Anyone Got Any Plot Ideas for the Fab Five?

[slave2moonlight]

With new shorts like the Goofy one before National Treasure (which was excellent, by the way), I was wondering if anyone had any interesting story ideas for the main Disney gang (which often has been called the Fab Five, but I prefer Fab Six because that old title used to leave out Daisy!).

In truth, I'm more interested in hearing ideas for features though. Just finished watching "A Goofy Movie" for the first time in a while, and it's such a good little film that was such a surprise to me when it came out. And, though they were direct to video, Mickey's Three Musketeers, An Extremely Goofy Movie, and Mickey's Once and Twice Upon a Christmas were all very good too. So, whether for direct-to-video or the big screen, anyone got any good ideas for features for the main Disney gang? Or even shorts? Even solid ideas for other Disney characters would be interesting to read too, I think.

Of course, Disney can always continue adapting old stories like Three Musketeers, but I'd love to see some original stuff and even more stuff where they play themselves in modern, original stories, like A Goofy Movie or the two Christmas flicks I mentioned. I know there was that mystery movie where Basil searches for Mickey Mouse planned and canceled some time back, and that would have been cool to see if it was well executed (for some reason though, I never felt like it was going to be well executed, not sure why), but I'd like to get away from the House of Mouse setup a bit and back to stories like in the worlds of the Disney shorts or TV shows. Frankly, I think the long-running Disney comic books have tons of stories worth adapting into films, direct-to-video if need be, or TV shows of course (that's where DuckTales came from, after all). Though, I would like them to be less segregated when it comes to the ducks, who usually seemed to stay over in Duckburg and out of Mickey and Goofy's stories.

One graphic novel I always remembered loving as a kid involved Uncle Scrooge flying the whole main gang, including the kids (Huey, Louie, Dewey, and Morty and Ferdie, the latter definitely in need of some screen time!), to Disneyland for the day. Once there, the characters split up and had their own little adventures in the different lands with characters from those lands, but the lands were much more real than in reality. For example, I think Mickey went over to Frontierland and had a real wild west adventure with Davy Crockett, or some other western Disney character, and Daisy had an adventure with Alice in Wonderland. Not sure if I'm remembering this perfectly. I have the book, but it's in a trunk in my room that my stereo sits on. It was called Uncle Scrooge Goes to Disneyland, I believe. Anyway, some sort of loose adaptation would probably be really interesting to see. I also remember Mickey's encounter with Eega Beeva, the man of tomorrow. The comics are loaded with great stories, and I personally feel they should have kept the direct-to-video thing going for films like these about the main gang, much like Three Musketeers, if the quality is kept high like that one. I also think feature length adventures based on their hit TV shows would be good for direct-to-video too, if not the big screen. Perhaps a Gummi Bears movie where they finally find the Gummis they were looking for, or a feature-length Darkwing Duck adventure. Just some thoughts. With a Fraggle Rock movie currently in the works (though probably direct to video at this point), I don't see why they shouldn't consider reviving some of their excellent TV properties too.

[2099net]

Well, I don't have an idea as such, and I don't think a movie would be the best vehicle, but I'm constantly bemused as to why Disney decided to "kiddiefy" Mickey and co. for Mickey's Clubhouse.

Many of the Mouseworks/House of Mouse shorts were, in my eyes, better than many of the later Disney theatrical shorts. I especially loved how Mickey was allowed to be mischievous, angry and jealous. They really did make Mickey a lot more appealing than his "I'm just a straight man in my own cartoon" days.

And the action adventure with The Phantom Blot was superb. Here we actually had Mickey and co all-but risking life and limb.

I'd love to see a proper half-hour Mickey and Co adventure series, with rotating villains. One week Pete, one week the Phantom Blot, even bring back Magika De Spell, the Big Bad Wolf, the Beagle Boys etc. There's so much untapped potential in the Disney comic universe.

It's frustrating to me that just as Disney had successfully made its most well known characters relevant to today, they quit and make them toddler-fodder.

[slave2moonlight]

I've heard that complaint about Mickey Mouse Clubhouse before, but I'm a bit perplexed as to why people have a problem with a preschool show starring the Disney gang. Now, if that's all we see from the Mouse and his friends for the next several years, it'll bother me, but I think it's a bit early to worry about that. Look, Goofy just got a new short, so I'm not too worried. I don't see why they can't host a kiddie show too. I don't have kids, but I'd rather they be indoctrinated with the Disney characters than Dora the Explorer or all that other crap.

[slave2moonlight]

I do like your series idea though, by the way. Though I don't see why it couldn't work for direct-to-video features too, if not bigscreen ones. What makes me think bigscreen is how good "A Goofy Movie" was, and "DuckTales the Movie" was quite good as well. Though, I'm not sure how well those two did in theaters, but I remember seeing them both in theaters myself at least one time each.

[2099net]

I love a Goofy Movie (except for the Bigfoot bits) and didn't much care for the sequel. But A Goofy Movie didn't exactly set the box office on fire.

