Seventy-five six-foot-high mice stand ready and waiting in Odenton.

Statues, that is, of Mickey Mouse, the rodent who begins celebrating his 75th anniversary with a tour of replicas in his own likeness.

The statues were at least partially designed by various celebrities, including former Baltimore Orioles first baseman Jeff Conine, actor Tom Hanks and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

Suddath Maryland, a full-service relocation and transportation company in Odenton with headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., is helping to transport the 700-pound statues on a 14-month, 12-city tour across the United States called Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations. The statues were awaiting transportation yesterday.

With four of its best van operators and four 53-foot trailers decorated with 75th anniversary Mickey Mouse graphics and equipped with air ride padded suspensions, Suddath Maryland kicks off the entire tour by transporting the polyurethane statues to Atlanta for festivities May 22. The statues will be in Washington from March through May 2005.

The Walt Disney Co. turned to Suddath Relocation Systems, owned by The Suddath Cos., because of a 25-year working relationship with the company during which time Disney hired it for corporate relocations and theme park moves.

Obviously, this is very different for them in their current relationship and capacity with Disney, said Sherine Saad, senior manager of marketing and synergy for Disney Consumer Products.

Brad Estrin, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Suddath Relocation Systems and The Suddath Cos., said such a visible event is an opportunity to heighten Suddath's profile.

It's giving our company a lot more national exposure and we're involved with certainly, I think, one of the world's greatest icons, he said. With all the things going on in the world, to be associated with Mickey Mouse and everything he stands for is a tremendous opportunity for us.

Suddath, one of United Van Lines' largest agents with 15 locations nationwide, carefully loads the statues onto the trailers and then straps them into place using load bars.

The statues were unveiled in November at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, where they stayed until the end of February. Next year, Sotheby's Auction House in New York will auction off the statues for various charities.

Conine chose Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Foundation for his Mickey statue, which is painted like a tree with names of other Disney cartoon characters written all over his body.

Other famous names who lent their ideas to Mickey statues were actor Ben Affleck, tennis icon Andre Agassi and professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.

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