DISNEY MICKEY MOUSECartoon ShortsAvailable on iTunes and online
When it comes to showing my Disney Side (clever campaign) I tend to lean toward the theme parks. This means I am not usually a first adopter of a lot of products produced by the other divisions. However, there was one new cartoon series that I have been really looking forward to ever since I saw the preview in March 2013. Under the leadership of Executive Producer Paul Radish, Mickey Mouse has returned, scrubbed of the sanitized corporate symbol attitude, and returned to his roots as a blend of Charlie Chaplin, Errol Flynn, Walt Disney, and the Keystone Cops. Starting last summer, Disney began releasing 19 of these groundbreaking 3+ minute shorts. Gone is the bland, safe Mickey. Enter the Mickey that resembles the one that first captured the public’s attention in 1928. Set in contemporary times, Mickey and his friends are happy to break into a neighbors house to use his pool on a  hot day, cheat in a dog show, and steal an ice cream truck. Creating chaos is a given in each episode and at times resembles the energy of a Tex Avery cartoon or one of the Roger Rabbit shorts. In the end, Mickey does save the day and everything turns out right. Just like the original early classic Mickey Mouse shorts, kids will love these but they really are written for adults.In the first episode, Croissant de Triomphe, Minnie runs out of croissants at her restaurant in Paris and calls out to Mickey (in French) to bring more. Mickey jets through the streets of Paris, close calls at every turn, as he tries to get to Minnie in time. The storyboard sessions must have been a blast because the gags that made it to the final cut will make you laugh out loud. It is both timeless and relevant at the same time. The animation is fresh, fluid, rubbery, and throughly 2D. I like this version of Mickey.  That was just a start. In No Service we get to see a naked Mickey in a public place. In Yodelberg Mickey gets to meet a yeti and New York Weenie will make you look at hot dogs in a new way. Tokyo Go and Panda-monism show that Mickey is an international star and are set in Japan and China. We have all had a Bad Ear Day. Stayin’ Cool was released when Los Angeles was suffering from an unbearable heatwave and summed up that experience better then anything I have ever seen. Zombie Goofy. Gubbles. This will all make sense as you watch the series.  Mickey is alive and well in the hands of this team of animators.