Wow, so I was off to my parents' house tonight and almost missed this story - luckily my father-in-law caught it.

Apparently Wayne Allwine, the long-time voice of Mickey Mouse, died on Monday: "Allwine, voice of Mickey Mouse for 32 years, dies".

Amazingly Allwine was only the third voice of Mickey.

The first, of course, was Walt Disney himself from 1928-1946, then Jimmy MacDonald until 1983 (I know the article above says 1977 but I would stake cash that Allwine's first gig was 1983 in Mickey's Christmas Carol).

In a weird, Disney-esque twist, his wife was the voice of Minnie Mouse (also Huey, Dewey and Louie, among others).

I know that it's probably a reflection of the times in which I was raised, but I would say that Allwine was the best voice of Mickey. I'm sure Disney has another fully passable voice ready for the next cartoon or theme park attraction, and that Mickey won't go silenced for long, but for me Mickey will always be Allwine.