Mickey Mouse Works

Disney's Mickey Mouse Works was a television show that features the cartoon character Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animated segments. It is somewhat of an update of Mickey's Mouse Tracks. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, and Ludwig Von Drake all star in their own segments. Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Chip 'n Dale, Scrooge McDuck, Peg Leg Pete, Humphrey the Bear, J. Audubon Woodlore, Dinah the Dachshund, Butch the Bulldog, Mortimer Mouse and Clara Cluck all appear as supporting characters.

Premise
Mickey Mouse Works was made to recreate the golden age of Disney's animated shorts, featuring some of Disney’s most popular characters. By using basic colors and the original sound effects, tremendous effort was put forth to capture the look and feel of the classic Disney cartoons.

Each half-hour episode consisted of a variety of cartoons, varying in length from ninety seconds to twelve minutes. These shorts fell into three general types: the brief gag cartoons, the longer character-based cartoons, and the more classically-based "Mouse Tales" (usually the show's longest segment). 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 animated, disagreeable instruments.
 * Goofy's Extreme Sports: Goofy shows off extreme sports to the words of his offscreen 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 where 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.

The show aired on the Russian version of The Disney Afternoon block since the block actually aired in the 2000's, and is one of few shows not to air on the Disney Afternoon block in the US but airing on the block in other countries.

Characters

 * Mickey Mouse (voiced by Wayne Allwine; Seasons 1-2, and by Quinton Flynn; Season 1, few early episodes)
 * Donald Duck (voiced by Tony Anselmo)
 * Goofy (voiced by Bill Farmer)
 * Pluto (voiced by Bill Farmer)
 * Minnie Mouse (voiced by Russi Taylor)
 * Daisy Duck (voiced by Diane Michelle and Tress MacNeille)
 * Ludwig Von Drake (voiced by Corey Burton)
 * Horace Horsecollar (voiced by Bill Farmer)
 * Clarabelle Cow (voiced by April Winchell)
 * Huey, Dewey and Louie (voiced by Tony Anselmo, in tandem with Russi Taylor)
 * Chip and Dale (voiced by Tress MacNeille)

Villains

 * Pete (voiced by Jim Cummings)
 * Mortimer Mouse (voiced by Maurice LaMarche)
 * Phantom Blot (voiced by John O'Hurley)

Animals

 * Louie the Mountain Lion (voiced by Frank Welker)
 * Butch the Bulldog (voiced by Frank Welker)
 * Aracuan Bird (voiced by Frank Welker)
 * Baby Shelby (voiced by Jeff Bennett)
 * Humphrey the Bear (voiced by Jim Cummings)

Other supporting characters

 * Chief O'Hara (voiced by Corey Burton)
 * Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Alan Young)
 * J. Audubon Woodlore (voiced by Corey Burton)
 * Dinah the Dachshund (voiced by Frank Welker)
 * Salty the Seal (voiced by Frank Welker)
 * Clara Cluck (voiced by Russi Taylor)
 * Jose Carioca (voiced by Rob Paulsen)
 * Mr. Jollyland (voiced by Jeff Bennett)
 * Mrs. Turtle (voiced by Estelle Harris)

Narrator

 * John Cleese (MouseTales and Mickey's Mechanical House)
 * Corey Burton (Goofy and Goofy's Extreme Sports)

Production
When the show was replaced by House of Mouse in January 2001, many of the Mouse Works shorts were repeated on the new show, with some airing for the first time. However, the original Mouse Works format have never been seen again. But when the shorts were shown right before and after Toon Disney's Big Movie Show on weekdays, they were shown with the Mickey Mouse Works closing credits. Two shorts, Minnie Takes Care of Pluto and the Pluto Gets the Paper segment "Vending Machine", appear to be the only two shorts that did not re-air on House of Mouse, because of the former's dark content. Some Mouse Works shorts were originally presented in full-screen format during their debut and then cropped to widescreen when aired in House of Mouse (since House of Mouse was originally produced in widescreen).

Several of the gag cartoons were released theatrically with various 1999 Disney movies and released to theaters as commercials for the show. These 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

Some shorts are available in Europe on DVD, under the title Mickey's Laugh Factory. 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 one in the shape of Mickey and another with the Mouse Works text inside it. However, the House Of Mouse version has various moving swirls.) 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.

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, featured a handful of Donald-centric shorts from both Mickey Mouse Works as bonuses - 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.

Trivia

 * The only known surviving video releases of this show include a Pluto Gets the Paper segment in the 1999 101 Dalmatians VHS, and ten Donald Duck segements in the Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Four DVD.