Toon Zone Talkback - "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse": ... That Would Have Me as a Member

[Classic Speedy]

This is the talkback thread for "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse": ... That Would Have Me as a Member (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=19950).
http://news.toonzone.net/images/2007-11/mmclubhouse/splash-mmclubhouse-lg.jpg

A week of preschool/educational DVD reviews kicks off with some Mickey.

[Kazuya Prower]

Great review. I'm just disappointed that this is what Mickey and friends are reduced to now. :sad:

[DrTooth]

The characters pause expectantly—just the way Mr. Rogers used to do—so the child can blurt out the answer at the TV screen; and—again, just like Mr. Rogers—they congratulate the child on having perceived the correct solution. Clearly the puzzles are not extraordinarily subtle, so Mickey's optimistic assessment that the child has answered correctly depends for its accuracy less upon the viewer's native intelligence than upon his or her reluctance to lip off with sarcastic backtalk.


That pretty much sums up 90% of children's programming since Blues Clues. Lame attempts to make a medium like TV "interactive" by having the characters pause for 5 minutes while the kid at home answers a simple question. This movement is not going to garner much results out of kids. I can see the next generation being pretty slow witted thanks to this.

The sad part? This was perhaps the only thing that utilized Mickey and the Gang since House of Mouse. And in fact, it's the only time I've really seen Siney merchandise (the Disney Store especially) utilize the Mouse, Goofy and Donald in merchandising. Before then, unless you wanted Pooh, Princesses, and the movie of the year, you'd be out of luck.

Plus, this show has Ludwig VonDrake, -perhaps the most underrated Disney character ever (second only to Gyro Gearloose) in a recurring role.

It's so sad that - and Children's TV at large- has to be reduced to a dumbed down, non-beneficial state like this.

[Mad Mod 49]

The characters have been mostly, though not completely, scrubbed of their personalities. In the case of Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto, of course, there was little personality to be scoured away.


At this point, I just gave up on trying to take the review seriously. Honestly, it's just your average elitist ramblings, even if the show being rambled on isn't even targetted toward their age group. Not to mention this review is way to late to actually be considered useful.

At my age, I do agree that watching MMC is a huge waste of time...and apparently so is reading a review about it.

[Leviathan]

As far as I'm concerned, MMC does a great job of at least introducing kids to Mickey and Pals and keeping their personalities semi-consistant.

I think it's hilarious that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has proven to be far more popular and porfitable for Disney than Loonatics was for Time Warner.

[FightingDreamer]

At this point, I just gave up on trying to take the review seriously. Honestly, it's just your average elitist ramblings, even if the show being rambled on isn't even targetted toward their age group. Not to mention this review is way to late to actually be considered useful

That's a mite harsh, don't you think? While Maxie Zeus has had some unpopular opinions around these parts recently (he thought that there were flaws in Ratatouille, for instance), I'd hardly call him elitist. I don't agree with his opinion that the mentioned characters didn't have much personality to start with, but to call such an opinion an "elitist rambling" is a bit much.

[Antiyonder]

Honestly, it's just your average elitist ramblings, even if the show being rambled on isn't even targetted toward their age group. Not to mention this review is way to late to actually be considered useful.

If you were talking about any other preschool show, then I'd agree, but characters such as Mickey, Donald and Goofy should were made to be for all age groups (not for a specific demograph). Thus, any program featuring them should be for the entire family.

[Leviathan]

Oh and


Mickey's gang is nearly the blandest set of famous characters ever created

*cough*KINGDOMHEARTS*cough*

[DarthGonzo]

Oh and



*cough*KINGDOMHEARTS*cough*

And how does that make these characters any less bland?

How these characters are in a role paying video game really has no bearing on their animated personalities and how they should be judged.

I'm inclined to agree that characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Pluto are incredibly bland. Especially compared to the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Droopy Dog, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker or Popeye. Goofy and Donald were definitely somewhat more interesting, IMHO.

[Dudley]

^No argument there.
I personally feel that the Mickey Mouse characters, are bland (with exceptions of Donald and Goofy). But I'm glad Disney's using Mickey in a preschool cartoon where the only trait that's important is being friendly, as opposed to him just being a corporate icon.

[DrTooth]

I think it's hilarious that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has proven to be far more popular and porfitable for Disney than Loonatics was for Time Warner.

