At first glance, today's dueling birthday boys Mickey Mouse and Owen Wilson, 80 and 40 years young respectively, may not seem to have too much in common.
Then again, each does boast a distinguishing physical characteristic—one a tail, the other a nose. Both seem to have a well-documented aversion to wearing shirts. And each does seem to favor collaborating with the same creative teams over and over again—one running with a posse of Minnie, Goofy and Donald, the other with a crew of Luke, Wes and Ben.
Still, there are plenty of differences.
Wilson has regularly been named to People's annual ode to aesthetics, the Most Beautiful People list. Mickey, underneath the dapper white gloves and good manners, is a rodent who originally went by the name Mortimer. (Score one for Wilson.)
And while Wilson also managed to score an Oscar nomination for writing The Royal Tenenbaums, he also had the misfortune to star in Drillbit Taylor. As for Mickey, while his moniker has unfortunately become synonymous with both bad college courses and ill-received sessions of Parliament, he has nonetheless managed to launch a multibillion-dollar entertainment empire, inspire international theme parks and churn out generations of little girls who grow up wanting to be princesses. (Score one...billion for Mickey.)
Still, with the career dust settled, both have credentials to be proud of. But which would you rather sing "Happy Birthday" to?