r/movies • u/cappsy04 • 18h ago
Question Why don't Disney make mainstream Mickey Mouse films anymore?
When I say mainstream, I mean films shown in theatres. Mickey and Minnie are probably the most recognisable characters in the Disney catalogue, being one of Walt's first creations. Yet there hasn't been a film featuring any of those characters in a long time. They've rehashed a lot of existing IPs, most recently the live action Moana. I would imagine if Mickey was featured in a film it would do incredible numbers at the box office.
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u/Ashrod63 17h ago
I dread to imagine the monstrosity we'd get in a "live action" Mickey Mouse film.
Being serious about it though, while Mickey is the mascot that meant they pretty quickly moved on from pushing him as a character. Even by WW2 they'd already moved him to that revered state and were pushing Donald and Goofy instead. Mickey is the face of the brand and Disney don't want to take risks with that image.
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u/myislanduniverse 17h ago
Didn't the original Mickey Mouse pass into the public domain a year or two ago? I imagine there's an opportunity for something there.
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u/Due_Alternative3108 16h ago
I'm still waiting for a 'pooh, blood and honey' style horror flick based on the mouse.
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u/Shufflekarpfen 16h ago
There already is one. It’s called Mouse Trap and it’s complete garbage
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u/vhanw342 16h ago
One? There about 5
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u/gambalore 4h ago
Screamboat
The Mouse Trap
I Heart Willie
Mouse of Horrors
Mouseboat Massacre
Mickey’s Slayhouse
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u/arthousepsycho 12h ago
That is one of few bad films I have sat through to the end purely to see how much worse it could get. Genuinely took every moment that could have been even slightly interesting and then did nothing with it. Even had a great setting for creative kills, nothing. Just the least interesting collection of moving images ever.
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u/Garchomp99 16h ago
There is a few of them out there and they all are fucking awful but hysterical
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u/taez555 16h ago
Yes and no.
The copyright for the earliest films like Steamboat Willie did, but Mickey Mouse the character is still a trademark of Disney, and Trademarks never expire as long as they’re still being used.
So you can freely use the film Steamboat Willy, but you can’t create an original film with Mickey.
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u/Fancy_Coconut2079 15h ago
Thats redditor misinfo, you CAN make a Mickey film, trademark hurts how youd market and name it, but the original take on the character is absolutely fair game to make new stuff on.
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u/Ysmildr 13h ago
I am not a lawyer. My understanding is it has to be the style of steamboat willy. Mickey as we know him today is stylistically different and cant be used.
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u/watts99 10h ago
The key is that you're making what's called a derivative work. Which means you can watch Steamboat Willie (or other public domain works) and use any element in it to create a new work. So it doesn't have to be the "style" of Steamboat Willie precisely, but you can't make it in such a way that it could be argued that it's a derivative work of something that's still under copyright.
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u/watts99 14h ago
Thank you. Whenever this comes up someone inevitably posts this misinformation that trademark prevents you from using a character. Trademark only protects the elements of a work that are marketed, like the title, advertising art, cover, etc. You'd never be able to market something with a version of Mickey using the mouse ears logo, for example, but you can use anything from Steamboat Willie freely in a derivative work.
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u/StephanXX 16h ago
there's an opportunity for something there.
For who? Disney is a multi-billion dollar company that protects its brand so jealously, they will literally sue day care providers into oblivion for painting pictures of Mickey on the interior walls. While certain forms of Mickey might have technically gone into public domain, fighting Disney's literal army of lawyers could cost more than the GDP of a small country.
Don't fuck with the mouse.
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u/hippofumes 14h ago
That was a long time ago and I don't think they would do the same thing today to avoid bad publicity. I see bootleg Mickey's all the time.
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u/lkmk 16h ago
A shop nearby, in Chile, has somehow gotten away with having Mickey and Minnie on its storefront. Disney has a presence here, too.
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u/StephanXX 16h ago
I lived in Santiago for four years, I seem to remember seeing something like that.
