Epic Mickey was a Disney fans dream. Not only was it Mickey Mouses first starring role in far too long, it was like an interactive museum of classic Disney animation. So dense was designer Warren Spectors homage to classic mouse house material, we catalogued 50 Disney references in Epic Mickey.
Alice Comedies
Epic Mickey taught us that Disney magic started not with a mouse but with a rabbit. However, Walt had another muse even before that. Her name was Alice, and she was real live little girl actor Disney inserted into animated shorts. Alice and her feline friend Julius (a Felix the Cat look-alike) went on over 50 short film adventures. Called the Alice Comedies, these films were a precursor to so many things Disney: female protagonists, mixing live action with animation, and adapting Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland.
Make Mine Music
This collection of musical shorts is somewhat overlooked compared to its award-winning, highbrow older brother Fantasia. Composed of ten segments, it was produced at time when Disney was busy making training and propaganda films for the government, and found it easier to put together short film collections than whole feature films. This was a hard film to get your hands on for a long time, it only came to DVD as recently as 2000.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Before the booming direct to DVD business, Disney liked to produce shorter features and play them back to back for theatrical release. One of the most beloved joint ventures of that period was a literary/folklore adaptation, cartoons of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Wind in the Willows. Possibly to avoid an even lengthier combined title, Disney released it under the name The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
Frontierland
Frontierland is one of the five original themed lands featured in Disneyland. Originally it was conceived of by Walt himself as place where guests could ride horses, travel by wagon or pack mule, basically experience a fun version of the old west. Nowadays, its more like the rest of the park, with a focus on games and rides, especially the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster.
Goofy how to shorts
The How to videos were Disney at their most satirical. The 1940s were the golden era of bad instructional videos, and Disney took them to task with a slew of parodies starring an unlikely role model, Goofy. Sometimes referred to in these shorts as George, he engaged in any kind of activity that could be mined for physical comedy gold. While Goofy generally gave a demonstration of what not to do, one had to admire his clumsy determination.
Ducktales NES
Capcoms Ducktales for NES is one of the most fondly remembered platformers of its era. Not just for being related to the fantastic Ducktales cartoons and comics, but for being an all around excellent game. Players controlled Scrooge McDuck on a globe trotting quest to add five ancient treasures to his already obscene collection of riches. Scrooge defeated enemies in his traditional manner, with sharp crack from his cane, and could also bounce on it like a pogo stick. The game had a structure similar to a Mega Man game, where levels could played in any order and revisited.
Victory through Airpower (wartime shorts)
Yes, Disney was an integral part of the US governments propaganda machine during WWII, and yes, a lot of what they produced is horribly racist and embarrassing when viewed in the modern light. Still, Disney was called upon by Uncle Sam to do their part, and theres no shame in that. Victory through Airpower and the other wartime shorts are relics of a bygone era, and reflect a defining moment in American history. They deserve some sort of tribute in a series that honors mouse house history.
Vincent
Not everyone knows it but renowned visualist and professional Johnny Depp enthusiast Tim Burton got his start as a Disney animator. As he rose through the ranks and developed his personal style, the mouse house struggled to find projects suited to his twisted touch. The results were several unreleased or under-seen experimental shorts from the B man, one of which was Vincent, a creepy, funny stop motion short Disney still owns the rights to. After Burton became a household name, Disney got to work with their old alumnus developing the Nightmare Before Christmas and Frankenweenie. Vincent, however, still sits on Disney shelves and YouTube.
The Brave Little Toaster
The Brave Little Toaster is an underdog tale on-screen and off. The story of five outdated appliances searching for their master, it struggled to find a home and studio executives who would believe in it. Its hard to blame the suits, not everyone thought its deep themes and occasionally dark sequences would resonate with (or not frighten) children. Some dont even consider it a true Disney film, since the mouse house only distributed it. However, the film, which never got a theatrical run, was unveiled to the viewing public on the Disney Channel, and eventually got a VHS release in the traditional white clamshell box.
The Black Cauldron
The Black Cauldron was a tumultuous production for Disney, mainly due to internal conflicts over the films content. A Lord of the Rings-style dark fantasy tale, its release was delayed so scenes involving zombies and man being melted by acid mist could be toned down. Then after all that arguing and editing, the film failed to turn much of a profit (outgrossed by The Care Bears Movie, ouch). However, nothing says cult classic like unusually dark content and a box office miss. The Black Cauldron also became a Sierra point and click adventure that bore much resemblance to Kings Quest.
Runaway Brain
Oh Runaway Brain, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways. It was Mickeys first starring role in far too long, and possibly the darkest, funniest thing hed been in for decades. It was your standard brain swap comedy/Frankenstein parody, but the shorts high quality animation, breakneck pacing, and winning characterization of a modern Mickey and Minnie garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short. Yet even with all that pedigree, its still something of an underseen cult classic. Internationally, it played before A Goofy Movie, and stateside before nineties live action Disney dreck like A Kid in King Arthurs Court and George of the Jungle. Luckily, its now available on DVD and YouTube. It also features Mickey Mouse playing a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs video game!
elecTRONica
elecTRONica was a nighttime lights, lasers and music show put on by Disney California Adventure to celebrate Tron: Legacys success at the box office, and blast that Daft Punk soundtrack that was the movies chief redeeming quality. There were neon lights, loud music, dancers decked out in day-glo, and best of all, a recreated Flynns Arcade full of old school arcade games. It was a smashing success, and got extended beyond its originally scheduled dates. Sorry Tron fans, its all packed up now.
