riverside_remember_house of mouse_ _ nov 3, 2024 001_nick_marshall's stu

The House of Mouse was a series created by Disney to make Mickey Mouse more relevant to kids. It featured Disney shorts called Mickey Mouse Works. In the late 60s, cartoons were transitioning from theaters to TV, and Disney had an easier time with this transition. However, in the 90s, competition from other cartoons like Tiny Toons Adventures and Dexter's Laboratory started to make Disney nervous. They wanted to make Mickey Mouse relevant again, as he hadn't been on screen since the 40s or 50s. They created Mouseworks to revamp the character, and the show was well-received. Mickey Mouse remains a titan in the world of cartoons. Hey, welcome back to another episode of Pisces Prints. We're going to be taking a little bit of a trip down memory lane. We're going to be, we're going through something very nostalgic for this episode. And this episode is not really intentioned to be very long because I only like wrote down like the logistics, like some of the facts of this topic. And also I watched this particular show that I'm about to talk about. But something that I've been like, kind of like thinking about in the last two weeks, and I just watched videos on it because it just came across my mind again. And also I brought it up in another episode talking about how it had like a whole Halloween special. And it just got me kind of like thinking about it and just kind of like going back through some of the memories from what I can personally remember from this particular show. The particular show that I'm talking about is the House of Mouse or just simply Disney's House of Mouse. When I was growing up, the show was basically off the air. And I can personally say that I was born in 2006. I am a part of Gen Z. But over the, I guess growing up, my appreciation for cartoons and TV shows of like in the past, like older cartoons are very, it seems very like Gen X of me because my parents are obviously Gen X. But mostly my mother and uncle appreciate the older cartoons. So I kind of like grew up, I grew up appreciating and like watching those. And Disney is something that I appreciate. And it's like Disney cartoons are something I've grown up with over the years, watching very old cartoons from that, watching old Disney cartoons on YouTube when I was like 10 years old. I was mainly watching Donald Duck cartoons. I wasn't really watching Mickey Mouse because Mickey Mouse was kind of like so typical. But I mainly like gravitated towards like watching Donald Duck cartoons. And I liked the Looney Tunes. And yeah, I am a person who appreciates cartoons from the golden age, the 70s and 80s and 90s and 2000s. That's where my taste in cartoons show. So when I thought about doing an episode revolving around the house and mouse, and I'm kind of like not in a place where I'm, I think I like got the hang of like talking about TV shows without putting too much pressure on like trying to sound like very knowledgeable or very like college essay like because no one really like has like a super perfect way of like explaining everything. So I'm just gonna explain like the entire like show and my own personal best of abilities. But the house of mouse, the house of mouse is, it was a series created by Disney where Mickey Mouse and his friends run an iClub that showed Disney shorts called Mickey Mouse works that Disney released earlier in an attempt to make Mickey more relevant to the kids. The reason why I say more relevant to the kids is because like around this time, I guess we're gonna have to like go back and like personally animated cartoon history. So you can guys so you guys can like get this. So in the late 60s, cartoons like the golden age of cartoons was coming to a close, mainly because in the past and earlier 20th century, studio heads from the Walt Disney Company, Warner Brothers. I'm thinking I'm trying, I was trying to think of like other animated studios, but other animated studios too. They produce cartoons over months on end and then they show it in theaters. That's where man, that's where like most people saw cartoons and also that's where they saw the news. It was kind of like TV, but like, so yeah, it was like an earlier rendition of TV because that's where most people were getting like the news from newspapers, going to the theaters, where they showed the latest films or pictures is what they called it in cartoons and in the news. And it's just so many of them. And when the 60s rolled around, Walt Disney was getting ready to transfer his own cartoons from the theaters and the big screen to television because television was starting to like become more of a thing. So a natural like business transaction, like in a natural business mindset, Disney was about to, you know, transition his cartoons from that in the theaters, from theaters to TV. Some companies, some animation companies didn't fare that well in this transition. Obviously Warner Brothers shut down in 1969, if I remember correctly. It wasn't that, and also in Warner Brothers, it was kind of like hard to like get the Looney Tunes back to relevancy sometimes, but they did try in like the 70s, I think with the Bugs Bunny show, where they would show like old cartoons. But in the end, it was still kind of hard because the mouse company was ahead of its time and like to have more resources. So the transition from theater to TV was more easier for Disney. But as time went on in the 90s, there were rain was kind of coming to an end. They got too cocky. And other companies in the 80s and 90s were starting to produce newer TV, new TV shows. And it started to make the Disney company more and more nervous. Disney was enjoying its run, obviously, because they were titans and they like own everything. But around this