Bret Iwan

Iwan was born on September 10, 1982, and raised in Pasadena, California. He is the son of Bill and Fiona Iwan.^[2]

He attended LeRoy High School in Le Roy, Illinois, from 1996 to 2000.^[4] He graduated from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Iwan eventually got a job as an illustrator at Hallmark.^[5]

Iwan was hired to voice Mickey Mouse and replace Wayne Allwine after his death from diabetes on May 18, 2009.^[3] Iwan had previously understudied for the role when Allwine was facing health difficulties and Iwan credits Allwine's archival work as providing excellent mentorship.^[6]

Iwan first recorded Mickey Mouse dialogue for the Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park as well as the 2009 shows Disney On Ice: Celebrations and Disney Live: Rockin' Road Show.^[7] He voiced Mickey Mouse in Have a Laugh!. He gave his first full performance as Mickey Mouse for the English version of the PlayStation Portable game Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. He also gave his voice performance as Mickey Mouse in the Epic Mickey games.

His first voice-over work in a Disney Park was in the Animal Kingdom closing show "Adventurers' Celebration Gathering" and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover attraction at the Magic Kingdom in which, upon passing through Mickey's Star Traders, Mickey responds with his signature laugh and says: "That's right, it's outta this world!".^[2]

Iwan is openly gay, making him the first openly LGBTQ+ actor to voice Mickey Mouse.^[8] He married his longtime partner, art director Douglas Hoffman, in July 2021.^[9]