''Mickey Mouse Works'' (also known as ''Disney's Mickey Mouse Works'' or simply ''Mouse Works'') is an American

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

produced by

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA; also shortened to Disney TVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is an American animation production company that serves as the television a ...

featuring

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

and his friends in a series of animated shorts. The first Disney television animated series to be produced in widescreen high definition, it is formatted as a

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

, with

skit Skit may refer to: * * A short segment in a performance, such as: ** Sketch comedy ** Hip hop skit ** Puppet skit ** Promo (professional wrestling) * Skit note, parody of a banknote * "Skit", a song by Bad Gyal from '' La joia'', 2024 See als ...

s starring Mickey Mouse,

Minnie Mouse Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

Daisy Duck Daisy Duck is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. She is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck that has large eyelashes and ruffled tail feathers around her lowest region to suggest a skirt. She is often s ...

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

and

Ludwig Von Drake Professor Ludwig Von Drake is a cartoon character created in 1961 by The Walt Disney Company. He is the paternal uncle of Donald Duck. He was first introduced as the presenter (and singer of " The Spectrum Song") in the cartoon ''An Adventure ...

while

Horace Horsecollar Horace Horsecollar is a cartoon character created in 1929 at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Horace is a tall anthropomorphic black horse and is one of Mickey Mouse's best friends. Characterized as a boastful show-off, Horace served as Mickey’s s ...

Clarabelle Cow Clarabelle Cow is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As an anthropomorphic Cattle, cow, Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends. She was once depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although now she is oft ...

, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Chip 'n' Dale,

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...

, Pete, Humphrey the Bear, J. Audubon Woodlore, Dinah the Dachshund, Butch the Bulldog,

Mortimer Mouse The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto as the primary members (colloquially know ...

José Carioca José "Zé" Carioca (; ) is a cartoon anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic parrot created by the Brazilian cartoonist J. Carlos, José Carlos de Brito (J. Carlos) and shown to Walt Disney on his trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1941. The Walt Disney Compa ...

, and Clara Cluck appear as supporting or minor characters. Musical themes for each character were composed by Stephen James Taylor with a live 12-piece band and extensive use of the fretless guitar to which the music of the series was nominated for an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

in both 1999 and 2001. Most of the shorts from the series were later used in ''

House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001 ...

''.

Overview

As Mickey Mouse's first revival series, ''Mickey Mouse Works'' was produced to recreate the golden age of Disney's animated shorts featuring 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 various short cartoons that fell into three general types: 90-second gag cartoons, 7-and-a-half-minute character cartoons, and 12-minute "Mouse Tales" based on famous stories. The character-based segments also included "

Silly Symphonies ''Silly Symphony'' (also known as ''Silly Symphonies'') is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Si ...

", 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

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

rebellious musical instruments. * Goofy's Extreme Sports: Goofy shows off extreme sports in the words of his off-screen 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 were 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. Most Donald segments were about him trying to accomplish a certain task which never works out right, frustrating him.

Characters

Main

(voiced by

Wayne Allwine Wayne Anthony Allwine (February 7, 1947 – May 18, 2009) was an American voice actor, sound effects editor and Foley (filmmaking), foley artist. He was best remembered as the third official voice of Mickey Mouse in English language, English (fo ...

Quinton Flynn Quinton Flynn (born October 10, 1964) is an American voice actor and comedian, who has provided the English voices of video game characters such as Raiden in the ''Metal Gear'' series, Marcus Damon in ''Digimon Data Squad'', and Axel and his o ...

in "Minnie Takes Care of Pluto") is the main protagonist of the series, he gets himself entangled in many farcical situations due to his guilelessness but is overall a calm character. *

(voiced by

Tony Anselmo Tony Anselmo (born February 18, 1960) is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of Donald Duck since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor, Clarence Nash. He has also provided voices for Do ...

) is one of Mickey's friends; he is well known for his bad temper, which often lashes out by impatience and self-righteousness. *

(voiced by Bill Farmer) is one of Mickey's friends; he isn't the smartest character on the show, as his idiocy usually irritates his friends. *

(voiced by

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She was best remembered for voicing the character of Minnie Mouse in English from 1986 to 2019, and was married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, ...

) is Mickey's girlfriend; like how Donald gets frustrated, Minnie is often peeved by Mickey's impulsiveness and Daisy's loudmouth, though she is sweet and mature for her age. *

(voiced by Diane Michelle in season 1 and

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

in season 2) is Donald's girlfriend; though they both have hot tempers, Daisy is shown to be aloof and more selfish and dull-witted in this show. *

(voiced by Bill Farmer) is Mickey's loyal dog who is often combative towards some animals. *

(voiced by

Corey Burton Corey Burton is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformers'', Brainiac in the DC Animated Universe, Count Dooku and Cad Bane in ...

