Mickey Shorts Animation and Style

[_caleb]

It’s not the design… it’s the way they treat him. And I promise you, classic 30s/40s Mickey has been seen plenty everywhere. The issue is the entire 90s-early early 2000s era is gone/missing. The personality, animation, everything about that era.. and ‘that’ felt like a tasteful continuation that retained the feel of the 30s toons with personality & humor with a look that more resembled the 40s & 50s look Freddy Moore pioneered. Watch Mickey Mouse Works/House of Mouse for yourself.

I've seen the Mouse Works shorts. I understand that they were marketed as throwbacks to the golden age of Mickey, but I just see that as being another era in Mickey's evolution.

• The original Mickey was based on other designs (Oswald, Felix)
• The 30s/40s sort of became the Mickey Mouse archetype
• The 50s broke from the 30s/40s Mickey for a more "grown up" version of the character.
• The 60s/70s didn't do much with Mickey?
• The 80s was super trendy (and now quite dated) Mickey and Minnie.
• The 90's/2000's version was focused on TV; the design and personality were said to be based on the 30s/40s, but the shows were very 90s/2000s?
• The Rudish shorts are a throwback to the zaniness of the earliest Mickey, but with a late 2010/2020 aesthetic.

Who knows? Maybe the next generation will draw from the 80's look and feel?

But in my mind, no iteration erases any of the others.

 

[Inspired Figment]

I've seen the Mouse Works shorts. I understand that they were marketed as throwbacks to the golden age of Mickey, but I just see that as being another era in Mickey's evolution.

• The original Mickey was based on other designs (Oswald, Felix)
• The 30s/40s sort of became the Mickey Mouse archetype
• The 50s broke from the 30s/40s Mickey for a more "grown up" version of the character.
• The 60s/70s didn't do much with Mickey?
• The 80s was super trendy (and now quite dated) Mickey and Minnie.
• The 90's/2000's version was focused on TV; the design and personality were said to be based on the 30s/40s, but the shows were very 90s/2000s?
• The Rudish shorts are a throwback to the zaniness of the earliest Mickey, but with a late 2010/2020 aesthetic.

Who knows? Maybe the next generation will draw from the 80's look and feel?

But in my mind, no iteration erases any of the others.

Disney refuses to acknowledge that the 90s-early 2000s era exists. That’s my problem.

 

[_caleb]

somewhat.. but classic Mickey beforehand was still largely available and playing on television. You could also argue that Mickey could act differently simply based on whatever occasion or situation he was in.. and as I said before.. what about the 90s-early early 2000s era that brought back the more mischevious/flawed character we all loved while utilizing some of the Freddy Moore 40s-50s design.. that ‘wasn’t’ strictly aimed at preschoolers. The one Iger has seemingly intentionally made not available on Disney Plus or even discusses in recent documentaries, despite it’s large importance in Mickey’s history.

Aren't all episodes of House of Mouse freely available on YouTube?

 

[Inspired Figment]

Aren't all episodes of House of Mouse freely available on YouTube?

a lot of them.. but not all.

 

[Inspired Figment]

And there’s absolutely no good reason they shouldn’t be on Disney Plus and marketed right now for Mickey’s history and Disney history sake. It was the first television series produced entirely in HD and was an important step in Mickey returning in a more modern era.

 

[Inspired Figment]

I have a theory that it’s due to Iger’s beef with Roy Disney Jr. since he was largely involved with that series ‘and’ the Save Disney movement that ousted Eisner. Initially Roy wasn’t on board with putting Iger in either but Iger ultimately manipulated & forced him in a place to hire him as CEO rather than getting someone else..

 

[Heppenheimer]

Clubhouse utilizes very similar designs.. but all the personality, humor, etc.. ‘that’ is gone. Completely gone. It’s such a stark difference it’s not even funny.. and yet they’ve rewritten history to say that, ‘that’ has been Modern Mickey all along, when ultimately, it was only the later run pioneered by Iger.

But... Clubhouse is for pre-schoolers. We adults on a Disney forum are not the intended audience. Both of my kids were instantly drawn to that show the minute they saw it... even as babies! At age 4 and 1, they're still hooked on it. Disney clearly knew what they were doing with this show.

By contrast, they have zero interest in Mickey Mouse Funhouse, which seems to be the answer to the question "What was a Chapek-era Mickey Mouse show that was soullessly designed primarily to sell toys?"