time, in the 80s and 90s, their competition was starting to size up the game. A new generation of cartoons was starting to come. And it was starting to become a more iconic time. And this is where my love for the 90s and early 2000s cartoon starts to come out. This is where the more Gen X side of me kind of like appreciates cartoons in this particular period because my mom and dad and my uncle are 90s kids. And I remember my uncle always kind of like, we mostly, we really do bond over cartoons, specifically cartoons in the 90s the most. And that's honestly where we both kind of like, there's like a little sparkle in our eyes when this topic comes up. And we just kind of like bounce off like our own personal knowledge of what we know from it. But obviously, he knows more to an extent because he lived through this. But the point of what I'm trying to say is this period of the 90s was more iconic because Disney's competition was starting to make more cartoons. Cartoons such as Tiny Toons Adventures, Dexter's Laboratory, this is where Cartoon Network started to come out. Johnny Bravo, the Powerpuff Girls, a classic in my opinion. I was just watching the Powerpuff Girls, I think last night, I think two nights ago, a personal favorite of mine. Also, I think, oh, God. Oh, wait. Oh, I forgot. I forgot many others. But there are so many like good 90s like TV shows. Let me look it up. Let me look it up. Okay, let me like look it up. Oh, yes. Okay. Warner Brothers also stepped up their game when they released Batman the Animated Series, the legendary series, the best Batman in my opinion. We will talk about Batman like very soon on this show. Very soon. Obviously, Spongebob came about the Animaniacs. I forgot about them. I forgot about them. Freakazoid and then obviously the Simpsons came out in the 80s. So they started to dominate adult cartoons. The point being Disney was going, these cartoons were kind of like giving Disney a run for its money. The relevancy of these cartoons was appealing to a more newer generation, the 90s teens. So Disney was kind of like struggling to like see how they can make Mickey Mouse relevant again. During that time, Mickey hasn't been on screen since like the 1940s or 1950s. You guys can in fact check me on this. I don't personally like, I forgot like how long in that time period it's been. But Mickey hasn't been on the big screen in a minute because Mickey was kind of like, in that middle period of the 20th century, Mickey was sort of like became like a mascot. And my personal headcanon, my own personal hyper-affixiation with cartoons in general, Mickey Mouse, I think in my opinion, was the first highest paid and still is the first highest paid cartoon character in the world because Mickey Mouse was one of the first anime characters I think to even win an Oscar based on his own creation because Walt Disney and the Iworks, the creators, earned an Academy Award for their creation for Mickey Mouse specifically. And then Mickey Mouse earned an Academy Award for a short he did in the 1940s. And I think by the 1950s, I think he earned a million dollars. He was like the first cartoon character in his own personal contract to Disney was the first cartoon character to earn a million dollars. And that's pretty impressive. Mickey Mouse is a titan in Toontown. So, you know, because he was making big money, he obviously wasn't appearing that much in cartoons because he was like doing CEO things and like he was doing like more mascot like advertising the entire company because Mickey Mouse is the face of Disney in general. So his friends, Donald and Goofy, started to take up the mantle. And there was also a point in time where Donald Duck was actually more popular than Mickey. So yeah, Donald Duck was more popular than Mickey. And rightfully so because Donald Duck is more edgy than Mickey. Well, actually, any cartoon character was more edgy than Mickey because like Mickey Mouse is like the every is like the good man. He's Mr. Perfect. And I like when I see content and like, I like it when I see like, portrays of Mickey where he isn't that perfect, specifically in the game, Epic Mickey, where Mickey does make mistakes. He's not paying as Mr. Perfect. He has to like, understand that like his actions do have consequences when he meets Oswald. But that's another topic for another episode. The point is, Mickey was losing, Mickey was not that, Mickey was now losing relevance. So how can we make Mickey Mouse relevant? So Disney, Disney, the brilliant minds that they are, they tried to create a new series of sorts to revamp the mouse called Mouseworks like I said earlier. When they create these shorts, it had the same element as they did in the older cartoons. And obviously, they were pretty good. I remember like watching like a few of them as I was watching House of Mouse. And I don't remember like, let me look it up. There's gonna be like a whole lot of like looking up like certain things. I'm sorry. Let me look up Mouseworks cartoons. Okay, so I'm looking at Google right now. And it says that it was a series of sorts. It lasted about two seasons. And it went from November 27 to December 18 in 1999. Again, these were like, they were trying to like, they were trying to like, recapture the magic of the golden age of cartoons. And they did. And they kind of like brought back a new like style to them. They added more like personality to the characters. They're trying to like have more dynamics. And we get to see that too. But it just wasn't working. It just wasn't working. So they had to go back to the drawing board. And one idea that they came up with was like trying to host like a nightclub. And well, the main question that I think I watched on a video is what they're saying is this. Disney World is the only place where