I wish people would stop underestimating kids these days- they don't need Mickey to be "hip," they don't need CGI, they don't need to have history "dumbed down" so they can understand it, and they certainly don't need all this PC crap (but that's another argument on its own- I could rant for days about that!).
I'm 21, so I'm a little older than the kids who are being talked about, but I sometimes find myself in the same boat. I never watched cartoons when I was a kid. I went to school, then straight to my dance rehearsals, then home to bed. every day. I grew up going to Disneyland numerous times a year, so I loved Disney, I loved all of the characters, but I didn't know the Fab 5 from anything but the parks. I definitely saw the classic movies- Cinderella, B&B, Aladdin, Lion King, etc. so I knew those characters, but Mickey was simply a park mascot to me. A couple of years ago when I started working for WDW I decided that I needed to do my "research" and watch the old Disney cartoons with Mickey and the rest of the Fab 5- I can't tell you how in love with them I was! I would sit on youtube for hours watching them, and literally laughing out loud. So I guess my point is that if those cartoons were shown on TV, even just every once in a while on the Disney channel, I have no doubt that kids would love them!!
People need to stop catering to our technology addicted kids and let them see something more broad- we're doing them a major disservice and completely sheltering them by only providing them with what they're used to.