 

[Inspired Figment]

But... Clubhouse is for pre-schoolers. We adults on a Disney forum are not the intended audience. Both of my kids were instantly drawn to that show the minute they saw it... even as babies! At age 4 and 1, they're still hooked on it. Disney clearly knew what they were doing with this show.

By contrast, they have zero interest in Mickey Mouse Funhouse, which seems to be the answer to the question "What was a Chapek-era Mickey Mouse show that was soullessly designed primarily to sell toys?"

Trust me, I know that. You’re missing the bigger picture/point I’m making.. the point I’m making is that the modern era Mickey that was made to appeal to ‘all ages’ from the 90s-early 2000s has seemingly been erased from history.. and the only thing Disney ‘wants’ you remembering & knowing about are the 06-12 era Clubhouse and the 12-new era shorts. Meaning the strictly preschool aimed things and the edgy Ren & Stimpy parody stuff.. ‘That’ is my problem. I wouldn’t have as much of an issue with either show simply existing if the company hasn’t seemingly intentionally hidden/erased the fact/acknowledgment that the 90s/early 2000s era that was made for ‘all ages’ was made available again/Infact existed.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Mickey should mainly be known as a character that appeals to ‘all’ ages. Not just preschool kids, not just edgy-too cool for any sincerity teens & adults. The problem is they only have 2 totally different toned options rather than an option that appeals/is aimed at everybody. No reason why all 3 can’t exist/be acknowledged/continue to be made. Not just 2 of those going in 2 completely opposite directions to appeal to only certain age subsets rather than the latter (all ages/everybody)

 

[LittleBuford]

Alright.. see, ‘that’ is the problem I’ve been discussing. Iger has seemingly pushed into obscurity and intentionally erased the fact that modern Mickey was once appealing to all ages and had a TON of personality & emotion in shows like Mickey Mouse Works/House of Mouse. Not to mention, films like Once Upon A Christmas and shorts like Prince & the Pauper & Runaway Brain. Instead they use this false narrative that he became a “soulless mascot” under past management and that Iger saved him.. when Infact.. he is ‘the’ sole contributor to the “soulless” Mickey we’ve seen since Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, strictly aimed at preschooler and used as the main Mickey since ‘06 as opposed to Mouse Works/House of Mouse. None of this plus the creation/greenlighting Clubhouse (Iger’s first big Mickey related project he greenlit) isn’t even mentioned in that new Disney + documentary.. are you starting to see the problem?

Why are you assuming that we’re incapable of forming our own opinions? What Iger may or not be pushing has nothing to do with my feelings on the new shorts, which, as I’ve made clear, I enjoy alongside the older iterations of Mickey. It needn’t be a contest.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Why are you assuming that we’re incapable of forming our own opinions? What Iger may or not be pushing has nothing to do with my feelings on the new shorts, which, as I’ve made clear, I enjoy alongside the older iterations of Mickey. It needn’t be a contest.

That’s not at all what I’m doing. Reread my post please. I never ever said your opinion was wrong. Your thoughts on the new shorts aren’t the issue. My issue is management pretends the 90s/early 2000s era that continued everything tastefully (40s-modern art direction with the humor, personality, and all age appeal of the 30s cartoons), is made unavailable/ isn’t even acknowledged in their new documentary for no good reason

 

[Inspired Figment]

I also believe that the majority of the public only seeing “Modern Mickey” as 06-era Clubhouse/Preschool aimed Mickey and not knowing about the era right prior to that is ‘completely’ on management/Iger making it non available/not marketing or acknowledging it properly. That’s management’s fault, not your’s.

 

[LittleBuford]

That’s not at all what I’m doing. Reread my post please. I never ever said your opinion was wrong. Your thoughts on the new shorts aren’t the issue. My issue is management pretends the 90s/early 2000s era that continued everything tastefully (40s-modern art direction with the humor, personality, and all age appeal of the 30s cartoons), appealing to all ages is made unavailable/ isn’t even acknowledged in their new documentary for no good reason

But how does that relate to the new shorts exactly?

 

[Inspired Figment]

But how does that relate to the new shorts exactly?

Because the new shorts are treated as a “return to roots” after “Mickey becoming soulless” “thanks to past management”. When in reality, the only thing that made Mickey “soulless” was Bob Iger himself, by making him a bland preschool show and then making the Rudish/Ren & Stimpy/parody style shorts after. Keep in mind too that this discussion isn’t simply on the new shorts, but rather all of Mickey’s shorts & animation styles through the years.