all of the Disney characters come in one place. And they entertain many people of all ages, especially kids, because we all love the Disney characters, specifically the Disney princesses, which is like a whole like, like, a whole like other obsession that people have. That's like another conversation for another time. They started to think this, right. And that's where the idea of like the House of Mouse came to be. Because when do you like when do we ever see that the entirety of the main like, of all the Disney characters all in one room at the same exact time hanging out and just like enjoying a meal or like just like just simply hanging out. That's where the House of Mouse comes in. So that's how the House of Mouse was kind of like created. So the whole premise of like, the episodes of like the House of Mouse is like Mickey and his friends are trying to like fix something going on in the club while shorts play in between the episodes. It was the main story before any of the like, it was like the story that it was the main story that was playing that added more like, that was more entertaining to the audience than the shorts. Because like, obviously, like the audience, if at the time that House of Mouse was airing, like, obviously, like, the audience has like already seen the short. So obviously, they're gonna like pay attention to like plot A and then like plot B is just simply the shorts. And it's what it's just simply plot A with whatever was going on that was going wrong in the club, watching these Disney characters interact, like they've known each other for years. And just simply like, chewing and like just having like beef or like, whatever was actually what made it so like popular. And it's kind of interesting how like the House of Mouse today in like 2024. It's kind of like slept on now. But like, at the time of like the early 2000s, like it appeared in like, I think, let me check again. Let me check again. Okay, it aired in 2001. So yeah, I was right, the early 2000s and ended on October 24, 2003. So obviously, like, not a lot of people will remember this, obviously, like, I'm 18. And I was born in 2006. And the House of Mouse hasn't appeared. As far as I can remember, it did not appear on Disney Channel or Disney Junior. It, it was complete, it was completely off the air, obviously. Obviously. So how do I know about this is because like, I kind of like watched, like episodes, I think they still have like full episodes on YouTube. When I first found this out when I was like 12, I think. And I watched the show. And I obviously like enjoyed it like very much. And I guess what made it more popular to viewers, again, it's just nice to see like all the cartoon characters, you know, all in one room. Which brings me to another thought. We haven't seen this since like, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which is like a, my ultimate favorite movie of all time. I might do like an episode on it. That's like a, that's like a future episode for a future time. Because there's just so much to talk about with Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Anyway, there's just something more. It's just something very nostalgic, seeing all of your favorite characters talking together, and just simply like hanging out. That's what made it more very like interesting. But anyway, the show also had like some holiday specials under its belt. Obviously, I talked about Disney's House of Villains, Mickey's House of Villains, which was like a Halloween special, which was actually on Netflix for some time. And it's my favorite like episode from, it's not like an episode, that's like, that's like, that was like what I remembered from like watching the House of Mouse was like that Halloween special in particular. Then it was Mickey's Magical Christmas, Snowden at the House of Mouse, which is something I've also watched. It was also on Netflix. And it was also like very enjoyable too. The House of, like the Halloween special mainly like, was about like the villains. It was mainly the villains taking over the House of Mouse, and showing like old Halloween like cartoons that appeared in the past, both new from the Mouseworks and also from the classic shorts. My favorite short was actually two of my favorite shorts was actually, it was like this one cartoon with Donald Duck and his nephews at a very abandoned house, right? They lived there. So his nephews kind of like tricked Donald into like thinking that like, there's like a, like a, like a, like a gorilla, I think, loose in their house, and like all hilarity issues. And I think this episode, I think this cartoon kind of like, kind of like irked me. It didn't like scare me as a child, but it kind of like, huh, made me kind of like confused a little bit. It was kind of like, it did get, it kind of did get you kind of like, get your heart racing a little bit. And then like another cartoon that they showed was, was when Mickey had like a technology, like, like a technology house. And that was pretty interesting. And then like another cartoon where like Mickey, Donald and Goofy were ghost hunters. And I tried to like find like the original original cartoon. I think I did. But I don't think I found it yet. And then in the Christmas special, my favorite song was like, the best Christmas of all. And it's something that I like listen to sometimes during holiday season. But, but my favorite, like Mickey themed Christmas special was like, Mickey's, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. And yeah, that was it. And the song at the end was, it was like, it was like a mixture, mixture of like carols, like Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. And that was like a such a very like nostalgic feeling. Like I watched like the video, like a few days ago, because