In 1966, 21-year-old Wayne Anthony Allwine began working in the mailroom at Disney Studios in Burbank, California.  For three years, Wayne sorted and delivered mail in the studio.  In 1969, Wayne’s talents were such that he was promoted to the sound effects department where he worked under sound effects creator and voice actor Jimmy MacDonald.  Wayne was glad to work alongside Jimmy because, in addition to other sound effects Jimmy had been the voice of Mickey Mouse since 1947 when he took over the role from Walt Disney himself.  In addition to creating various sound effects for Disney movies and TV episodes, Wayne voiced one of the thug guards in The Great Mouse Detective, a weasel called Otto and a poor dog in Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and Ludwig Von Drake in the Disney Channel special Ludwig’s Think Tank. 

In 1977, Jimmy announced that he was retiring from Disney.  Disney held open auditions for someone to take over the voice of Mickey Mouse.  With the auditions being open to the public, Wayne thought he had little chance of getting the part.  He auditioned anyway because he knew that he would have no chance of getting the part if he failed to audition.  As you probably guessed, Wayne became the voice of Mickey Mouse.  

Some two decades earlier, a young girl named Russel “Russi” Taylor was on vacation with her parents at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.  As they were walking in the park, little Russi saw someone she recognized.  It was not one of the many character actors.  It was Walt Disney himself.  Walt spoke to little Russi and asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up.  Russi quickly replied, “I want to work for you.”  Taking the response in stride, Walt smiled and said, “Okay.”  Russi became a voice actor.  In the mid-1970s, Russi voiced the role of the baby on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  As if the conversation with Walt Disney was prophetic, Russi eventually worked at Disney as the voices of Huey, Dewey, and Louie and Webby Vanderquack in the animated series Duck Tales.  She also voiced several characters in the animated series The Simpsonsincluding twins Sherri and Terri, German exchange student Üter, and nerd Martin Prince.  She provided the voice for Pebbles Flintstone in Hanna-Barbera’s The Flintstone Comedy Show.  In all, she provided the voices for dozens of characters through the years. 

In 1987, Wayne and Russi met while working on a Disney special.  The two voice actors fell in love and married four years later.  For Wayne and Russi, it was a dream come true.  You see, Wayne, the voice of Mickey Mouse, married Russi, the voice of Minnie Mouse.

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