Mickey & Company

With the grand opening of Disneyland just a matter of days away, Walt Disney brings us an update on the construction of the new magic kingdom. Winston Hibler narrates scenes depicting the construction on the attarctions and settings in the park as work speeds up to meet the deadline before opening day.

Lady, a golden cocker spaniel, meets up with a mongrel dog who calls himself the Tramp. He is obviously from the wrong side of town, but happenings at Lady's home make her decide to travel with him for a while.

Leaving the safety of their nursery behind, Wendy, Michael and John follow Peter Pan to a magical world where childhood lasts forever. But while in Neverland, the kids must face Captain Hook and foil his attempts to get rid of Peter for good.

Live-action segments show members of the Disney staff touring South America and recording their impressions in sketches. These segue into four animated sections: "Lake Titicaca" depicts tourist Donald Duck's troubles with a stubborn llama; and in "Aquarela do Brasil," Jose Carioca shows Donald the sights and sound of Rio de Janeiro.

José Carioca, showing Donald Duck around South America and introducing him to the samba

A spider gets lost inside the sphinx.

An old plate tells the tale of the Emperor of China, whose palace was disrupted by some children.

A narrator sings the opening stanzas of the classic poem while we see the house at rest. Santa lands on the roof, comes down the chimney, and opens his bag. The toys march out and decorate the tree, with the toy soldiers shooting balls from their cannon, a toy airplane stringing a garland like skywriting, and the toy firemen applying snow. A blimp delivers the star to the top. Meanwhile, Santa fills the stockings. His laughter awakens the children, who sneak out. The toys rush to their places, and Santa escapes up the chimney just in time.

Mickey is preparing to conduct an opera when he chases Pluto away. Pluto crashes into a magician's props backstage and spars with the hat, its rabbits, and its doves. The opera begins: Clarabelle plays flute, Clara and Donald are the leads in Romeo and Juliet. Pluto follows the magic hat onstage, to Mickey's growing annoyance. The hat falls into a tuba, and soon the animals are filling the stage.

This generous collection includes 46 of the 48 shorts that starred Goofy between 1939 and 1961 (but none of the great Mickey-Donald-Goofy films from the mid-'30s). The "How to Ride a Horse" sequence in The Reluctant Dragon (1941) set the pattern for many of these cartoons. An elegant narrator (artist John Ployardt) explains a sport that Goofy attempts to demonstrate. The character that animator Art Babbitt described in a 1935 lecture (quoted in the DVD bonus material) as an easygoing dimbulb gave way to an enthusiastic but spectacularly maladroit figure. One of the funniest entries in the series, "Hockey Homicide," contains several studio in-jokes: dueling stars Icebox Bertino and Fearless Ferguson, and referee Clean-Game Kinney are named for artists Al Bertino, Norm Ferguson, and director Jack Kinney.

Two animated fables from the Disney studios. In 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' Ichabod Crane is besotted by the lovely Katrina but has to contend with Brom Bones, the town bully. Their rivalry leads Crane to the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman. In 'The Prince and the Pauper' Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Pluto star in Disney's re-working of the Mark Twain classic.

Lady, a golden cocker spaniel, meets up with a mongrel dog who calls himself the Tramp. He is obviously from the wrong side of town, but happenings at Lady's home make her decide to travel with him for a while.

Leaving the safety of their nursery behind, Wendy, Michael and John follow Peter Pan to a magical world where childhood lasts forever. But while in Neverland, the kids must face Captain Hook and foil his attempts to get rid of Peter for good.

Disney's animated adaptation of Prokofiev's masterpiece, in which every character is represented musically by a different instrument. Young Peter decides to go hunting for the wolf that's been prowling around the village. Along the way, he is joined by his friends the bird, the duck and the cat. All the fun comes to end, however, when the wolf makes an appearance. Will Peter and his friends live to tell of their adventures?

Donald Duck is at the beach and tries to ride a rubber horse. He notices Pluto sleeping at the shore and decides to have some fun with him by sending the rubber horse over to Pluto which completely mesmerizes him. Meanwhile, a tribe of ants abduct Donald's picnic lunch. Donald lays out fly paper to stop the ants. Pluto follows one of the ants and, of course, he and later Donald become enmeshed in the fly paper

From a brand new car in a showroom that draws every eye, to a discard in a second-hand lot and ultimately Skid Row, Susie's story has the highest of highs, and plummets to the lowest of lows... an automotive riches to rags story.

