Why is the Fab Five only for kids now?

[UmbrellaFish]

I watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when it first premiered and thought it was really cute. It's not a step back at all I think, but rather a step forward.

Also, if Mickey doesn't remain relevant he won't survive. He'll just be some relic of the past. Walt Disney sure as heck knew that. I mean, have you seen how many incarnations Mickey had when Walt was alive? And that's tracing all the way back to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

[blackcauldron85]

Also, if Mickey doesn't remain relevant he won't survive. He'll just be some relic of the past.

Very good point! I have nothing against "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"; as UmbrellaFish said, Mickey and pals have been in so many different types of shows and movies; it's good to have them be in diverse projects, because then different target audiences will get exposed to them. Yes, it's true that since The Three Musketeers came out and "House of Mouse" ended, Mickey & pals haven't been in much besides a preschool show, but just be patient!

[Poody]

Maybe this is unrelated, but don't "adults" (especially with kids) have already seen the films. I notice that most people don't like to watch movies over and over again. Maybe this has something to do with it...?

[blackcauldron85]

Maybe this is unrelated, but don't "adults" (especially with kids) have already seen the films. I notice that most people don't like to watch movies over and over again. Maybe this has something to do with it...?

Are you talking about parents whose kids make them watch the same movie all the time? Otherwise I'm not sure what you mean.

[Poody]

Are you talking about parents whose kids make them watch the same movie all the time? Otherwise I'm not sure what you mean.

Yes, but just adults in general. Since the topic asks why they are considered just for kids now. I'm saying perhaps everyone is sick of them.... I donno

Oh lord even I rarely have a desire to watch the Lion King or even Aladdin... again.

[xxhplinkxx]

Oh lord even I rarely have a desire to watch the Lion King or even Aladdin... again.

Uh... those are the Fab Four.

The Fab Five are Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto.

[2099net]

Oh lord even I rarely have a desire to watch the Lion King or even Aladdin... again.

Uh... those are the Fab Four.

The Fab Five are Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto.

Poor Daisy.

[Goliath]

Well, over here, in Europe, the 'Fab Five' as you call them, aren't exclusively for kids. They star in weekly and monthly comic magazines, which are read by millions of people. In Scandanavia, 1 out of 5 people read them, and in The Netherlands, survey shows one-third of those who read the weekly 'Donald Duck' comic are adults. While these magazines also contain comics aimed at the little ones (like Chip & Dale and Little Hiawatha), Mickey and, most of all, Donald, are the stars. Their comics try to target adults as well as children. I'll admit the results are often mixed, and there is a lot of bad writing among it, but at least they're not pandering to the pre-schoolers only.

[blackcauldron85]

The Fab Five are Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto.

Poor Daisy.

I was just at a shop outside of Epcot (I can't actually get into Epcot...), and I said the same thing, how Daisy usually gets the shaft.

[xxhplinkxx]

Well, Daisy was a main character in The House of Mouse, Quack Pack, and if I'm not mistaken she's also one in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, isn't she? So she gets her screentime. I like Daisy.

[SpringHeelJack]

Something about Daisy always made me feel afraid as a child. I think it's that her eyes tend to be half-lidded and thus slightly angry-looking. At least that's how she was on my bedsheets as a wee lad.

[xxhplinkxx]

She was on B's bedsheets?!?! Ok, now she REALLY can't complain.

[Poody]

Uh... those are the Fab Four.

The Fab Five are Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto.

Oh no wonder LOL I was wondering why Micky had been mentioned..... kthanxbye.

[Kram Nebuer]

(snip)

'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' is actually bringing Mickey back into the minds of families and creating new Disney fans. Did you ever think of that? I hate to say it, but most children would have no clue who Mickey was before that show. He was just a company icon, but now he’s breeding a whole new generation of Disney fans. It’s no secret that Disney is trying to get Mickey Mouse and his universe back into the spotlight. They’ve already announced that they have big plans for the mouse.

