For a number of years, the Mickey Mouse brand seemed like it was doomed to be aimed at nothing more than toddlers. With shows like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the recently premiered Mickey and the Roadster Racers it seemed like Mickey was doing nothing more than teaching shapes, numbers, and problem-solving. But back in 2013, the Disney Channel started releasing new Mickey Mouse shorts aimed at an older audience and it was then that Mickey seemed to get his groove back. With new animation styles and a slightly less “vanilla” Mickey, the new shorts feel more like something you’d see on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network rather than the Disney Channel. This August Disney is releasing a new holiday DVD collection featuring this newer take on Mickey, and while the DVD is promoted as a Christmas and Halloween collection, Halloween fans are going to get more out of this release than the Christmas crowd.
The new DVD titled Mickey Mouse: Merry & Scary will hit store shelves on August 29, 2017 and will feature two 22-minute holiday episodes as well as five bonus shorts. The Halloween episode, ‘The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!’ will feature Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as they attempt to trick out Mickey’s house like a “tomb sweet, tomb,” but keep falling flat on the scare factor. Can they up the scares before Halloween is over? I guess we’ll have to watch the DVD to find out!
The second full episode on the DVD covers the Christmas portion of the “Holiday” collection with ‘Duck The Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special,’ but the remaining five bonus shorts are really geared toward the Halloween audience. The five three-minute shorts, which have been previously released on the Disney Channel and on YouTube, are:
- Ghoul Friend
- The Boiler Room
- Black & White
- Entombed
- Split Decision
In ‘Ghoul Friend,’ Mickey Mouse finds himself in a common horror film scenario; his car has broken down. All alone, Mickey is then pursued by a hideous ghoul.
In ‘The Boiler Room’ we’re reminded why it’s never a good idea to go in the basement. When Minnie Mouse’s plumbing has issues, Mickey heads down to the boiler room in hopes of fixing the problem, but those plans are foiled by the monster that lives there.
In ‘Black & White’ we learn that Mickey Mouse is not a fan of horror movies. While on a date with Minnie to see Attack of the Hee Bee Gee Bees he is literally scared white and the attempts to save face in front of Minnie who is clearly a huge fan of the genre.
‘Entombed’ follows Mickey and Minnie Mouse while on a trip to Egypt in the Valley of Kings. When the two get separated while exploring a spooky tomb they encounter a labyrinth full of traps, mummies and all the other tropes of an Egyptian tomb.
Finally ‘Split Decision’ finds Mickey Mouse up against two very different Donald Ducks after a new invention from Professor Von Drake splits the famous fowl in half. This Jekyll and Hyde-like tale forces Mickey to wrangle the Donald’s together to return Donald to his original state.
While “Mickey Mouse: Merry & Scary” is being marketed as a “Holiday Collection” it’s pretty clear that the contents of the DVD are mostly a Halloween. “Mickey Mouse: Merry & Scary” will be available August 29 wherever Disney DVDs are sold.