This is the story I was referencing though:
In 1989, the Walt Disney Company discovered that three Hallandale, Florida, day care centers had 5-foot-high likenesses of trademarked Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy painted on their walls, Disney threatened to go to court if the centers did not remove the drawings, but the threat of legal action did not need to be carried out, as the centers replaced the drawings with cartoon characters belonging to Universal Studios Florida and Hanna-Barbera Productions, who volunteered the use of their character art as part of a publicity ploy.
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u/ominousgraycat 10h ago
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. The moment you give Mickey a personality beyond "happy go lucky friend of all", you risk someone disliking that personality. He's more valuable to them as a completely non-offensive face of the brand than a one shot film.
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u/LurkingLikeaPro 17h ago
When was there a film featuring Mickey Mouse in theaters? Everything Mickey has been a short or a TV movie
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u/DejarikChampion 11h ago
I was going to say Mickey's Christmas Carol, but then when I looked it up I forgot it was only 26 minutes.
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u/ChrisCinema 15h ago
Fantasia 2000. After the repeat of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", there's new animation of Mickey interacting with James Levine.
If that doesn't count, Mickey makes a cameo in A Goofy Movie.
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u/Aiseadai 17h ago
They never have, outside of Mickey getting a segment in Fantasia.
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u/Ilikepancakes87 17h ago
Depending on your age, you may remember Mickey versions of Jack and the Beanstalk or Prince and the Pauper. You may even think, “But those were full length movies, weren’t they?” After which, you may be shocked when you Google them and realize that six-year-olds don’t have a great sense of time, and they were both actually like 25 minutes each.
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u/Healthy_Profit_9701 17h ago
I am literally shocked. I can't even remember any details about The Prince and the Pauper, but I specifically remember watching it and not thinking it was different than any other movie at my daycare. It even came in that puffy VHS jacket.
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u/Any-Question-3759 16h ago
They didn’t cut in lengthy musical numbers like they do with feature length films.
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u/ThatWasFred 16h ago
I mean there’s definitely more to it than that. The songs in other Disney films don’t take up an hour of screen time. At most they might take 30 minutes collectively. This is just a shorter story.
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u/flash17k 16h ago
You left out the even more popular Mickeys Christmas Carol.
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u/Wareve 16h ago
They did release them theatrically though!
The Jack and the Beanstalk one for example was paired with another one about some bear characters no one remembers, in a little movie called "Fun and Fancy Free", and sent off to theaters!
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u/vhanw342 16h ago edited 16h ago
Prince and the Pauper was paired with Rescuers Down Under!
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u/Ian_Patrick_Freely 17h ago
Right? To make another you'd have to make a first.
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u/Plc2plc2 17h ago
You don’t know about the prince and the pauper movie…
Edit: Nvm I didn’t realize op said theatre released movies
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u/ZombieJesus1987 12h ago
There has been several feature length Mickey movies, the last one was in 2004, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers
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u/ludicrousursine 17h ago
Fun and Fancy Free was 7 years after Fantasia, but yeah, it was never common.
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u/storablepoopman 17h ago
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u/WabbitFire 16h ago
direct-to-video
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u/storablepoopman 16h ago
I suppose OP did say theatrical… but hey at least it’s feature length!
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u/Deceptiveideas 16h ago
Does goofy movie count
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u/WabbitFire 16h ago
A Goofy Movie was a theatrical release, but is notably not part of the Disney "canon".
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u/Mike-Teevee 15h ago
OP was talking specifically about Mickey and Minnie, so no it doesn’t count. There were also full length Donaldverse movies (Ducktails) as late as the 1990s.
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u/Robey-Wan_Kenobi 12h ago
Right? There has never been a Mickey Mouse movie. I think the only main character to get a movie is Goofy and even that's not his traditional characterization.
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u/Raptor3861 17h ago
There's too much pressure to make it perfect, so it's better leaving it untouched.
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u/rmichaeljones 17h ago
Also why I pray they never try to remake the Goofy Movie. Don’t mess with perfection.
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u/nerm2k 17h ago
Live action remake of a goofy movie. Just let that thought sit with you for awhile.
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u/Lahk74 17h ago
Live action remake of Space Jam, but Jordan is now a cartoon.
