‘The Wonderful World Of Mickey Mouse’ Comes To An End With ‘Steamboat Silly’
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse is coming to an end with one final short, Steamboat Silly.
Now streaming on Disney+, the new cartoon features the most famous mouse in the world returning to his roots.
Photo: Disney
The short starts out with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy, getting together to watch some of Mickey’s old home movies. While things start out harmless enough, Mickey soon finds himself overrun by hundreds of copies of his character from Steamboat Willie.
A Return to Mickey’s Roots
According to Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse executive producer Paul Rudish, a madcap Mickey Mouse was vital to this final short, as it is to the history of the character himself.
“Our goal was to bring him back to the new audiences,” Rudish said. He then explained that the short’s comic nature harkens back to the original Mickey Mouse cartoons of the 1920s and 30s through the use of surrealism, physical comedy, and pantomime acting.
Photo: Disney
“I wanted to return to that flavor of Mickey and that vibe, but not replicate them,” Rudish said. “We didn’t want to go, ‘Look, here’s a 1930s cartoon.’ We wanted to take the sensibilities of those things but then put that through the lens of a team of modern artists.”
Mickey Mousing
Not only did Rudish and his crew want to draw on the early look and feel of the Mickey Mouse cartoons, but also their sound. This included a technique from the 20s, in which the tempo of the short’s music and actions syncs up. The term is still known as “Mickey Mousing” in Hollywood.
Photo: Disney
“There’s a portion in the middle, a very action-packed set piece that takes up maybe the middle third of the cartoon, which in particular is at a very, very high tempo, which was used a lot in cartoons in the ’20s and ’30s,” said Christopher Willis, the shorts’ composer.
How Mickey Remained Popular
After more than 120 episodes, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse is coming to an end. As he looks back at the series’ run, Rudish thinks he knows what made the latest cartoons so popular.
“Our Mickey is a bit flawed,” Rudish said. “I think people responded to that. They root for the cheerful optimist, but it’s not always an easy road.”
Photo: Disney
The cartoons also featured “the ongoing message of if you’ve got big dreams and you really try hard, you can make them come true,” according to Rudish.
“Mickey has always been an icon of that idea,” he said. “It’s inspirational.”
Photo: Disney
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
