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Mickey Mouse Works (also known as Disney's Mickey Mouse Works or simply Mouse Works) is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animated shorts.[1] The first Disney television animated series to be produced in widescreen high definition, it is formatted as a variety show, with skits starring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto and Ludwig Von Drake while Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Chip 'n' Dale, Scrooge McDuck, Pete, Humphrey the Bear, J. Audubon Woodlore, Dinah the Dachshund, Butch the Bulldog, Mortimer Mouse, José Carioca, and Clara Cluck appear as supporting or minor characters. Musical themes for each character were composed by Stephen James Taylor with a live 12-piece band and extensive use of the fretless guitar to which the music of the series was nominated for an Annie Award in both 1999 and 2001. Most of the shorts from the series were later used in House of Mouse.
Overview
As Mickey Mouse's first revival series, Mickey Mouse Works was produced to recreate the golden age of Disney's animated shorts featuring Disney's most popular characters. By using basic colors and the original sound effects, effort was put forth to capture the look and feel of "classic" Disney.
Each half-hour episode consisted of various short cartoons that fell into three general types: 90-second gag cartoons, 7-and-a-half-minute character cartoons, and 12-minute "Mouse Tales" based on famous stories.[2] The character-based segments also included "Silly Symphonies", carrying on the tradition of that series of theatrical shorts.
The gag shorts, which lasted 90 seconds each, were shown with the following umbrella titles:
- Mickey to the Rescue: Mickey tries to rescue Minnie from Pete's trap-laden hideout.
- Maestro Minnie: Minnie conducts an orchestra of anthropomorphic rebellious musical instruments.
- Goofy's Extreme Sports: Goofy shows off extreme sports in the words of his off-screen narrator.
- Donald's Dynamite: Donald's activity is interrupted by the appearance of a well-placed bomb.
- Von Drake's House of Genius: Ludwig Von Drake shows off an invention of his which goes haywire.
- Pluto Gets the Paper: Pluto goes through a bit of problems trying to fetch the newspaper for Mickey.
With no established schedule or routine, Mickey Mouse Works was designed to look like one spontaneous flow. Adding to that feeling were the show's opening credits which ended differently each week, the only constant being an elaborate interruption from a spotlight-stealing Donald Duck.
While most skits involved individual characters, some have Mickey, Donald and Goofy running a special service group. Most Goofy skits have him doing a "how-to" segment always accompanied by a narrator. Most Donald segments were about him trying to accomplish a certain task which never works out right, frustrating him.
Characters
Main
- Mickey Mouse (voiced by Wayne Allwine, Quinton Flynn in "Minnie Takes Care of Pluto")[3] is the main protagonist of the series, he gets himself entangled in many farcical situations due to his guilelessness but is overall a calm character.
- Minnie Mouse (voiced by Russi Taylor) is Mickey's girlfriend; like how Donald gets frustrated, Minnie is often peeved by Mickey's impulsiveness and Daisy's loudmouth, though she is mature for her age.
- Donald Duck (voiced by Tony Anselmo) is one of Mickey's friends; he is well known for his hot temper, which often lashes out by impatience and self-righteousness.
- Goofy (voiced by Bill Farmer) is one of Mickey's friends; he isn't the smartest character on the show, as his idiocy usually irritates his friends.
- Daisy Duck (voiced by Diane Michelle in season 1 and Tress MacNeille in season 2) is Donald's girlfriend; though they both have quick-tempers, Daisy is shown to be aloof and more selfish and dull-witted in this show.
- Pluto (voiced by Bill Farmer) is Mickey's loyal dog who is often combative towards some animals.
- Ludwig Von Drake (voiced by Corey Burton) is a scientist duck who is shown to be highly intelligent but insane. He is Donald's uncle and Huey, Dewey, and Louie's great-uncle.
Supporting
- Pete (voiced by Jim Cummings) is Mickey's rival. He is intimidating and aggressive, but extremely gullible.
- Huey, Dewey, and Louie (voiced by Russi Taylor), Donald's naughty nephews.
- Chip 'n' Dale (voiced by Tress MacNeille and Corey Burton), two chipmunks, common rivals of Donald and Pluto.
