Eat your hearts out, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell; Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins; dearly departed Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. You guys may have thought you held the record for longest lasting celebrity courtships, but we've found an unmarried couple whose longevity and celebrity far surpass your own.

Our vote goes to Mickey and Minnie Mouse. From their first big-screen appearance together in 1928's Steamboat Willie, these mice have been inseparable. And can anyone blame Mickey for his undying devotion to this resplendent rodent? She's every bit the dainty damsel--sometimes in distress, as she is 1933's Oscar-nominated Building a Building and 1995's Runaway Brain, and sometimes caught in a love triangle, as in 1936's Mickey's Rival.

For a while, batting her long lashes while swooning and uttering phrases like "Why, hello!" and "Aren't you sweet?" and "Oh, Mickey..." were Minnie's only defining characteristics. A faithful devotee to Disney's leading Mouse, Minnie has stood by her man for over 70 years. They've seen each other through wars (as featured in the 1944 short, First Aiders, in which Minnie tries to aid the war effort by learning to bandage the wounded and collecting glycerin-based fat for use in explosives) and love triangles (as in Mickey's Rival, where Mortimer Mouse struggled in vein to win Minnie's affections).

Over time, the sassy siren in the designer pumps and big, bright hair bow has managed to make an independent name for herself. Little girls have begun to choose the polka-dot-loving heroine to the wholesome high-pitched hero. And several cartoons have featured Minnie playing rescuer to her man, almost as much as he plays champion to her.

So why, oh, why--after all these faithful years and this newfound liberation--hasn't Mickey married his main squeeze? Well, maybe Minnie likes playing the field. Maybe she enjoys the single life and the house she shares with her trusty cat Figaro (of Pinocchio fame). Maybe she knows that being with Mickey 24 hours a day, seven days a week is just way too much of a commitment for two mice who constantly have to save each other from the ceaseless perils their busy showbiz capers present.

Or maybe it's just because you, the viewing public, actually like the cartoon couple better as separate entities. Perhaps you prefer your Minnie movies to feature her as a charming, single mouse-about-town.

What's your theory? Let us know at Scoop Feedback.

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