The graphic designer was 92 years old
“The Mouse of the Mouse” Isolde Schmidt-Menzel is Dead
9/10/2022, 9:14 PM
Your orange cartoon mouse from “The Show with the Mouse” has shaped an entire generation of kids since 1971. As WDR now reports, its creator, graphic artist Isolde Schmidt-Menzel, passed away last Sunday.
She invented a character that shaped generations of children—now the “mouse’s mother” is dead: graphic artist Isolde Schmidt-Menzel has died at the age of 92. WDR made the announcement citing the family. According to WDR, the artist, who was born in Eisenach, illustrated about 35 books and created bronze and ceramic sculptures. She lived as a freelance artist for a long time in Texas and southern France.
He is best known for producing the orange cartoon mouse, which was first seen in “The Show with the Mouse” in 1971. WDR acknowledged that he shaped his original and imaginative character with the first 100 or so mouse spots he created. Jörg Schöneborn, WDR’s program director, said that without him and his great creativity, the mouse would not have seen the light of day. “We are very grateful to Ms. Schmidt-Menzel for this.”
According to WDR, Isolde Schmitt-Menzel died last Sunday, September 4, surrounded by her family in Frankfurt am Main.
(Photo: Picture Alliance / DPA)
The Twitter account “Die Maus” operated by WDR said: “It gave the mouse its essential character traits and colors and will live on. We are very sad.” More than 51 years after it first aired, the show has long since become an institution, with the mouse being honored by the federal president, admired by Stephen Raab and brought to space by Alexander Gerst. Schmidt-Menzel developed the character from his book illustration “The Mouse in the Shop”.
In a WDR interview on the occasion of Rat’s 40th birthday, she recalled the character’s birth: “That was absolutely not my profession, a gray rat. I was in for fantastic and crazy things. So I thought: Rats will meet someone. In the same case, all colors other than gray. And the main mouse was orange, with brown ears, arms, and legs.” Yellow stands for intelligence, red is energy. “Two things in my mouse were my aspirations at once because that’s how I am,” she said. According to WDR, Isolde Schmitt-Menzel died last Sunday, September 4, surrounded by her family in Frankfurt am Main.