I just think making a movie would be wrong. We've got to the point where you can see them on your TV, or on those shorts compilation DVDs so much as so easily, I don't think that there is a big demand for a big screen Mickey Mouse adventure.

While I can see more demand for a DTV, I understand The Three Muskerteers didn't sell that well either. Perhaps people didn't realise it was new? Or thought it was like the House of Mouse DTVs and mostly made up of recycled content?

I love the Powerpuff Girls. I love the Powerpuff Girls Movie. I think it was way underrated by most people. But the fact is, because they are on TV that much, most people gave the movie a pass. The Simpsons seems to have done well on the big screen - but lets face it, it had a hell of a lot of hype to pursuade people to go and pay for something they get on TV for "free".

As for the pre-school Mickey's Clubhouse, I just feel this is wrong. Its not as if Disney was short of pre-school characters already. Mickey is the flagship of the Walt Disney brand, and as such I feel he should be somebody who appeals to all ages all the time. The Mouseworks shorts IMO did this - cute and slapstick for young kids, edgy and modern for older kids and with a degree of self-awareness for adults.

I do strongly feel Disney need to keep this going, or Mickey is in danger of becoming irrelevant to most people over the age of 6 or 7. Maybe we could do a Disney Debate at some point on "How popular is Mickey Mouse today?"

[slave2moonlight]

Ha, I love the Bigfoot stuff in A Goofy Movie. I just watched it the other night and also checked out the special features (was writing a long overdue Amazon.com review for it, a hobby of mine), and I thought it was funny how Bigfoot is referred to as a "mythical creature" in the trivia game. I'm sure a lot of people would take offense to that. The correct description would have been cryptozoological creature.

Anyways, while I didn't think it set the box office on fire, it got some good reviews from critics (if I remember correctly) and apparently did well enough for a sequel, if only a direct to video one. Yeah, it's a shame the Powerpuff Girls movie didn't do well, but the Nickelodeon movies based on their shows must have done okay, because they did more than one (Rugrats and stuff). Never was a fan of them myself. And Disney did come out with bigscreen movies of Recess and Teacher's Pet long after A Goofy Movie, and the Disney Afternoon shows were far better than those shows. And, though not animated, the Lizzie McGuire Movie was a big hit for them. Lots of kids TV shows end up getting bigscreen movies and sometimes do well enough to get sequels.

I agree that Disney should keep Mickey and the gang around to keep them popular, but I don't think the preschool show would hurt them or that they're in any danger of losing their older fans just yet. Still, I would have preferred they do a Disney Babies show with Baby Mickey and the gang, like Looney Tunes and Muppets have already done. I just think it would have been more interesting for Disney fans that way.

[Prudence]

I think the most recent full length, traditionally animated movie the fab five had was entertaining stuff (Mickey, Donald, and Goofy: The Three Musketeers.) It doesn't seem like fans have a reason to worry. At Disney World last week, I noticed how obvious it was that people of all ages like Mickey and his friends. Also, Toon Disney Channel regularly airs House of Mouse and Goof Troop reruns and, as already stated, classic shorts again air before newly released films. Disney isn't going to lose anything by branching out with a series aimed at toddlers and preschoolers. I agree with slave2moonlight; if I had children, I would rather them watch Mickey Mouse than Dora the Explorer. Heh, Mickey Mouse isn't nearly as politically correct!

[Kossage]

I really liked "A Goofy Movie", the Phantom Blot short from Mickey Mouse Works, and "The Three Musketeers".

Disney could try to adapt Floyd Gottfredson's "Mickey Outwits the Phantom Blot", which had the first appearance of the Phantom Blot. All they would need to do would be to give more screentime to Goofy and to add Donald into the mix somehow. That would make a rather fine feature film on its own, and it would make people more aware of the fantastic villain who is among Mickey's deadliest enemies. It might probably be a bit too reminiscent of the Mouseworks short, though, but still I think it'd be a great idea as long as Disney wouldn't censor the deadly traps and the thrilling chase scenes from the original version too much.

There are a bunch of comic stories that could be used as the basis of feature length films or TV series if Disney bothered to use them. Both Barks and Gottfredson's stories have a lot of memorable villains and supporting characters, some of which we have never seen in animated form. Then there are obviously the works of such great artists as Romano Scarpa, Massimo de Vita, Giorgio Cavazzano and Marco Rota among others which could be used as the basis.

Similarly, I'd be so happy if Disney could adapt Don Rosa's "A Little Something Special" into a feature length film. It'd center around Duckburg and wouldn't feature Mickey and Goofy, though, because it's about Scrooge's golden jubileum during which many of his enemies unite to bring him down once and for all. The story has great ideas, good use of established characters like Scrooge, Donald etc., thrilling action sequences, shocking revelations as well as a very beautiful ending as Scrooge finally reveals what he's always wished for a birthday present. However, to make it work, people would have to be aware of the existence of Don Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, because many of the plotlines from that comic reach their heights in "A Little Something Special".