The Fabulous Story of Mickey | Animated Movies » Compilations

Published on November 18, 2022

The Fabulous Story of Mickey is a compilation animated film first released in Denmark on June 20, 1970, then released in various European or South American countries, notably in France on August 19, 1970.

The film is actually derived from the episode of the anthology show Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Disney, The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show ; both sharing the same English title. Broadcast on American television on December 22, 1968, directed by Ward Kimball for the animated part and Robert Stevenson for the live action part, the episode thus tells how the studios disney want to celebrate 40 years of Mickey Mouse’s career by throwing a party in his name. Dean Jones, the fetish actor of the studios disney who has already been seen in The Spy with Velvet Legs, Quatre Bassets pour un Danois or Le Fantôme de Barbe Noire, is the presenter of the show and is in charge of the retrospective which ends with a tribute to the cult show 1950s, the Mickey Mouse Club, where some of the most famous Mouseketeers (Annette Funicello, Darlene Gillespie, Cubby O’Brien, Bobby Burgess, Don Grady, Sharon Baird, Tommy Cole, Lonnie Burr, Jay-Jay Solari, Bonnie Fields, Dennis Day and Karen Pendleton) reunite nearly 10 years after the program ended. A sequence entitled “Friends of Mickey” is also offered with some great artists from the studios. disney, from Les Clark to Dick Huemer via Art Stevens. It is nevertheless difficult to know exactly what this last sequence looked like. The episode does not seem to have been rebroadcast in its first version, even on Disney Channelwhere the channel has, a priori, rather shown a reworked version of the cinema montage of 1970 rather than the television one of 1968.

The assembly of The Fabulous Story of Mickey is therefore very far from the television version of 1968. All the sequences in real shots have in fact been deleted, to the point that no allusion to the Mickey Mouse Club is not done. Only the animated parts are kept while short films are added to reach a duration of 90 minutes. The narration is also completely redone, being entrusted this time to Pete Renoudet, who has already made, at the time of the making of the film, a few appearances as extras in the films. disney like Lieutenant Robinson Crusoe or Un Amour de Ladybug.
The feature therefore begins with an original animation, produced especially for the 1968 broadcast, where on a white screen a Mickey in color, in his last appearance, and a Mickey in black and white in the style of his debut, dance side by side. The narrator then recounts the beginnings of Mickey going back to those of Walt Disney in Hollywood when he worked in his uncle’s garage and created the Alice Comedies series; an excerpt from the first cartoon in the series, Alice’s Wonderland, being shown for the occasion. After being dispossessed of his next creation, Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney imagined the character of Mickey Mouse. His first presentation to the public will then be with the short film L’Avion Fou which is partly broadcast here, interspersed with an extract from the anthology program The Story of the Animated Drawing where the composer Oliver Wallace plays the organ to simulate how short films were played in the silent era. Naturally, the music here is not the original one.

Thanks to the appearance of sound, illustrated here with the Fantasia soundtrack broadcast in black and white, Mickey is able to have a first sound adventure: Willie, the Steamboat. The success of this episode is such that it quickly becomes popular, making Walt Disney a major Hollywood producer. The character creator becomes just as famous and meets many stars like Laurel and Hardy or Shirley Temple. In 1932, Mickey Mouse received his very first Oscar: to illustrate this award, a few passages from the short film Mickey’s Gala Premier are offered. The film also takes the opportunity to broadcast short extracts from other black and white cartoons of the hero such as The Haunted House, La Chasse à l’Élan, Mickey Marque un Essai, Mickey in Arabia, sailor in spite of himself, Mickey Sniper as well as Mickey Patine strangely also offered in black and white although it was originally released in color. The Fabulous Story of Mickey then continues by broadcasting the cartoons Les Joyeux Mécaniciens and Mickey Pompier in full, the first being in black and white and the second in color.

As Mickey’s success grew, a new studio was built to accommodate more animators. The character shines even beyond the cinema as evidenced by the success of comic strips. His success means that he also changes his appearance in the cartoon Chien d’Arrêt where he co-stars with Pluto and excerpts of which are shown here, surprisingly once again, in black and white. But in addition to Pluto, other characters will share the spotlight with Mickey: Donald Duck and Goofy. The cult short film Les Revenants Solitaires broadcast in full is there to perfectly illustrate this legendary trio. But the greatest role of the mouse is undoubtedly its interpretation in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the famous sequence of the movie Fantasia. After the broadcast of an extract from this cult role, the sequence ends naturally with the scene where Mickey comes to greet the conductor Leopold Stokowski.

An interesting and unpublished passage then occurs for a minute. The narrator talks about Mickey’s impact in comics but also in merchandising. He then launches a dynamic montage made from different objects bearing the effigy of Mickey in a sort of frame-by-frame animation. Directed by Ward Kimball, the style is very close to his two cartoons It’s Not Funny Being a Bird that he made in 1969 and which won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film as well as Dad , Can I Borrow the Car? released in 1970. To accompany this sequence musically, the director chose to re-orchestrate Mickey’s iconic song, Minnie’s Yoo Hoo, composed in 1929 for the cartoon Les Folies de Mickey. This version of the song is later included, shortly after the airing of the American show The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show in 1968, as a bonus from the 45 rpm album, Mickey Mouse and his Friends. It finally serves as the end credits of the show The Mouse Factoryalso produced and produced by Ward Kimball, four years later in 1972. It was released on a musical album for the occasion with other songs.

Over time, Mickey’s appearance changes, which tends to change his personality as well. To illustrate this point, two short films are broadcast in their entirety: The 90s and Mickey and the Seal. The narrator then talks about the effect in animation called the plausible impossible. He immediately passes the floor to Walt Disney himself, which makes it possible to rebroadcast long passages from the episode of the anthology show Le Plausible Impossible interspersed with more or less long extracts from the cartoons Donald and Pluto, Chasseurs de Whales, Through the Looking Glass, Donald Goes Camping and Mickey’s Trailer. The narrator then discusses Mickey’s musical career. Several quick excerpts are then offered, taken from the black and white short films Rustic ConcertThe Opera, Mickey’s LocomotiveMickey at the Theater, The Musician FarmerThe Madness of Mickey, just mickey, The Jazz Madman, The Happy PartyThe Whoopee Party, Rhythm in Blue, Trader Mickey and The Birthday Snack. The film then broadcasts a longer excerpt from Vacances à Hawaii and then the entirety of L’Heure Symphonique. The feature film finally ends with an excerpt from Mickey’s Birthday and images of the Character in Mickey’s costume at Disneyland in California.

The international distribution of The Fabulous Story of Mickey spans 18 months until its release in the UK on December 19, 1971. In Europe it is offered in, among other places, Germany, Italy or Finland while in the rest of the world it can be seen in Latin America, particularly in Brazil and Mexico, but also in Australia. The French release, meanwhile, is surprising because the short films are then offered in a subtitled version; something unimaginable today for an animated production disney. It will in fact be necessary to wait until 1973 for the cartoons to be dubbed with the resumption of the character of Mickey by Roger Carel. Finally, last detail, the feature film offers in the first part Rodéo Fantastique, a medium-length film in live action released on July 29, 1966 in the United States. Strangely, despite its confidential aspect, The Fabulous Story of Mickey manages all the same to gather more than 740,000 spectators, a low score at the time but which would delight many producers today.

The Fabulous Story of Mickey is a rather rich compilation mixing historical presentation, full length shorts and animation rarely seen outside of American television. The film was at the time a superb tribute and a beautiful retrospective for the 40-year career of the most famous mouse in cinema.