Well... 2 reasons. Preschool shows are a million dollar market. You slap together a bad preschool show, and you're a made man. Parents have only to buy these DVD's and toys for their 2 year olds, and they can blow off their kids all together and go to their soccer Mommies martini time in the other room.

Secondly... well.. as bad as Mickey Mouse clubhouse is, Loonatics was a far worse idea. At the very least, Mickey and the group are sort of in tact (albiet in a baby friendly environment), while Loonatics turned Bugs, Daffy and the rest into bland formulaic action heroes, stripping most of their humor and charm in the process. All to fit into the idea that the Looney Tunes had to be "hipped up" since Back in Action was released during a holiday weekend, and people rather would see Will Ferrel act like the goon he always does because it was a Holiday movie.

[judyindisguise]

As far as I'm concerned, MMC does a great job of at least introducing kids to Mickey and Pals and keeping their personalities semi-consistant.

I think it's hilarious that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has proven to be far more popular and porfitable for Disney than Loonatics was for Time Warner.

I agree with you. I think MMC is excellent overall. Well-executed, bright, colorful, cheerful, occasionally funny, and great for young kids. And Mickey looks great. The CGI design for him in particular brings back all of his visual appeal, which was tragically lost for so many years due to appalling "modernizations" of his design, poor draftsmanship and poor animation. The Disney artists finally figured out how to render him appealingly, and I love that. And Mickey has no personality? Well, he's not cruel, mean, obnoxious and loud, traits which pass for "personality" in far too many characters these days...besides, Donald Duck is still one of the funniest cartoon characters ever.

And you are correct in its popularity. In fact, many weeks it beats even Nick's venerable (and slightly creepy) Dora the Explorer in the Nielsen ratings for 2-5 yr.-old viewers. Hot dog!!! :D

[tb4000]

I do like how they basically made Pete into some kind of psuedo-loan shark/thug, where they have to give him stuff to cross into certain areas. He's not as much as an antagonist here than an opportunist.

[Mad Mod 49]

And Mickey has no personality? Well, he's not cruel, mean, obnoxious and loud, traits which pass for "personality" in far too many characters these days

Agreed. Mickey may not be the funniest around, but that's not to say he doesn't have personality.



Loonatics was a far worse idea. At the very least, Mickey and the group are sort of in tact (albiet in a baby friendly environment), while Loonatics turned Bugs, Daffy and the rest into bland formulaic action heroes, stripping most of their humor and charm in the process.


Actually, similar to The Batman, the show actually picked up the pace in it's Season One finale and Season Two, IMO, was quite well-done.

[mojokingbee1]

I agree with you. I think MMC is excellent overall. Well-executed, bright, colorful, cheerful, occasionally funny, and great for young kids.

And you are correct in its popularity. In fact, many weeks it beats even Nick's venerable (and slightly creepy) Dora the Explorer in the Nielsen ratings for 2-5 yr.-old viewers. Hot dog!!! :D

I find it funny that you dissed "Dora the Explorer", and yet MMC is basically a "Dora" clone with Disney characters. Maybe I need to watch more episodes.

[TheVofSteel]

I don't like Dora or MMC...Wubbzy and Backyardigans are my personal favorites. Some of the best kid's shows on now.

[Duke]

The CGI design for him in particular brings back all of his visual appeal, which was tragically lost for so many years due to appalling "modernizations" of his design, poor draftsmanship and poor animation.
Personally, I prefer how Mickey looks in the 2D Three Musketeers film over this CG version here. Then again, Three Musketeers was just overall really fun.

[Master Toon]

Great review. I'm just disappointed that this is what Mickey and friends are reduced to now. :sad:

House of Mouse was the last great thing Mickey did IMO.

[Antiyonder]

House of Mouse was the last great thing Mickey did IMO.

The Three Musketeers was pretty good.

[Dub]

Mickey's gang is nearly the blandest set of famous characters ever created

**sigh** I wish more people knew about read Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. Not only is it the definitive version of how the character is SUPPOSED to always have been from the start, he's thoroughly unrecognizable from the bland uninspired bleah Mickey that unfortunately permeates 80% of his animated career and is the more well known version of him. =\

It's incredibly frustrating considering Mickey did have a VERY strong personality once and became as popular as he did for a reason.

[Silverstar]

The Three Musketeers was pretty good.