Mickey and Pluto go hunting for quail. Pluto scares away the first ones they see; Mickey scolds him, then relents. He shows Pluto how to be a pointer, and they set off after another quail, but Mickey accidentally jumps on a bear's nose, and thinks it's Pluto. Meanwhile, Pluto finds the quail and points. The babies climb on board and start picking at his hairs, but Pluto's been told not to move. Mickey finally comes across Pluto, who by now is covered by small animals, and realizes he's being followed by a bear. Mickey tries to reason with the bear, and backs off a cliff, onto Pluto.

Donald Duck and Jose Carioca, both literally blue, stumble across the Cafe do Samba, whose proprietor is determined to cheer them up with samba music. After they get their color back, they land in a giant brandy snifter, where a live-action woman is playing the tune on an organ. She also drums and dances a bit. The only dialogue is the lyrics of the song, sung by women.

This generous collection includes 46 of the 48 shorts that starred Goofy between 1939 and 1961 (but none of the great Mickey-Donald-Goofy films from the mid-'30s). The "How to Ride a Horse" sequence in The Reluctant Dragon (1941) set the pattern for many of these cartoons. An elegant narrator (artist John Ployardt) explains a sport that Goofy attempts to demonstrate. The character that animator Art Babbitt described in a 1935 lecture (quoted in the DVD bonus material) as an easygoing dimbulb gave way to an enthusiastic but spectacularly maladroit figure. One of the funniest entries in the series, "Hockey Homicide," contains several studio in-jokes: dueling stars Icebox Bertino and Fearless Ferguson, and referee Clean-Game Kinney are named for artists Al Bertino, Norm Ferguson, and director Jack Kinney.

Meet the doers and dreamers who made America great -- including John Henry, the railroad builder who proved the value of believing in oneself. Journey with giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan as he clears the land for American settlers. Follow the trail of the beloved American Icon Johnny Appleseed, who planted apple trees which blossomed along the new frontier. Then, take an unforgettable ride with Casey Jones, The Brave Engineer who never failed to deliver the mail...no matter how difficult the route!

Two animated fables from the Disney studios. In 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' Ichabod Crane is besotted by the lovely Katrina but has to contend with Brom Bones, the town bully. Their rivalry leads Crane to the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman. In 'The Prince and the Pauper' Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Pluto star in Disney's re-working of the Mark Twain classic.

Live-action segments show members of the Disney staff touring South America and recording their impressions in sketches. These segue into four animated sections: "Lake Titicaca" depicts tourist Donald Duck's troubles with a stubborn llama; and in "Aquarela do Brasil," Jose Carioca shows Donald the sights and sound of Rio de Janeiro.

A marching band of Germans, Italians, and Japanese march through the streets of swastika-motif Nutziland, serenading "Der Fuehrer's Face." Donald Duck, not living in the region by choice, struggles to make do with disgusting Nazi food rations and then with his day of toil at a Nazi artillery factory. After a nervous breakdown, Donald awakens to find that his experience was in fact a nightmare.

After several long days at work, Goofy finally takes a much needed vacation. However, his trip never quite gets off the ground mainly because he spends most of it stuck behind a slow moving trailer. When he gets a flat tire, the mechanic inspects every part of his car except the tire. The only motel he can find is a little shack too close to a railroad track. On the road once more, he gets stuck behind said trailer again only to pass it and discover no one is driving it.

Goofy (again playing George Geef) is a nicotine addict to the extreme. He smokes while doing income tax, before going to bed, after waking up in the morning, and at work. Finally, he decides to quit. He soon learns it's not as easy as that and everywhere he looks, he is tempted to start again until he finally cracks. He runs everywhere yelling, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!" but with no luck. Finally, he asks a man for a cigar and the man gladly gives him one...an exploding cigar which finally has Goofy vowing, "I quit!".

Figaro the cat wants to eat Cleo the goldfish in this Pinocchio short.

The Martins and the Coys are two feuding clans. One day, Grandpa Coy gets caught in the Martin henhouse, and a massive battle erupts, leaving only a Martin girl and a Coy boy. Love conquers all for a while, anyhow.

A basic explanation of the purpose and process of menstruation, told largely with diagrams.

Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.

Mickey is running a banana plantation. Pluto is frightened by Mickey's boomerang and gets tangled up with it. Meanwhile, Mickey has found an Emu egg whose owner isn't at all happy that Mickey wants to take it.

Ranger Woodlore is interpreting Grand Canyon for the tourists; Donald is of course making more trouble than everyone else put together.

A bootle beetle elder tells the story of Morris, the moose about the size of a rabbit. Thunderclap the moose is taking on all challengers, and Morris decides to try, much to the amusement of Thunderclap. As a result, he meets Balsam, a full-size moose with tiny antlers (Morris' antlers are full size). The two team up, and with the help of a log that makes them very tall, defeat Thunderclap.