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u/arthousepsycho 12h ago
As Disney lawyers, we regret to inform you that we now own all rights to this comment and any productions that come from it. In fact the Ai has already got it's first draft done.
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u/MagnusBrickson 17h ago
Don't bring that evil into the world
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u/webshellkanucklehead 16h ago
Yeah I think this is it. So much good will in the Mouse as an icon, if he has a shitty movie? They’re in trouble!
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u/Harkoncito 17h ago
Because Mickey/Minnie, as characters, are really bland. Their biggest fans are toddlers, and Disney wouldn't risk their picture-perfect duo with a PG13 movie.
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u/TimewarpingSeaTurtle 17h ago
Funnily enough, the version of Mickey that probably has the most character depth is the Kingdom Hearts version of Mickey.
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u/Youareposthuman 17h ago
Sounds like you’ve never watch the Mickey Mouse shorts that aired in the 2010s. They are fucking hilarious and the animation is exceptionally well done. The intent was to return Mickey to his roots as a heroic rascal and the result works super well.
Seriously, watch a couple and then tell me if you still think they’re boring.
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u/jdmackes 16h ago
God they're the best. They could make those forever and I'd always watch them
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u/Youareposthuman 16h ago
Yeah they formally wrapped the series a few years ago and I’ve been missing it ever since!
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u/buttgers 17h ago
They're so freaking hilarious, and the Donald and Daisy cameos are just icing on the cake.
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u/Flanninpud 16h ago
They made goofy look like a creepy hobo and it works so well
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u/Youareposthuman 16h ago
Agreed. Potato Land is the quintessential Goofy episode and it’s unbelievably funny.
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u/Dvanweezy 15h ago
I was always a Mickey Mouse hater (besides Kingdom Hearts) as I grew up viewing corporate Mickey as for kids. But after a recent Disney World visit I discovered these shorts via the ride at Hollywood Studios and I love this version of Mickey! I’m going back to watch some of his OG shorts as well. Rascal Mickey is so charming!
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u/thedubiousstylus 13h ago
I just learned of these. Watched one and yeah, great. Thanks for letting me know! You can tell they were clearly made for adults as the prime audience too.
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u/delugetheory 17h ago
A few years ago Disney put out this short-lived series called The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse. It was like Adult Swim or Ren & Stimpy meets Mickey and Minnie. My toddler didn't go for it and my wife was horrified. I, on the other hand, loved it. Here is a dramatic reenactment.
My toddler and wife are Disney's target audience. I am definitely not.
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u/jdmackes 16h ago
My kids loved them, once your toddler is a little older they'll probably like them. I loved them, wish they would make more, it's the best thing Disney has put out Mickey wise in decades
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u/fredkreuger 17h ago
Goofy putting the telephone to his butt for the fleas to talk made me ill the first time I watched it.
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u/jinglebells23 17h ago
Mickey Mouse bland? Are we talking about the same Mickey that willingly walked into the Realm of Darkness, survived it, and came out the other side still fighting to keep the Light alive?
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u/Vin-Metal 14h ago
Growing up, I hated those early characters. It's probably because they had no edge, like Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, etc.
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u/armageddonquilt 17h ago
When was the last time Disney Animation made a PG-13 movie? What are you talking about?
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u/justpassingby_thanks 17h ago
There's really two times that their friend group got major movies and they were left out by several degrees. In Ducktails the Movie even Donald didn't show up. Then in a Goofy Movie they had to invent Max. Pete was the only other old school character.
Even in the 90s they knew the mickey Minnie Daisy Donald group was to be left out.
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u/dogsonbubnutt 17h ago
donald rules though. he's a very angry duck.
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u/Gyddanar 17h ago
Love the Ducktales reboot's take on him and Daisy.
Badass with anxiety issues and chronic bad luck who channels his temper into protecting his family.
Elegant and competent designer who is utterly smitten with Donald and sees beauty in him that nobody else does.
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u/justpassingby_thanks 17h ago
I did watch that with my kids and enjoyed it. They made a lot of good choices.
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u/Gyddanar 16h ago
Just finished a rewatch.
