The Spirit of Mickey

Last updated
The Spirit of Mickey
Written byBonnie Peterson
Produced byHarry Arends
Phil Savenick
Darryl Harris
Starring Wayne Allwine
Tony Anselmo
Corey Burton
Jeannie Elias
Bill Farmer
Diane Michelle
Russi Taylor
Edited byDarryl Harris
Robert P. Schneider
Music by Andrew Belling
Distributed by Walt Disney Home Video
Release date
  • July 14, 1998 (1998-07-14)
Running time
83 mins
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Spirit of Mickey is an American animated direct-to-video anthology film, produced and released by Walt Disney Home Video on July 14, 1998. [1] It features clips from The Mickey Mouse Club , The Wonderful World of Disney, and A Goofy Movie , in the introductory scene, and some of the namesake character's shorts, including The Band Concert , Lend a Paw , Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip and Steamboat Willie . [2] [3]

Contents

Summary

The framing devices are centered on Mickey Mouse and his friends hosting an event at which they present some of Mickey's greatest cartoons to an audience of orphans, using archival footage from The Mickey Mouse Club , Disney's Wonderful World of Color, A Goofy Movie , and various Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck shorts. None of the shorts were shown with their original title cards, instead, the titles were shown on the corner of the screen, disappearing after a few seconds, with an exception for the final short, Steamboat Willie.

Overview

Cartoons

#TitleRelease dateDirector
1 The Band Concert February 23, 1935 Walt Disney/Wilfred Jackson
2 Thru the Mirror May 30, 1936 David Hand
3 Lend a Paw October 3, 1941 Clyde Geronimi
4 Orphan's Picnic February 15, 1936 Ben Sharpsteen
5 The Worm Turns January 2, 1937Ben Sharpsteen
6 Mickey's Surprise Party (redubbed)February 18, 1939 Hamilton Luske
7 Mickey and the Seal December 3, 1948 Charles August Nichols
8 Mickey's Trailer May 6, 1938Ben Sharpsteen
9 Canine Caddy May 30, 1941Clyde Geronimi
10 Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip November 1, 1940Clyde Geronimi
11 Steamboat Willie November 18, 1928Walt Disney/Ub Iwerks

Sources: [4]

Voice cast

Sources: [5]

Production

The compilation was produced in celebration of the 70th anniversary of Mickey Mouse. [6] Stan Deneroff, then Director of Programming and Product Development for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment selected older cartoons from the Disney archives which would then be presented together with new interstitial segments of rotoscoped Disney characters setting up and introducing each short. [6] While Mickey was not the primary focus in all the cartoons, with some of the included shorts including Mickey as part of an ensemble or a supporting capacity, Deneroff felt it was important to show Mickey in various positions throughout his run including in relation to his co-stars. [6]

Consumers could receive an instant $5 rebate after purchasing the video and two Sea & Ski suncare products, and a $5 mail-in rebate with the purchase of five Expressions from Hallmark cards. [7]

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References

  1. The Internet Animation Database
  2. 'The Spirit of Mickey': Disney's Missing Mickey Masterpiece - Inside the Magic
  3. Retro Junk
  4. LaserDisc Database
  5. Behind The Voice Actors
  6. 1 2 3 Scapperotti, Dan (August 1998). "The Spirit of Mickey". Cinefantastique . Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  7. "The Spirit of Mickey print ad". The Olathe Daily News. July 15, 1998.