Pluto spots Dinah the dachshund and is smitten, but she ignores him. He uses a giant bone to steal a kiss, and hides behind a mirror, but still no luck. Then Dinah is nabbed by the dogcatcher, and Pluto goes in to free her. Their thrilling escape finally gets Pluto another kiss.

Morning, and Figaro the kitten wants to play. Pluto, on the other hand, has been out all night and wants to sleep. Finally, the sandman who has been putting Pluto to sleep calls in Figaro's sandman.

Pluto and the cat, goaded by a TV commercial for turkey, raid the fridge and find a turkey inside. The cat gets there first and re-heats the turkey, first on the furnace duct, and then, trying to hide from Pluto, inside the tube-type TV - but he over-does it a bit.

Mickey sends Pluto to the butcher store. Butch sees this and contrives to take Pluto's sausage, ultimately using some of his fleas to distract Pluto long enough. Pluto manages to retrieve the prize and get it safely home, only to discover it's a birthday present for Butch

Chip 'n' Dale have filled a hollow tree with nuts. Pluto sticks a bone into the tree, but this triggers an avalanche of nuts - right into Pluto's doghouse. He's not at all happy about them coming after the nuts. Chip 'n Dale hide in a pair of garden gloves and eventually get Pluto to haul his nut-filled doghouse to their tree.

A clip-show music video for the album of the same name and vintage. Includes 5 songs from the album ("Mousetrap", "Disco Mickey Mouse", "Watch Out For Goofy", "Macho Duck", "Welcome To Rio").

This generous collection includes 46 of the 48 shorts that starred Goofy between 1939 and 1961 (but none of the great Mickey-Donald-Goofy films from the mid-'30s). The "How to Ride a Horse" sequence in The Reluctant Dragon (1941) set the pattern for many of these cartoons. An elegant narrator (artist John Ployardt) explains a sport that Goofy attempts to demonstrate. The character that animator Art Babbitt described in a 1935 lecture (quoted in the DVD bonus material) as an easygoing dimbulb gave way to an enthusiastic but spectacularly maladroit figure. One of the funniest entries in the series, "Hockey Homicide," contains several studio in-jokes: dueling stars Icebox Bertino and Fearless Ferguson, and referee Clean-Game Kinney are named for artists Al Bertino, Norm Ferguson, and director Jack Kinney.

Chip and Dale come across Donald's house trailer. They amuse themselves by jumping on his car horn, which wakes up Donald, who chases them off. Donald heads for the swimming hole, but Chip and Dale mess with the diving board and send him crashing into his trailer. Next, they bomb Donald with pine-cones through the hole in his roof. Donald goes after them, but ends up wrecking his car.

For some reason, Donald adopts a baby. It turns out not to be a duck, but a kangaroo. Donald takes little Joey home and tries to make him take a bath, with the help of the friendly lady of the adoption bureau on the telephone telling him what to do. After the bath, Donald's baby is scared by the rug made of a bear.

Donald's nephews come to lunch filthy from playing outside. Donald sends them to wash up; when he finds they've done a half-hearted job, he sends them to bed without supper. They scheme to get food; Donald catches them, but falls off a cliff while chasing them. He's OK, but temporarily out cold. The boys build a fake corpse and dress Donald up as an angel, and he buys it for a while.

Donald's doing a little tree surgery when he spots Chip 'n' Dale gathering nuts. He saws off the branch outside their hole and paints it with tar, which Dale gets stuck in. Then Donald has a little fun with the long-handled pruning shears.

Donald is inspired by the spirit of his forefathers to take up a gun and go hunting for his food.

Donald receives a mail order hypnosis kit complete with hypnotic goggles and decides to test it on Pluto. Using the goggles, he convinces Pluto he is a mouse, a turtle, and a chicken. Each "transformation" Pluto undergoes Donald finds extremely funny so he keeps at it until he notices chicken Pluto getting into a fight with a rooster. Donald helps Pluto win the fight by making him think he's a lion but, unfortunately, the goggles break and Donald is chased about by Pluto until he regains his senses after a fall.

The boys are more interested in their comic book than the sights on their Florida vacation. When the car breaks down next to the spring "mistaken for the fountain of youth", Donald decides to have some fun with his nephews and hides the part of the sign saying "mistaken for". As baby Donald, he starts shredding their comic book and generally acting like a spoiled brat. But when he decides to pretend he's turned into an egg (borrowed from an alligator), he's in for trouble he hadn't bargained for once the gator finds out.