This rocker depicts the character of Mickey Mouse, an American cartoon character designed by Walt Disney in 1928. Alongside Mickey Mouse, the Museum has a variety of character toys in its collection, such as Dismal Desmond, as an early example, and Buzz Lightyear as a later one. While the existence of character toys actually pre-dates the 20th century, it was only in the latter half of that century that the popularity of character toys exploded, alongside the rapid expansion in film production. This was because of a rise in people having access to a television in their homes. Today, character toys remain a popular staple in the toy industry with many more children's programmes having been created and the toys with the characters to follow. This rocker, manufactured by Lines Brothers in the 1930s, represents an early example of a character creating demand for toys. Other such examples can be seen with Muffin the Mule, who made his television debut in 1946.

The Lines family first became involved in the production of toys and baby equipment in about 1850. The most popular products were wooden horses in a range of sizes. By 1924 Lines Brothers were doing so well they had to relocate their 533 staff to a new, more high tech factory in Merton, South London. They registered Tri-ang Toys as their brand name - a triangle is made up of three lines (for the three Lines brothers) - and the factory was named Tri-ang Works.