Almost every episode of Mickey Mouse Works began with a 90-second gag short following one of six different formulas, with a second short of the same length appearing before the second "regular-sized" short in some episodes. Daisy Duck was the only character of The Sensational Six who did not have her own mini series.
Produced between the years of 1998-2001, all of these gag shorts (and a few new ones) would later be re-aired as part of House of Mouse episodes after Mickey Mouse Works ended. Some of these mini-shorts even originally made their debut either via theatrical release or direct-to-video prior to officially premiering in Mickey Mouse Works, as listed below.
List of segments[]
Mickey to the Rescue[]
Mickey to the Rescue was based on the "damsel in distress" formula that predated Mickey's creation as seen in numerous classic short films in the late-1920s and early-1930s. Each Mickey to the Rescue segment featured Minnie being held captive by Pete at his not-so-secret hideout, with Mickey breaking into said hideout and battling Pete's traps to rescue her.
The three segments all began with the same piece of animation in which Minnie cries for help from Pete's hideout, Pete tells her with an evil laugh, "Scream all you want, my dear, Mickey Mouse will never rescue you!" and Mickey vows to save her and then breaks down Pete's door (though that last part is not used in "Cage and Cannons"). Curiously, the stock animation used at the beginning of these three shorts has Minnie wearing her red outfit, but only "Staircase" has her wearing her red outfit for the entirety of the short (in the other two, she wears her blue outfit).
Picture | Title | Mickey Mouse Works episode | House of Mouse episode | Synopsis |
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Train Tracks | Episode 1 Episode 21 |
"Everybody Loves Mickey" | Mickey arrives at Pete's hideout to find Minnie tied to railroad tracks with a train approaching and Pete at the controls!
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Staircase | Episode 8 Episode 14 |
"Goofy's Valentine Date" | Mickey must battle a contraption-filled staircase to rescue Minnie from Pete's hideout.
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Cage and Cannons | Episode 11 | "Timon and Pumbaa" | When Pete kidnaps Minnie and whisks her off to his funhouse-like hideout, Mickey must cross a cartoony bridge and dodge Pete's boxing-glove cannons to rescue her from a cage suspended high above the ground. |
Maestro Minnie[]
Maestro Minnie was a series of musical gags with no dialogue, casting Minnie Mouse as the conductor of an orchestra full of rebellious instruments. Each segment had Minnie conducting a famous orchestral piece of music, shortened to fit the running time of the gag.
Picture | Title | Mickey Mouse Works episode | House of Mouse episode | Synopsis |
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William Tell Overture | Episode 1 | "Ladies' Night" |
Minnie goes on a wild west chase to rein in a rampaging trumpet.
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Hungarian Rhapsody #6 | Episode 5 Episode 21 |
"Goofy for a Day" | Minnie's set on playing a classical piece ... while the instruments are set on something with a slightly different tempo. | |
Brahm's Lullabye | Episode 10 | "Mickey and the Culture Clash" | Minnie keeps dozing off during her favorite lullaby, but the instruments take over and wake her up! | |
Flight of the Bumblebee | Episode 13 | "The Mouse Who Came to Dinner" | Minnie must tame a buzzing bumblebee that is disrupting her symphony. | |
Circus Symphoney | N/A | "Rent Day"
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Minnie must round up her instruments, who are performing like a group of circus animals. |
Goofy's Extreme Sports[]
Goofy's Extreme Sports was a spin-off of the Goofy cartoons where he demonstrates different kinds of sports. In this case, as the title implies, Goofy is performing different kinds of extreme sports (with narration by Corey Burton, replicating the narration of the earlier "how to" cartoons), with disastrous results.
Picture | Title | Mickey Mouse Works episode | House of Mouse episode | Synopsis |
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Skating the Half Pipe | Episode 2 Episode 17 |
"Music Day" | Goofy demonstrates the beautiful, yet dangerous, sport of stunt rollerblading, but once he gets rolling, he has trouble putting on the brakes.
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Paracycling | Episode 4 | "King Larry Swings In" | Goofy defies the laws of physics and common sense when he bicycles off a cliff and ungracefully parachutes to the ground.
