Mickey

So, my husband was pointing out the question to my daughter today:

"Yeah...do you think it's strange that a mouse has a dog for a pet?"

Overlooking the obviously upsetting point about putting bounds around my daughter's imagination, it did make me think of this question:

When you got to Disneyland, Mickey is big- like an adult.  However, in all the books and cartoons, you always see human's knees at his eye-level...

...in other words, kid-sized.

So, why is it that he's big at Disneyland?  Would it be more appropriate to have Mickey played by small people?