Disney wants to bring Mickey back, but they can’t because they did nothing with him for too long. That’s their fault, and they’re to blame. For the past decade Mickey and his universe should have been a top priority for marketing, but he wasn’t. More children know who Ariel is than Mickey Mouse! The show ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’, is bringing these characters back. Children of today now know who Ludwig Von Drake is, they know all Mickey’s catch phrases and how hot tempered Donald can get. Now that Disney has unlocked a new generation of Disney fans, they can bring Mickey back for the whole family to enjoy.

Every time period, and every generation goes through it’s trends and fads. I was born in 1989. Around that time Disney had entered the VHS market. My parents were big on the new technology, and they started buying me the Disney classics on VHS. If it wasn’t for that I would not be typing here now. I grew up with ‘Darkwing Duck’ and ‘TaleSpin’. The children of today have ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’ and ‘Little Einstein’s’. My teen shows were ‘All That’ and ‘Lizzie McGuire’. Today it’s 'Hannah Montana' and the 'Jonas Brothers'. For some of you it was Annette, or ‘Dumbo’s Circus’ or ‘Mousercise’. What is the friggen difference? Every generation has different things. We, however, seem to get fixated on our nostalgia of what we grew up with. We consider what we grew up with “classic” and “true Disney”. The children of today will look at ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’ the same way I look at ‘Ducktales’. But none of this changes anything. Everything has always been, and always will be, a way to market characters, sell merchandise, and create new brands. That’s the truth.

(snip)

Very good insights and observations, Disney Villain! I was thinking the same things when starting to read this thread. As another baby from the late 1980s and child/tween of the 1990s, I also grew up with Disney through the Disney Afternoon block and the Black Diamond Classic VHS of all the Disney classic movies.

Though I'm curious as to how you (and anyone else who cares to share) learned about Mickey and the gang. You say that kids today have Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to learn about Mickey on a regular basis, but as kids we didn't have anything like that unless you had cable and watched the old school Disney Channel. I remember we knew about Mickey because (1) he was still on merchandise everywhere and (2) they had compilations of old Disney shorts on VHS. We own a bunch of Silly Symphonies on VHS tape and rented a few Mickey and friends shorts from the video rental part of our supermarket. I remember being totally stoked to rent Mickey and the Beanstalk. Finally in the late 90s, I got a true taste of Mickey through the "Spirit of Mickey" VHS for one of his anniversaries.

Why am I saying all this? Though as kids we didn't have a regular Mickey Mouse television show (well until MMW and HoM), we still knew who he was and how he was because he was still everywhere. We've had storybooks, coloring books, little golden books, toys (I had a Mickey Mouse and friends Circus play set!), and even games. Anyone remember his various SNES video games (Mickey Mania, Magical Quest)? How about his Gameboy games? I don't know about you, but I feel like that's never changed. The short compilations have been gone through various series and names on DVD (Classic Cartoons, Funny Factory, Walt Disney collection, Walt Disney Treasures). He still has storybooks, toys, soap, breakfast cereal, etc.

"Okay, we get it, Kram Nebuer, Mickey's still everywhere, but what's your point?"

What's the main difference between our childhood of the 90s and today's children of the new Millennium? Disney Villain had said it: every generation had something different.

Before the 2000s, Disney was really at the top for family entertainment for a long time. The only sets of characters I knew as a kid were those from public broadcasting (Sesame Street, Barney, Shinning Time Station, etc.), Saturday morning television animation (Hannah-Barbara, Disney, Warner Brothers, superheroes), and the animated movies led by mostly Disney and Warner Brothers.

Just look at the market now. There's SOOO many different animated and non-animated characters and franchises aimed towards children. Also, cable television wasn't as widely accessed back then as it is now. To the 80s and 90s kids, do you remember seeing merchandise for Eureka's Castle or other Nickelodeon shows when you were a kid? The market for children is DOMINATED by tons of different entertainment company's characters that Disney is now joined by many others at the top.