I was just feeling nostalgic. It was just like, it was like the best feeling ever. Oh, another thing I forgot is what made like the house of mouse is like very popular, is that the fact that they have like very, they have like many returning characters, like characters that are almost like completely forgotten, or characters that are kind of like slept on. One that comes to mind is the three Caballeros. Why they're important? Well, well, first of all, Donald is in the group. And the group consists of Panchito, Jose, and Donald Duck. Panchito is a Mexican rooster. Jose is a parrot, I think from Brazil, I think. And they had like a whole movie. Like, it was like a whole movie that they did. And this is just like favorite, like song. That's their whole theme song. That's very catchy. Like we're three Caballeros. And they actually like had an episode in the house of mouse. And then they had like other returning characters, where their actual like voice actors return, like Hades and James Woods, like actually like, came back as Hades, because like James Woods, like voicing Hades so much. And it's things like that, which made like the house of mouse again, it's very special. But that's like another thing. Also, the three Caballeros also like had like a whole 2018 like show. Like, that was like aired on like Disney Channel, I think, and Disney Plus, which I definitely watched, by the way. And I didn't finish it. But like, so far, like, as much as I can remember, like the show, the three Caballeros show was pretty good. And I completely like recommend. But another final like segment is the Disney Plus era, which is like a nice segment. In 2019, when I heard of Disney Plus coming to like, when Disney was kind of like releasing their first ever streaming service, my 13 year old self was very excited. Like, like, we're getting like great, like see like so many like, movies and like TV shows on the Disney all under like one streaming service, and almost an affordable price. To an extent, I remember like being very excited. And what I was really like, excited to watch at the time, like, what made me like, I was kind of like hesitant to like get the streaming service. But like, I mostly remember like, trying to like, watch like High School Musical, the musical, the series, because that's what's been mainly like popping out mainly like popping on my like, social medias at the time. And I've like seen like, the trailers and all that. But that's like another like, something I'd like briefly talked about. But that's the reason why I got like the streaming service was like to watch High School Musical, the musical, the series, and I was immediately hooked. And yeah, but when people like heard of this streaming service coming up, they're very excited. Like see like, if like every single like product of Disney was coming to that service, and you would think House of Mouse was coming to that, it was coming to the streaming service. But unfortunately, it didn't. And a lot of people were hoping that, and they just didn't really like, I don't know. But I looked it up. I looked up like, by the day, not like put it on like Disney Plus, and let me like, look it up again. Hold on. Okay, let's like watch. Okay, okay, it pulled up a video. So like, let's like watch the video. a lot of childhoods. But wait, why isn't it on Disney Plus? Well, here's the deal. The main reason could be syndication rights. Yep, you heard that right. Sometimes shows are tied up in contracts to air on other networks, which means Disney can't just pop them on to Disney Plus, at least not yet. Next, there could be technical issues. I mean, it's an older show, and they might need to update it to fit today's streaming quality. That takes time too. Oh, and one more thing. Disney might just be saving House of Mouse for a big surprise release. Yeah, sometimes companies hold back certain content to get everyone excited later on. So while it's not on Disney Plus right now, don't lose hope. Who knows? Maybe it'll pop up sooner than we think. Okay, look. It is like, that was like, I think it was like, oh my god. I don't know how old this video is, but like, it's like 2024. Disney Plus has been like out for like five years. So like, honestly, people need to like watch this show again, because like, we need like some nostalgia. And at the time of this recording, we need something to like distract ourselves. And I think seeing like good nostalgia, like TV shows, like the House of Mouse will be something that can like heal our inner child. So I just watch it again. And also it can like introduce like new generations to Mickey Mouse and like, make them appreciate older cartoons. Just like it helped me appreciate old cartoon characters too. But anyway, that's kind of all I have for today. So thank you for listening to Pisces Prince. And I actually like, I didn't really have that much like, I didn't have that much like written down for like House of Mouse. But apparently like I do have a lot to say about this topic. And it got me pretty chatty. So I, I pretty, I just enjoyed it so much. But yeah, you can, you can find the podcast on Spotify, and Apple podcast, iHeartRadio, and Pandora, anywhere you stream podcasts, you can especially find it on YouTube, just search Pisces Prince with Nick Marshall, to just get the latest episodes for more easier access. And you can follow podcasts on Instagram at Pisces Prince podcast, you can follow me, nick.marshall02 for more updates on the show. And it was a nice talk to you guys. It was nice speaking out. It's nice to geek out sometimes, you know. But anyway, I'll see. Well, I'll talk to you guys pretty soon. And hope you guys have a beautiful rest of your day, week. And if you made it this far, I appreciate it so much. And we'll talk later. Okay, bye.