- The Narrator (voiced by Corey Burton), serves as a guide narrating the cartoons starring Goofy.
- Mortimer Mouse (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is Mickey's sleazy rival who is charming, but in a condescending and harmful manner; he often flirts with Minnie Mouse and/or Daisy, and his most famous catchphrase is "I CHACHA!" (pronounced "ha cha cha").
- Clarabelle Cow (voiced by April Winchell), a friend of Mickey's gang. She is Horace's girlfriend.
- Chief O'Hara (voiced by Corey Burton), police chief in the town.
- Louie the Mountain Lion (voiced by Frank Welker), a mountain lion who wants to eat Goofy.
- Butch the Bulldog (voiced by Frank Welker), a big bulldog, rival of Pluto.
- Dinah the Dachshund (voiced by Frank Welker), Pluto's love interest.
- The Phantom Blot (voiced by John O'Hurley) is the mysterious shadow in the distance, who wants to steal all the colors for himself and leave the real world stuck in black and white.
- Salty the Seal (voiced by Frank Welker), a playful seal.
- Figaro (voiced by Frank Welker), Minnie's pet cat.
- Humphrey the Bear (voiced by Jim Cummings), a bear of the forest.
- J. Audubon Woodlore (voiced by Corey Burton), a ranger in charge of Humphrey.
- Aracuan Bird (voiced by Frank Welker)
- Horace Horsecollar (voiced by Bill Farmer)
- Clara Cluck (voiced by Russi Taylor)
- Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Alan Young), is Donald's uncle and Huey, Dewey, and Louie's great-uncle.
- José Carioca (voiced by Rob Paulsen), an old friend of Donald.
- Baby Shelby (introduced) (voiced by Jeff Bennett), a small turtle who always torments Donald.
- Mrs. Turtle (introduced) (voiced by Estelle Harris), Shelby's mother.
- Mr. Jollyland (voiced by Jeff Bennett)
Legacy
When the show was replaced by House of Mouse in January 2001, most of the Mouse Works segments were repeated there but the original Mickey Mouse Works format has never been seen again.
Four of the gag cartoons were released theatrically with various Disney films during 1998 and 1999 and released to theaters as commercials for the show. The cartoons included:
- Goofy's Extreme Sports: Skating the Half Pipe with I'll Be Home for Christmas
- Goofy's Extreme Sports: Paracycling with Mighty Joe Young
- Pluto Gets the Paper: Spaceship with My Favorite Martian
- Donald's Dynamite: Opera Box with Doug's 1st Movie
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (1999)
Season 2 (1999–2000)
Home media
While the series has not seen an official VHS or DVD release, several shorts have been featured on other releases.
In April 2005, Disney released a DVD in European and Asian territories entitled Mickey's Laugh Factory, which contained nine selected shorts taken from this series as well as those from House of Mouse with jokes told by various children used as framing material. While some shorts have the Mickey Mouse Works title card background, others have the House of Mouse version (the Mouse Works version has various mechanics in the background including a Mickey-shaped one and one with the Mouse Works text inside it, but the House of Mouse version has various moving swirls).[4] Cartoons include Hickory Dickory Mickey, Mickey Tries to Cook, Organ Donors, Mickey's Airplane Kit, Street Cleaner, Mickey's New Car, Bubble Gum, Mickey's Big Break and Mickey's Mix-Up.[4]
The DVD Disney's Learning Adventures: Mickey's Seeing the World includes the cartoons Around the World in Eighty Days and Mickey's Mechanical House slightly abridged to fit in with the documentary nature of the DVD.
On November 11, 2008, the eighth wave of Walt Disney Treasures was released. One of the sets released in this wave, The Chronological Donald, Volume Four, features a handful of Donald-centric shorts from both Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse as bonuses, including Bird Brained Donald, Donald and the Big Nut, Donald's Charmed Date, Donald's Dinner Date, Donald's Failed Fourth, Donald's Rocket Ruckus, Donald's Shell Shots, Donald's Valentine Dollar, Music Store Donald and Survival of the Woodchucks.