Disney + Joy Division = Strangeness Level 100

By Kate Ng  •  in News
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One day, the staff at Disney decided they had a brilliant idea. They sat down and said, “Hey, you guys know Joy Division? You know that awesome album art they had that became an icon? Yeah, the one of the pulse of a star. Yes, that one that’s on every hipster’s t-shirt and forearm. You know what we should do with it? We should totally incorporate a Mickey Mouse into the graphic, and put it on a t-shirt and sell it! It’s brilliant, I tell you, brilliant!” And they all agreed, and thus, the Waves Mickey Mouse was born! So what’s the big deal? Well, you have to admit it’s a little.. odd. Firstly, the name Joy Division was borrowed from the prostitution wing of a Nazi concentration camp mentioned in the 1995 novel The House Of Dolls. Secondly, the lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide from depression in 1980. Thirdly, the band was pretty much hyped up on heroin the entire duration of it’s shortlived existence. Now that you know these few things, doesn’t Disney’s choice of design make things kind of strange? And slightly inappropriate? Also, ridiculous? We think so!

However, the former members of Joy Division don’t really give a damn, in fact, they’re taking it as a compliment! Former bassist for Joy Division, Peter Hook, told NME, “In a funny way, it’s quite a compliment for a huge conglomerate like Disney to pick up on a poor little Manchester band that only existed for a couple of years. I’m amazed they’re that hard up that they need to prey on little indie bands, but I get the feeling that someone may have done it as a tongue-in-cheek compliment.” However, when it became a major news story, Disney pulled the t-shirt off their shelves and websites. You can almost imagine them running around in their offices like headless chickens, yelling, “That t-shirt was a bad idea! A really bad idea! We gotta get it off the shelves now!” The Disney Mickey Mouse Wave t-shirt is no longer available, but you can find it on eBay at a starting price of US $200.

The remaining members of Joy Division continued on as New Order, and will be performing at this year’s EXIT festival in Novi Sad Serbia. Get more updates on their music and tour dates here and here.