Mickey Mouse Works



Mickey Mouse Works
Background information
Genre:	slapstick comedy
Creator:
Voices:	Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Russi Taylor, Bill Farmer, Tress MacNeille, Corey Burton, John Cleese, Jim Cummings, Frank Welker, Jeff Bennett, Diane Michelle, Maurice LaMarche, April Winchell, Estelle Harris, John O'Hurley, Alan Young, Rob Paulsen
Animator(s):
Composer(s):
Theme song:
No. of seasons:	2
No. of episodes:	25

[Source]

Mickey Mouse Works is an American television show that features the cartoon character Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animated segments. It is the first Disney television animated series to be broadcast in HD. The series is rated TV-Y7.

Premise

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy Goof, Pluto, and Ludwig Von Drake all star in their own segments. Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Huey Dewey and Louie, Chip 'n' Dale, Scrooge McDuck, Pete, Humphrey the Bear, J. Audubon Woodlore, Dinah the Dachshund, Butch the Bulldog, Mortimer Mouse and Clara Cluck all appear as supporting characters. Musical themes for each character are composed by Stephen James Taylor with a live 12-piece band and extensive use of the fretless guitar. Music was nominated for an Annie Award in both 1999 and 2000. Although it was a very short-lived series, it immediately became very popular in its original run and in syndication. The cartoons on the show were later used in the Disney animated television series House of Mouse.

Mickey Mouse Works was created 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, effort was put forth to capture the look and feel of classic Disney.

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.