First voiced by Walt Disney himself, the characters made their debut in the 1928 animated short “Steamboat Willie.”

Minnie went on to appear in more than 60 cartoon shorts, primarily in the 1930s, before becoming a perennial presence on television and at Disney’s theme parks around the world.

Originally drawn wearing a pillbox hat, Minnie later sported a polka-dot bow on her head that matched her dress. “Minnie: Style Icon,” an exhibition at London Fashion Week in 2015, traced her influence over the decades.

But she has always dwelt in Mickey’s shadow, the damsel to his leading man. In a 1934 essay titled “Mickey and Minnie,” the British novelist E. M. Forster lamented: “About Minnie too little has been said, and her name at the top of this article is an act of homage which ought to have been paid long ago.”

Another act of homage will come today in Hollywood, when she is honored with the 2,627th star on the Walk of Fame.

Chris Stanford contributed reporting.

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