Mickey Mouse is one of the most famous characters in animation and Disney’s most iconic character. Throughout the decades, the character’s been kept alive in animation through numerous means, from the toddler show Mickey Mouse Funhouse to the likes of Kingdom Hearts for more older audiences.
Sadly, one of those works is now officially over. Disney confirmed on Friday that its long-running Mickey Mouse shorts—which include the original 2013 titular series and its 2020 sequel, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse—are officially over. The newly released episode, “Steamboat Silly,” serves as a finale to the whole enterprise, and brings things semi-full circle for the icon. The 9-minute short sees present day Mickey interact and have adventures with his 1928 incarnation that originally debuted in Steamboat Willie.
Since 2013, Disney’s produced over 120 Mickey Mouse shorts, which featured Mickey and other members of his entourage like Donald, Minnie, and Goofy in slapstick adventures. Both series were nominated or won various animation awards during their respective runs, and received praise for managing to maintain the spirit of the classic Mickey cartoons. Throughout the years, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen clips of the show on social media without realizing it. (And there’s a good chance it was either Mickey wooing Minnie in Korean or asking her what happened.) There was even a period of time where the show had a theme park ride built for Disney’s theme parks in Hollywood, CA and Orlando, FL.
The sudden end of Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse was preceded by the end of Looney Tunes Cartoons over on Max. The show’s sixth and final season released this same week, and was similarly praised during its run for updating the Looney Toons in a new modern style that befitted them. (Something Warner Bros. has famously had trouble doing over the decades.) With both shows now over, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will eventually take their place for two of animation’s most important titans.
All of Mickey Mouse and The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse can be watched over on Disney+.
[via ComicBook]
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