Disney CEO Robert Iger took to CNBC today to announce a new series of 19 Mickey Mouse being – produced by Walt Disney Television Animation for the Disney Channel and internet distribution. The new shorts are being exec produced and directed Paul Rudish (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls). The first one, Croissant de Triomphe, is now online. Watch it here:
The next two, coming soon, are:
“Yodelberg”
Mickey longs to visit Minnie atop her mountaintop chalet but quickly realizes that the threat of avalanche has made the trek up the mountain more challenging than usual.“No Service”
Mickey and Donald try to buy lunch from a beachside snack shack but are unceremoniously turned down because of the classic “No shirt, no shoes, no service” admonition (of course, Mickey doesn’t wear a shirt and Donald doesn’t wear shoes!).
From the press release:
Produced in 2D animation, the design esthetic for the Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts reaches back almost 80 years and borrows reverentially from the bold style of his 1930s design, but not before adding a few contemporary touches. Designs for other characters have a similar approach, favoring a “rubber-hose” cartoon style for more exaggerated animation. Background designs closely reflect the graphic design sense of 1950s and 1960s Disney cartoons. And for those true eagle-eyed Disney fans, the production team has also included the occasional homage to other icons from the storied Disney heritage.
Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer, college professor and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoons for DVD and Blu-ray compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of bonus documentaries and audio commentaries on such. Beck is currently on the faculty of CalArts in Valencia, UCLA in Westwood and Woodbury University in Burbank – teaching animation history. More about Jerry Beck [
<3 <3 <3 <3
More please!!!!
From what I saw of that first cartoon, they certainly have something going here if they can keep this up. I wonder though if the shorter running time might hamper developing longer stories than what they could do for a situation in each?
I love the style! The tone of the humor is great too! Very inventive and fun! About 100 times more entertaining than the original Mickey shorts!
Not bad.
Loved it! They even have that 3D shot from the 20’s where the highway is coming up to you.
Walt’s turning in his grave!
If Walt would be spinning in his grave about this, then what would he be doing at the ‘tween’ filled Disney Channel that currently fills the airwaves? I personally call this a good comeback for Mickey that’s not just a show for the 4 year olds like ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’ is.
I agree. I expected more story content. Not only that, but the makers of this short do not seem very familiar with the French language, or the Parisian dialect. They’d have overcome this deficiency by faking French accents in English, or leaving much of it in pantomime. As it is, there is little dialogue from the main characters, anyway. While others are liking it for the visual aspect which is stunning, others besides myself are looking beyond the surface gloss in their criticism. It would be interesting to hear from the French perspective, especially since many are known to have a contempt for “Americans”.
While I appreciated the effort, and was glad to see the return of the adventurous and resourceful Mickey (as opposed to suburban homeowner Mickey), it felt more like excerpts from a video game (“Help Mickey get off the cathedral and over the water;” “Help Mickey get out of the traffic circle” “Can you spear the croissants?”) than a cartoon.
I’m sorry, but I was waiting to find something really entertaining and funny. There isn’t much story structure or the type of character content that the originals had. In all due respect, this appears to be a series of exercises done in Flash. I am all for bringing Mickey Mouse back. And the Disney company has the money to do better than this on many levels.
These were most likely made in ToonBoom, examining the tiny little details.
They certainly could’ve done better, at least break my expectations a little. Aside from being done in Flash, they could easily fooled me into thinking it was done in something else had they gone a bit further in that respect.
So what did you think of the film, Jerry?
Me?
I throughly enjoyed it. Sure, I was taken aback at first to the redesign – just as I had when I first saw Tom Oreb’s 1955 Mickey Mouse American Motors commercials. But like those, after a few seconds I warmed up to the modern look and got an immediate chuckle out of the characters speaking (squeaking?) French. I love the pie-cut eyes, the gorgeous backdrops, the timing – even the personalities of the characters are right on.
Lots of gags, none of them feel “rushed” – quite an achievement for a 3 minute film. It’s refreshing to see a modern cartoon that doesn’t feel like Ren & Stimpy, nor look like Adventure Time – and yet is based on 1928-vintage characters. Anything that keeps Mickey, Minnie and the crew in the public’s eye is good enough for me – new material featuring the classics allows the older films we cherish to live on. And new films like this do not take anything away from the classics of the past. Considering it comes a day after the studio announced it was getting out of hand-drawn cartoons – this is an excellent little surprise. I’m delighted!
Lovely cartoon! Nice to see that Disney studios hasn’t completely given up on 2d animation!
While the look is exciting, I’m sure you would agree that the animation could have been better than something looking like it was done in Flash.
I love this! This style works well for short cartoons. I hope to see more! Look how those secondary characters have been lifted from the early shorts and redesigned just enough to make them work in this flat style.
A good example of blending old versus new stylization in animation. It’s good to stick to your roots, but also experiment with new things. Glad to see that Disney has decided to use Mickey again, instead of simply having him entertain the preschool crowd or be simply a figurehead mascot.
What a shame I cannot see the cartoon. When I click on the link, it re-delegates to disney.com.au 🙁
“No Service”
Mickey and Donald try to buy lunch from a beachside snack shack but are unceremoniously turned down because of the classic “No shirt, no shoes, no service” admonition (of course, Mickey doesn’t wear a shirt and Donald doesn’t wear shoes!).
Damn, that must have been hard for the story artists to keep on the straight & narrow…Donald doesn’t wear….SHOES!? (Duck junk jokes comin riiight up.)
Can someone give me an other link ? I’m redirected to disney.ch with no possibilities to watch the cartoon.
Thanks
I had the same problem. Try this one:
http://www.slashfilm.com/watch-disneys-new-mickey-mouse-short-film-croissant-de-triomphe/
Could not agree more with your thoughts, Jerry. Just managed to view this up on YouTube (before it was blocked automatically by the country function) and can’t wait to see the rest wherever else they’ll be available. The brief cameo by Cinderella was a hoot – although this short being set in France, one would have been expected Quasimodo 😉
TBH, in spite of the theatrical CGI shorts, this is the sort of thing Warner Bros have got to try and do again with their trademark characters – especially with the Looney Tunes. No sitcom formats, no live-action feature-lengths. Just short, sweet and fun as this.
Loved it. Cute, fast, and fun. Nice to see the old gang back. So glad they didn’t feel the need to make it “hip” for todays kids by having them at a Rave party or skateboarding or whatever thing happens to be in at the moment.
I watched the short and it looks great and happy to see the return of Mickey classically return to the screen. I hope the quality will be the same as it is in the first one. Are these being produced “in house” at Disney? or sub-contracted?
You guys need to loosen up! This was a refreshing and awesome take on Mickey. Bravo!
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my dad loves these cartoons