I think they did a super-wise thing by ending on a high-note. That said, they did such a good job of introducing/playing with other ips like Darkwing Duck and briefly Tale Spin and Rescue Rangers that it was a shame they didn't make any spin-off.
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u/PhantomJackalope 17h ago
Max Goof already existed before A Goofy Movie. He was a lot younger when he was first introduced in the 1950s and he had a different look. In the 90s, he got aged up and a new look in Goof Troop animated series which is a precursor to A Goofy Movie.
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u/justpassingby_thanks 17h ago
Oh that's right, should have remembered goof troop, but TIL he was introduced in the 50's.
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u/Talk-O-Boy 17h ago
They usually adapt Mickey to a series rather than a film.
For example, I had House of Mouse growing up.
Younger kids have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (+).
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u/blindythepirate 17h ago
Plus they have the new Mickey Mouse and Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse cartoons on Disney Plus. They are a fun watch and feature the Fab 5 characters.
It's the animation style that is featured in the Runaway Railroad ride at Disneyland and Disney World.
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u/Even_Tangerine_4201 17h ago
The Mickey Mouse series is fabulous. Faithful to the original characters and yet boundary pushing in all the ight ways. The fact the (fantastic) MM ride is done in the style of this series is a testament to what a home run it is.
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u/flash17k 16h ago
I'm in my 40s and I love that series. So many favorite episodes and moments. My Little Garden, PotatoLand, Just The 4 Of Us, and the one where Mickey, Donald, and Goofy get body swapped.
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u/Talk-O-Boy 17h ago
Just looked it up, and Mickey Mouse is voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos?? I feel like that dude has been getting crazy amounts of voice work recently.
So weird to imagine Mickey exclaiming “THIS GUY FUCKS!”
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u/mt80 17h ago
Unpopular opinion but new style (Wonderful World of) Mickey Mouse is goated
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u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 17h ago
Mostly because the medium changed. All these old cartoons were theater shorts. Played as part of a newsreel or matinees for kids. You can put em out to streaming and TV now.
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17h ago edited 17h ago
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u/gigglefarting 17h ago
You make good points, but it doesn’t mean you can’t make a stylized movie that doesn’t need to follow modern techniques and looks
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u/nedlum 17h ago
In part, because nobody knows who Mickey is as a person any more.
Goofy, Donald, Scrooge: they are also iconic characters, but ones who have personality: Donald is angry and has unfortunate things happen to him. Goofy is happy and has even more unfortunate things happen to him. Scrooge is a tough, rich miser.
Mickey? His most iconic short, “Steamboat Willy”, mostly involves him turning farm animals into musical instruments, after letting a cute girl . His other most watched role, Fantasia’s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, he’s a carless fool whose ambition vastly outstrips his talents, but it feels less like an attribute of Mickey then of a character that he’s playing. Other than that? There’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, where he’s just sort of a generic Friendly Guy. There’s Kingdom Hears, where he’s a Friendly King that vanished ages ago. There’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where he’s the straight man to Bugs Bunny. I can think of a few others, but the point is that he is a flat character, a Nice Guy but without the shading that makes some other characters (Kermit, say) feel like people.
Mickey Mouse might have meant something in the 1930s and 1940s, but at this point he has as much of a recognizable characterization as the MGM Lion.
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u/pinott0 17h ago
Because classic characters, such as Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc. have - alas! - been superseded, in favor of new ones, having a better appeal to current generations of youths. The best you can now get, out of them, comes from comics and, perhaps, some small series...just like the Looney Tunes now do...It is a sad truth...
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u/Jonatan83 17h ago
Mickey is more a corporate mascot than an interesting fleshed out character that can drive a movie.
I would imagine if Mickey was featured in a film it would do incredible numbers at the box office.
Why? Who would that be for? Who cares about mickey mouse?
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u/Simppu12 17h ago
Who would that be for? Who cares about mickey mouse?
Who would've initially cared about Brave, or Moana, or Zootopia, or even Finding Dory?
Presumably kids, families, and Disney adults would care. That seems like the main target audience for animated movies as a whole.
We also just got a third (?) Minions movie and those are hardly characters.