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Rock Climbing | Episode 9 | "Chip 'n' Dale" | Goofy grapples with equipment, balance, and an annoying announcer as he scales to new peaks and plunges. | |
Wakeboarding | Episode 11 | "Not So Goofy" | Goofy takes to the water to master the art of wakeboarding, but his attempts at difficult stunts leave him high and dry. | |
Shark Feeding | Episode 23 | "Gone Goofy" | Goofy dons scuba gear and an anti-shark cage to go underwater and feed the sharks. |
Donald's Dynamite[]
Donald's Dynamite shorts open with Donald Duck in the middle of a pleasant, stress-free activity, only to have it interrupted by the appearance of a bomb. Each time, Donald tries to defuse or get rid of the bomb before it explodes, but to no avail. When the bomb explodes, it always results in something good happening to Donald, only to be nullified seconds later by something bad, after which Donald mutters, "Aw, nuts," in peevish defeat.
Picture | Title | Mickey Mouse Works episode | House of Mouse episode | Synopsis |
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Bowling | Episode 3 | "House of Magic" | Donald is enjoying a relaxing day at the bowling alley until his ball turns out to be a bomb! When he tries to defuse it, the pins really begin to fly. | |
Opera Box | Episode 6 | "Pete's House of Villains" | Donald and Daisy are enjoying a relaxing night at the opera when Donald reaches into Daisy's purse and pulls out a bomb! Now he must defuse it without Daisy noticing.
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Fishing | Episode 7 | "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation" | Donald is enjoying a relaxing day of fishing when he reels in a bomb! He tries to throw it back, but a cunning frog is determined to stop him. | |
Snowman | Episode 18 | "Pete's Christmas Caper" "Snow Day" |
Donald has a nice winter outing building a snowman until he discovers that his snowman's head is actually a bomb. | |
Magic Act | Episode 20 | "The Stolen Cartoons" | Donald tries to perform a magic act on stage but is continually interrupted by a reappearing bomb. |
Von Drake's House of Genius[]
Von Drake's House of Genius shorts are much like the regular Ludwig Von Drake shorts featured on the show, but much shorter. Each one has Von Drake introducing his new inventions, which then go awry.
Picture | Title | Mickey Mouse Works episode | House of Mouse episode | Synopsis |
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Time Reverser | Episode 3 | "Pete's One-Man Show" | Zany Ludwig Von Drake introduces his new invention - a time machine! But when he depends on his greatest creation to get him out of trouble, Von Drake's time quickly runs out. | |
Remote Controlled Laser Lawn Mower | Episode 6 | "Dining Goofy" | When Ludwig Von Drake's latest invention rages out of control, Von Drake may be the one who ends up with a trim. | |
Money Increaser | Episode 7 | "House of Scrooge" | Ludwig Von Drake believes his new invention - a Money Increaser Machine - will save people from poverty, but it ends up getting him thrown in jail for counterfeiting! | |
Teledinger | Episode 13 | "House of Crime" | Ludwig Von Drake's new invention has a certain ring to it - a Teledinger. Unfortunately, he discovers the invention is already in use ... and commonly known as the telephone. |
Pluto Gets the Paper[]
Taking inspiration from the Mickey Mouse cartoon "A Gentleman's Gentleman", Pluto Gets the Paper has Pluto tasked to fetch the newspaper by Mickey, and having to go through various obstacles in the process. Despite these interferences, Pluto successfully completes the task at the end. Like the Pluto cartoons, these shorts entirely rely on physical humor.
Picture | Title | Mickey Mouse Works episode | House of Mouse episode | Synopsis |
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Spaceship | Episode 4 | "House Ghosts" | Mickey sends Pluto out to fetch the newspaper, this time only to be taken aboard an alien spacecraft.
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Street Cleaner | Episode 10 | "Pluto vs. Figaro" | Pluto gets sucked up into the bowels of an oncoming street sweeper in his endless quest to fetch Mickey's newspaper.
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Bubble Gum | Episode 12 | "Goofy's Menu Magic" | Mickey sends Pluto out to fetch the newspaper, who has to fight with a discarded piece of bubble gum to retrieve it.
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Vending Machine | Episode 15 Episode 28 |
N/A | Instead of picking the paper up from the ground, Pluto has to balance a quarter and wrestle with a newspaper vending machine.
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Mortimer | Episode 24 | "Big Bad Wolf Daddy" | Mortimer shows up to try to steal Mickey's paper when Pluto is sent out to retrieve it. | |
Wet Cement | N/A | "The Stolen Cartoons"
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See also[]