So in response to the main argument of this topic, Disney created Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to get back in the game...get back to being a main presence. Just having their character on merchandise everywhere and rereleasing old cartoons is not enough these days. Disney needed to get with the times and keep up with their competition, thus the birth of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And unfortunately, since Mickey's current stardom (outside of the theme parks) is found mainly through his pre-school television show, Disney is going to put their star on products in the form the most profitable market will recognize him. As a result, the mentality of "Mickey Mouse is only for little kids" is developing in the minds of modern society. It's definitely a shame that people are quick to forget how old this character is and how long he's been in existence, but as everyone has said, at least his old things are still finding their way into the market.

The big picture the way I see it is that Disney is doing what the company's been doing since 1928: introducing the mouse to every generation of youth of the world.

[Escapay]

for Kram.

I really don't have anything else to add except that I agree with what he and Mike Villain said.

Every generation has "their" Disney. But not every generation's Disney can be the "best" Disney that there ever was. No matter how much they believe it to be. Disney changes over time. People unfortunately don't.

albert

[blackcauldron85]

Though I'm curious as to how you (and anyone else who cares to share) learned about Mickey and the gang.

I grew up seeing shorts (well, often set to music on DTV) on Disney Channel, and I grew up with "Mickey and the Beanstalk", and I had storybooks and toys.

To the 80s and 90s kids, do you remember seeing merchandise for Eureka's Castle

Yes. Pizza Hut sold some puppets (?) at one point.

[SpringHeelJack]

I think my boyfriend had a "Eureka's Castle" backpack with Batley saying "I meant to do that" on the back. It suits him well.

[Want2beBelle]

Honestly my son loves Mickey Mouse clubhouse and this is the generation we live in everything is so advanced they have to keep up (disney) yes he is only 14 months old, but i don't see anything wrong with it adults still get thier old school releases which i do collect an watch, but for the kids today i think with all the technology they don't reallly appreciate old skool, i for one as a 22 yr old do apreciate it, i do show it to my son but he prefers the " new mickey" but hey thats my two cent

[Big Disney Fan]

but for the kids today i think with all the technology they don't reallly appreciate old skool, i for one as a 22 yr old do apreciate it, i do show it to my son but he prefers the " new mickey" but hey thats my two cent

I'm 24 years old, and I appreciate old school. And it's not just for cartoons, either (any cartoons, not just Disney). For example, I still have an old NES, with all the old Mario games and such. And I'm always prowling YouTube for really old TV spots (commercials, station IDs, etc.).

[Kyle]

I kinda only skimmed this thread, but I just have to ask, Disney Villain, how a new tv series aimed at perserving Mickey's classic appeal, rather than being dumbed down"educational" baby versions makes more sense.

I agree that they probably do want to bring Mickey back into the spotlight, and they cant expect to drop a theatical movie on us right away, but how is this clubhouse Mickey better at doing that than something like House of Mouse would? I'm not saying it has to have the same gimmick of having the entire Disney universe or anything, just an outlet for them to give us new entertaining shorts starting the gang. Its not as if kids don't like that stuff when done correctly. and you get the older crowd as well.

Also, I hate focus groups. their overused and over rilied on. too much money is spent on them. they would actually save money trying something at risk of failing and starting back up again than putting the money into focus testing. they need to just do what feels right, pick responsible people with solid track record's to direct and stop being afraid of not being a massive hit. often times people/kids dont know what they want until they have it. and if their risk pays off, they can hit big by being really fresh.

you gotta take risks, start with something conservative in the budget and see what sticks.

Im not saying outside opinions arent useful, but they can and are very harmful when they put everything relies on it. you guys have no idea how many quality cartoons pilots get made, full completed polished pilots that the studios turn down because some kids didnt laugh at or get every gag/joke.

And besides, a character like Mickey should never be considered a risk. not when we're talking about a tv series.