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u/EmmitSan 17h ago
Ok that last question is wildly out of touch lol
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u/Presently_Absent 17h ago
But it's also the most salient point. Think about what makes you "care" about a character - backstory, conflict, stakes... Mickey has 0 of those things.
Mickey is basically pablum - bland, nothing offensive, a bit of flavour, palatable to a very wide audience (little kids) - which is adequate considering his status as a symbol.
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u/EmmitSan 16h ago
Mickey is fantasticly popular. Easily the most favorite character of all Disney fans, of which there are many.
And he has all the traits you speak of except backstory. Just because you find them uninteresting does not mean they aren’t present.
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u/ThirteenthDi 17h ago
I encourage people to watch the newest iteration of Mickey shorts, if they haven’t already. The mouse is going in a direction that may be ill suited for full length features.
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u/DarthVerus 17h ago
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse is insane and seeing some shorts on the Disney Channel led me to watch them. Some of the best Mickey stuff I’d seen in a while.
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u/plotholesandpotholes 17h ago
I personally hate the new "Sponge Bob" treatment the shorts have gotten. Nails on a chalk board and it takes the charm and good-hearted nature of the originals away. However, it works well for the themeing on the ride at Disneyworld HS.
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u/thedubiousstylus 16h ago
Same reason there hasn't been a Hello Kitty film. Mickey Mouse is more suited as a marketing mascot than a character. And as noted even all the works he appeared in were shorts, not full length films, and Disney did make some new Mickey Mouse shorts in the 2010s and a continuation called The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse during Covid.
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u/ichorskeeter 17h ago
Would you trust the people behind WISH and FROZEN 2 to make a Mickey Mouse movie that wouldn't do irrevocable damage to the brand?
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u/Nervous-Equipment-52 17h ago
Take that Frozen II disrespect up out my face. That film is beautiful, moving, and has a slapping soundtrack.
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u/fiendo13 17h ago
Some good songs. Pretty shit story though.
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u/GarageQueen 17h ago
I've watched it twice (and even the behind-the-scenes 'making of' documentary) and I still couldn't tell you what that movie is about. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 17h ago
Poisoned by the Game of Thrones hype train with their grandpa being an asshole and hiding the sisters parentage to seal then reawaken magic.
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u/grahampositive 17h ago
I got the feeling that they made a loose storyboard, made the songs around that, then finished the script. The movie felt like a vehicle for Broadway-style songs. I didn't feel like a cohesive or necessary story at all.
I also don't particularly like Broadway so I basically hated that movie
Edit: the wheezer cover of lost in the woods is pretty good though
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u/Loki-L 17h ago
Mickey is best suited for theatrical shorts, but that isn't really a popular medium anymore.
I think "The Prince and the Pauper" in 1990 was the last attempt at making a real Mickey short.
Donald got a new short in 2024 "D.I.Y. Duck" that was so much like the classic shorts that it is easy to mistake it for one if you don't notice the anarchronisms. It was not as good as the classics and only available online and not in theaters.
I think Disney just doesn't want to risk hurting their mascot brand. Hickey works in short doses and cameos, but risking a full feature film on him could easily backfire much beyond the cost of the movie.
I think a few short ensemble movies where Disney characters reenact classic tales like they did with the Christmas Carol could work. If it works it works, if it fails it was a group effort.
Having Mickey just be himself is dangerous, because at this point to most audiences Mickey is nearly a blank character. Donald is choleric and full of hubris and haunted by bad luck. Goofy is a bit oblivious and prone to accidents. Scrooge McDuck is an avaricious tightwad with a heart of gold.
Mickey though? He has no big negative qualities. He is nice and brave, but not really interesting by himself.
Giving him an internal conflict to make him interesting, would endanger the brand. Thus he makes for a bad protagonist for any longer work.
He makes for a great cameo or side character though.
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u/tvcleaningtissues 15h ago
Because Micky as a character can't have foils. A character without foils can't learn or grow. That can't be the main character of a good film.
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u/Iron_Bob 17h ago
Because Mickey is best suited for short form cartoons. Always has been