mickey.

Starting with issue #4, a column called "Le Club Mickey" appeared. It was signed by "Onc' Léon" (Uncle Léon). This was the pen name for Léon Sée. The "Club Mickey" letters column became a super important way for the magazine to connect with its readers. Onc' Léon became a wise friend who gave advice. The "Club" also offered discounts on Mickey Mouse books, games, and clothes.

The Golden Age of French Comics

Le Journal de Mickey completely changed the French market for kids' publications. It brought American comic strips to a much wider audience. Soon, many other magazines tried to copy its success. Winkler even launched some himself! In 1936, he started Robinson (périodique) [fr]. It was a 16-page weekly full of American adventure comics. In 1937, he launched Hop-là! [fr]. This time was later called the Golden Age of BD (French comics).

By 1938, Mickey sold 400,000 copies each week. This was the same as Robinson. The most successful competing magazines sold only 200,000 copies or less. Before Mickey, most successful magazines sold only about 40,000 copies a week. One reason Le Journal de Mickey stood out was its high quality. It used good paper and ink, making the colors brighter.

Disney Characters Get French Names

Over time, the Mickey Mouse comic strip introduced Mickey's friends to French readers. Some even got new names! Horace Horsecollar was called Chrysostome. Clarabelle Cow became Yvette. Goofy was first called Quenotte, then Piloche, Achille Nigaudot, and finally Dingo. That's the name French audiences know today! Peg-Leg Pete started as Pierrot Jambe-de-Bois, then became Pat Hibulaire. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Donald Duck kept their original English names.

The paper also reprinted comic versions of Disney movies. These included Blanche Neige et les Sept Nains (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) in 1938. And Pinocchio in 1940. Sometimes, there were special 16-page holiday issues. These cost a bit more and had colorful covers from the UK's Mickey Mouse Weekly.

Challenges During World War II

When World War II started in 1939, things changed. France was invaded by German and Italian forces in 1940. Because of this, Le Journal de Mickey stopped publishing on June 16, 1940. It moved to Marseille, in a part of France that was not occupied.

Winkler, who had written articles against the Nazis, left for the United States. His wife, Betty, stayed and managed the newspaper. The magazine's sales dropped a lot. It was printed on much lower quality paper and had very few colors. By the end of 1941, the magazine was only 4 pages long and half its original size. It came out only twice a month.

From July 1942, American comics, including all Disney material, were removed. The comics with speech balloons were replaced with traditional comics that had text captions. The first run of Le Journal de Mickey ended on July 2, 1944.

The Magazine's Return After the War

New Beginnings for Disney Comics

After the war, Winkler came back to France. He started publishing comics magazines again. One was Hardi Présente Donald, which ran from 1947 to 1953. This weekly magazine was similar to the old Journal de Mickey. Donald Duck comic strips filled half of the front page. The rest had adventure strips like Flash Gordon and Tarzan. However, this new paper wasn't as successful.

In 1949, France passed a law about publications for children. This law made it harder to publish American comics. It aimed to help French comics grow. Disney comics were not affected by this law. But other American strips in Donald were eventually removed. This helped lead to the paper's decline.

A New Style for Mickey Magazine

Meanwhile, in Belgium, Armand Bigle started Mickey Magazine in 1950. It was a big success! This weekly magazine was published in Flemish and French. It looked like American comic books. Mickey published translated stories from American Disney comics. It also had new stories by Belgian artists.

Seeing how well Mickey Magazine did, Bigle convinced Winkler to try some of his new ideas. This led to the launch of a new French magazine.

Le Journal de Mickey Today

Le Journal de Mickey was brought back in 1952. It became super popular in the late 1950s, selling 633,000 copies by 1957. While sales have dropped since then to about 150,000 copies, it's still the top French weekly magazine for kids aged 8 to 13.

When it relaunched, the magazine was smaller than before the war. Half of its pages were in color, and half were printed in black and red. The cover and first story were original French creations.

As of 2019, the magazine is 60 pages long. It has 30 pages of both Disney and non-Disney comics. The other pages are full of games, riddles, animal facts, and other fun content. In 2019, the company that owned Le Journal de Mickey sold it to Unique Heritage Media.

Other French Disney Comics Magazines

As of 2019, Unique Heritage Media publishes six other Disney comics magazines in France.

• Mickey Junior (1985-on) is a monthly magazine for very young children. It started as Winnie in 1985, with stories about Winnie the Pooh. It changed its name to Mickey Junior in 2017. It has games, activities, and stories about Mickey and his friends.
• Mon Premier Journal de Mickey (2018-on) is a magazine that comes out every two months. It's for kids just starting school. It has 50 pages, with 10 pages of comics. The rest are illustrated stories, puzzles, and animal facts. Some pages are even in English to help kids learn two languages!
• Picsou Magazine (1978-on) comes out every two months. It's mainly for kids aged 8–14. It also has features about Disney comics history for older fans. The magazine is named after Balthazar Picsou (the French name for Scrooge McDuck). It focuses on Duck comics. In 2019, it doubled its size to 304 pages! It includes sections on famous Disney comic creators like Carl Barks.
• Super Picsou Géant (1983-on) is a 196-page magazine published every two months. It's also for kids aged 8–14. It started as a bigger version of Picsou. It mainly features Disney comics from Italy and Scandinavia. It also has short sections with puzzles and articles about teen trends.