On Sunday Jan. 26, 2020, Disney fans and Disney workers came together at Mouse-Con to enjoy the life Disney can bring into a community. Mouse-Con is an event that celebrates Disney It had vendors that sold all things Disney-related, like pins, patches, art, clothes, costumes, movies, and postcards.  

  Mouse-Con also featured people who have had roles in Disney movies, such as voice actor Mary Gibbs. The event had an Alice in Wonderland escape room, and a costume contest for all ages.  

  Mouse-Con was free for kids 12 and under, while adult tickets were $10 each. This event sold over 500 tickets for children, and was a place to go with friends and families to experience something big in a small community like Bakersfield.  

  Mouse-Con was founded six years ago by Steve Wyatt, who also founded Comic-Con. Wyatt’s love for Disney began when he started collecting Disney products in 1974. According to Wyatt, he decided to launch Mouse-Con while driving one day, when the thought just popped into his head. He called his wife immediately to tell her about the idea, and they decided to do it right then and there. 

  Mouse-Con started in the Bay Area, but Wyatt wanted to expand into communities where Disney events were not exposed enough, so this year he brought it to Bakersfield for the first time. 

  Wyatt says he plans to run events like Comic-Con and Mouse-Con until he can’t walk anymore, but adds that even then he will probably still continue. 

  Wyatt says he does it because he loves it, not for the fame or the money. Seeing families and children happy, and to know that happiness came from an event that he created, is what keeps him inspired. 

   Mary Gibbs, the featured guest of Bakersfield’s Mouse-Con, is the voice actor for Boo in the popular Pixar movie, Monsters Inc. Gibbs was only three years old when she was cast.  

  According to Gibbs, her favorite part of working on the movie was going to her father’s workplace, as he was a storyboard artist for the movie, as well as just being followed with the microphone.  

  This was Gibbs’ second time attending and being a featured guest at Mouse-Con, and she has said she is willing to go to more events. 

  There was a costume contest at Mouse-Con for people of all ages. The winners were selected by age, adult and children.  

  The winners for the adults were a group of friends who dressed up as the cast of Peter Pan: Corissa Garcia as Tinkerbell, Niel Vandervert as Smee, Kristine McDonald as the Crocodile, Ashley Thoene as Captain Hook, and Megan Jarrett as Peter Pan. They all appeared extremely excited to participate in the contest and even more, win. Mouse-Con was an event that left sources wanting to come back next year, and that is exactly how Wyatt wanted it to turn out.