The only problem I had with The Three Musketeers was that Donald was out-of-character in it. Whose bright idea was it to change Don from an excitable hothead to a quivering coward?

[DrTooth]

Actually, similar to The Batman, the show actually picked up the pace in it's Season One finale and Season Two, IMO, was quite well-done.

A polished poop is still a poop, IMO. The Sylvester/Tweety episode was boarderline enjoyable, but I felt the show was a bad idea from the start. Plus, it was so generic, you could have plopped any characters into that situation, and you'd get the same result.

I will say, much as I don't want to see MMC here, the fact they have Ludwig and Pete is pretty intreguing... I mean, if somehow they introduced Scrooge and the Nephews in the show, I'd probably pick up a DVD or something.

Too bad Ludwig and pete don't show up in any of the Merchandising. I would buy the Merchandising. At least (unlike Loonatics) they didn't change the over all character designs.

[judyindisguise]

**sigh** I wish more people knew about read Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. Not only is it the definitive version of how the character is SUPPOSED to always have been from the start, he's thoroughly unrecognizable from the bland uninspired bleah Mickey that unfortunately permeates 80% of his animated career and is the more well known version of him. =\

It's incredibly frustrating considering Mickey did have a VERY strong personality once and became as popular as he did for a reason.

I sooooo agree with you. A few years back I picked up a hardback collection of the Mickey Mouse comic strips, entitled "Mickey in the Foreign Legion"...and it was a revelation!!! Beautiful art using my fave version of the Mouse - the retro-version - great writing, comedy and adventure all in one package. I remember one line from the book in particular, spoken by Pete when Mickey rescues him: "I can't stop hating ya...'cause then I might start to like ya. And I don't want to like ya...because I hate ya too much!" (Mickey just laughed it off). Yeah, it's really too bad that so few people know about the Gottfredson comics. BTW, there's a terrific new 2008 calendar out there using the comics. It has Mickey and Minnie on the cover, and there are choice scenes from the strip that represent the various months. One of them shows Mickey grumpily sweeping up a mess in his house and growling "Next party is at Donald's!" Another has Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar riding along in a jalopy. Clarabelle says to Horace: "You should have stopped and asked that man back there for directions". And Horace replies, "But he was wearing his UNDERWEAR outside of his PANTS!" LOLOLOL! That's my calendar for next year for sure! It's really swell. ;)

[Kazuya Prower]

House of Mouse was the last great thing Mickey did IMO.

Agreed. If Disney resurrected the House of Mouse series, I'd be one happy person.

[Leviathan]

**sigh** I wish more people knew about read Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. Not only is it the definitive version of how the character is SUPPOSED to always have been from the start, he's thoroughly unrecognizable from the bland uninspired bleah Mickey that unfortunately permeates 80% of his animated career and is the more well known version of him. =\

It's incredibly frustrating considering Mickey did have a VERY strong personality once and became as popular as he did for a reason.

I actually wanted to cite Floyd Gottfredson's comic as an example of a non-Bland Mickey, but I thought it would be too obscure a thing to reference to.

[Antiyonder]

I actually wanted to cite Floyd Gottfredson's comic as an example of a non-Bland Mickey, but I thought it would be too obscure a thing to reference to.

Toon Zone is all about obscurity though.:)

[Mad Mod 49]

I wish more people knew about read Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. Not only is it the definitive version of how the character is SUPPOSED to always have been from the start, he's thoroughly unrecognizable from the bland uninspired bleah Mickey that unfortunately permeates 80% of his animated career and is the more well known version of him. =\

It's incredibly frustrating considering Mickey did have a VERY strong personality once and became as popular as he did for a reason.


Amen! Walt's original Mickey had the personality at the start, the "everyman" type that got into insane situations. That is how he became popular, but sadly his popularity backfired on him, since the public loved Mickey so much that they limited what Disney could do with him. So the insane situations were left to Donald and Goofy, and Mickey became infamously dull. :sad:

[AdamYJ]

I generally always saw Mickey's personality as being "the little guy". You know, when someone says someone has to "stand up for the little guy", he's it. He's the guy who always keeps trying even when he screws up really bad and gets himself into deeper and deeper trouble. How much trouble has he gotten into just by trying to impress Minnie or pull one over on Mortimer. Or how about all those failed businesses he's tried to run with Donald and Goofy. He's part everymouse and part perpetual underdog.