Profile on Mickey Mouse!
Jondee here at the Mouse House,
Mickey Mouse, almost everyone has grown up with him, but it was also strange while knowing the Mickey Mouse Club there wasn’t any Mickey cartoons. It got to the point where I took Mickey for granted as a kid. I even passed up Mickey’s Christmas Carol in 1983. Still, it was great to see him teaming up with Bugs Bunny in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Then, there was The Prince and the Pauper (1990), but what really put back my faith in Mickey was Fantasmic! In 1998, I was there at the cast member preview where we crowded around the river. I was stunned to see it before the press and the public. I loved seeing Sorcerer Mickey and even more taking on a dragon! The best part was seeing the Mark Twain outfitted to be Steamboat Willy and seeing the classic Mickey at the helm! My lil’ niece and nephew have watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse which started in 2006, much too late for me. There was a Playhouse Disney/Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Show at the Disney’s California Adventures park. My niece and nephew have gone there, it always had long lines of parents and kids, but is not currently open.
I will say what is keeping love of Mickey alive is in that little theater in Main Street Cinema. There really should be a sign saying “Come Inside and See Mickey’s First Cartoons!” This part of Main Street should NEVER be taken away! It would be taking out the soul of Disneyland. I know guests pass it by, but it is cool inside with plenty of resting areas to enjoy some of the best cartoons that built the Walt Disney Company. See the making of the cartoons in the film Walt Before Mickey (2015). The other part was Mickey’s House and Meet Mickey at Toontown which opened in 1993. There always seems to be a crowd to wander his house, which is brilliant, so many inside gags, and finally to see Mickey Mouse. Yeah, seeing him around the park is good, but at his house, it’s something else. I will say the other memorable experience was at Magic Kingdom in 2010. It was the day after my Disney Cruise to the Caribbean, ironically I stayed at Caribbean Cay hotel (it wasn’t the Caribbean!), and saw Cinderella’s Castle blocked off. Then, I went back later to see the show, Dream Along with Mickey, it is a great show about the beauty and power of dreams. I was taking pics and video, but really loved the show and bought the soundtrack. What was stunning to see the blinking eyes, I was used to growing up with the frozen expression on the characters, now Mickey and friends were alive. Unfortunately, the show was recently taken down and replaced with Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire which doesn’t have the same magic and audience participation. “Dreams Come True!” Mickey is here for everyone, his 88th birthday keeps us all kids, and believing in magic.