) is a scientist duck who is shown to be highly intelligent but insane. He is Donald's uncle and Huey, Dewey, and Louie's great-uncle.

Supporting

* Pete (voiced by

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in over 400 titles. Cummings has frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., serving as the offic ...

) is Mickey's rival. He is intimidating and aggressive, but extremely gullible. *

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are Multiple birth, triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist and screenwriter Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro. They are the nephews of Donald Duck an ...

(voiced by

), Donald's naughty nephews. * Chip 'n' Dale (voiced by

and

), two chipmunks, common rivals of Donald and Pluto. * The Narrator (voiced by

), serves as a guide narrating the cartoons starring Goofy. *

(voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

) is Mickey's sleazy rival who is charming, but in a condescending and harmful manner; he often flirts with

and/or Daisy, and his most famous catchphrase is "I CHACHA!" (pronounced "ha cha cha"). *

(voiced by

April Winchell April Terri Winchell (born January 4, 1960) is an American actress, writer, and radio host. Since 1996, she has been the voice of Clarabelle Cow. Early life Born on January 4, 1960, in Whitestone, New York, but raised in the Greater Los Angel ...

), a friend of Mickey's gang. She is Horace's girlfriend. * Chief O'Hara (voiced by

), police chief in the town. * Louie the Mountain Lion (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

), a mountain lion who wants to eat Goofy. * Butch the Bulldog (voiced by

), a big bulldog, rival of Pluto. * Dinah the Dachshund (voiced by

), Pluto's love interest. * The Phantom Blot (voiced by

John O'Hurley John George O'Hurley Jr. (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor and game show host. He played Jacopo Peterman, J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld'', provided the voice for King Neptune on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', and hosted the game s ...

) is the mysterious shadow in the distance, who wants to steal all the colors for himself and leave the real world stuck in black and white. * Salty the Seal (voiced by

), a playful seal. * Figaro (voiced by

), Minnie's pet cat. * Humphrey the Bear (voiced by

), a bear of the forest. * J. Audubon Woodlore (voiced by

), a ranger in charge of Humphrey. * Aracuan Bird (voiced by

) *

(voiced by Bill Farmer) * Clara Cluck (voiced by

) *

(voiced by

Alan Young Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British-born actor. Young is best known for portraying Wilbur Post in the television comedy '' Mister Ed'' (1961–1966) and voicing Disney's Scrooge McDuck for over ...

), is Donald's uncle and Huey, Dewey, and Louie's great-uncle. *

(voiced by

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Pro ...

), an old friend of Donald. * Baby Shelby (introduced) (voiced by

Jeff Bennett Jeff Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor. He voiced the titular character of ''Johnny Bravo'', Dexter and Dee Dee's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', List of The Powerpuff Girls characters#Ace, Ace, List of The Powerpuff Gi ...

), a small turtle who always torments Donald. * Mrs. Turtle (introduced) (voiced by

Estelle Harris Estelle Harris (; April 22, 1928 – April 2, 2022) was an American actress and comedian, known for her exaggeratedly shrill, grating voice. She was best known for her role as Estelle Costanza on ''Seinfeld''. Her other roles included the voice ...

), Shelby's mother. * Mr. Jollyland (voiced by

)

Legacy

When the show was replaced by ''

'' in January 2001, most of the ''Mouse Works'' segments were repeated there but the original ''Mickey Mouse Works'' format has never been seen again. Four of the gag cartoons were released theatrically with various Disney films during 1998 and 1999 and released to theaters as commercials for the show. The cartoons 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 ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. ''My Favorite Martian'' was th ...

'' * ''Donald's Dynamite: Opera Box'' with '' Doug's 1st Movie''

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1999)

Season 2 (1999–2000)

Home media

While the series has not seen an official VHS or DVD release, several shorts have been featured on other releases. In April 2005, Disney released a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in European, Latin American and Asian territories entitled ''Mickey's Laugh Factory'', which contained nine selected shorts taken from this series as well as those from ''House of Mouse'' with jokes told by various children used as framing material. 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 a Mickey-shaped one and one with the ''Mouse Works'' text inside it, but 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''. The DVD ''Disney's Learning Adventures: Mickey's Seeing the World'' includes the cartoons ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' and ''Mickey's Mechanical House'' slightly abridged to fit in with the documentary nature of the DVD. 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'', features a handful of Donald-centric shorts from both ''Mickey Mouse Works'' and ''House of Mouse'' as bonuses, including ''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''.

Notes

References

External links

*
''Mickey Mouse Works''
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated f ...

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