 

[Inspired Figment]

I also see folks (not you btw) saying how they only associated the “modern Mickey design” with preschool/Clubhouse.. and I’m simply elaborating that ‘that’ is the big elephant in the room regarding Mickey/ is all Iger’s fault. He’s pushed the ‘true’ modern Mickey (Prince & the Pauper-Mickey Mouse Works/House of Mouse/Once Upon A Christmas) into obscurity while ‘he’ is the one who’s made Mickey a soulless thing through the years and pushed that/made that the only modern era available to watch. Particularly 06-now

 

[LittleBuford]

Because the new shorts are treated as a “return to roots” after “Mickey becoming soulless” “thanks to past management”. When in reality, the only thing that made Mickey “soulless” was Bob Iger himself, by making him a bland preschool show and then making the Rudish/Ren & Stimpy/parody style shorts after. Keep in mind too that this discussion isn’t simply on the new shorts, but rather all of Mickey’s shorts & animation styles through the years.

Perhaps I’ve been wrong all along, but I always took the “return to roots” talk as referring to the way the Rudish shorts evoke the zaniness of the very earliest shorts, bypassing the “blander” Mickey of the classic period. I don’t think most adults’ baseline understanding of Mickey derives from the Clubhouse era. Mine certainly doesn’t.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Perhaps I’ve been wrong all along, but I always took the “return to roots” talk as referring to the way the Rudish shorts evoke the zaniness of the very earliest shorts, bypassing the “blander” Mickey of the classic period. I don’t think most adults’ baseline understanding of Mickey derives from the Clubhouse era. Mine certainly doesn’t.

I’ll tell you this, almost every parody or negative perception I’ve seen of Mickey nearly always is directly referencing, stemmed by, or based on specifically the Clubhouse iteration w no personality & emotion. They even mention “Clubhouse” by name or in his dialogue. It really made a ‘bad’ wreckage in Mickey’s reputation/perception by the public. WAY more than most realize.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Slightly off-topic, but this why I ‘always’ cringe whenever I hear somebody suggest they should make Figment a Disney Junior show. Cause I know what they did to poor Mickey and the terrible effect it had on the general public’s perception of the character. Both Figment and Mickey are characters aimed towards all ages. They don’t need to be edgy/gross, they don’t need to be dumbed down. Just keep them genuinely sincere, full of personality lighthearted humor, & emotion, and appealing to all ages. It’s not hard to do.. yet seemingly seems to be for alot of folks these days which I truly don’t understand. Past works of the characters would show you how simple it is to accomplish. To make something appealing to all ages without dumbing it down or being pandering.

 

[LittleBuford]

I’ll tell you this, almost every parody or negative perception I’ve seen of Mickey nearly always is directly referencing, stemmed by, or based on Clubhouse. They even mention “Clubhouse” by name. It really made a ‘bad’ wreckage in Mickey’s reputation/perception by the public.

I agree that that version of Mickey is often held up as “bad”, but the shift in Mickey’s personality—from mischievous to wholesome (or bland, to put it less kindly)—happened back in the ’30s. I don’t think one needs to be thinking of Clubhouse (which I’ve never seen) to view the Rudish shorts as a sort of “return to roots”.

 

[Inspired Figment]

I agree that that version of Mickey is often held up as “bad”, but the shift in Mickey’s personality—from mischievous to wholesome (or bland, to put it less kindly)—happened back in the ’30s. I don’t think one needs to be thinking of Clubhouse (which I’ve never seen) to view the Rudish shorts as a sort of “return to roots”.

Wholesome wasn’t his entire personality from the 30s-early early 2000s. He became more of a leader and his nicer, more considerate side shined more but it didn’t completely do away with his more angry, mischevious, flawed or emotional sides. Watch some episodes of Mickey Mouse Works/House of Mouse and you’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s a lie that actually stemmed from Clubhouse’s over exposure & marketing push as the main version of the character. Clubhouse is all available on Disney Plus btw. You’ll see ‘exactly’ what I’m talking about. And while 50s Mickey was Def made to be more wholesome, he had some genuine humor, still got mad and got genuinely upset in other instances. But Clubhouse.. emotion, humor, and personality overall, ‘completely’ erased. Nice/one note emotion/(lack of a) personality 24/7