The Mouse Factory

The Mouse Factory was a syndicated television series produced by Walt Disney Productions which ran from January 26, 1972 to March 5, 1973.

It was created by Ward Kimball and showed clips from various Disney cartoons and movies, hosted by celebrity guests (credited as being "Mickey's Friend"), including Johnny Brown, Charles Nelson Reilly, Jo Anne Worley, and many more, visiting the Disney studio (or "The Mouse Factory") and interacting with the walk-around Disney characters from the theme parks in live-action Laugh-In-style wrap-around skits.

Each episode would open with an intro segment where the host and a few costumed Disney characters were shown clocking in for work at the Magic Kingdom. The theme played over the previews of each episode was a wild instrumental version of "Whistle While You Work", with various Spike Jones-type sound effects thrown in.

The song played over the end credits was "Minnie's Yoo Hoo".

However, due to low ratings, the series was canceled after its second season. It was later re-run on The Disney Channel, starting on May 18, 1986.

List of episodes[]

43 episodes, each one with a different theme, were produced, each containing Disney cartoons, shown either in whole or in part, including:

Season One[]

1. Vacations (Hosted by Charles Nelson Reilly)
   1. Tea for Two Hundred
   2. Grin and Bear It
   3. Father's Day Off
   4. Grand Canyonscope
   5. Saludos Amigos (Lake Titicaca)
2. Women's Lib (Hosted by Jo Anne Worley)
   1. Clip of A Symposium on Popular Songs showing the "Rutabaga Rag" number
   2. Fantasia (The "Dance of the Hours" number with the ostriches and the hippos)
   3. Make Mine Music (Willie the Operatic Whale)
3. Folk Tale Favorites (Hosted by Johnny Brown)
   1. The Tortoise and the Hare
   2. Song of the South (The "Laughing Place" segment)
   3. Brave Little Tailor
   4. The Ugly Duckling
   5. Old King Cole
4. Spooks and Magic (Hosted by Phyllis Diller)
   1. Lonesome Ghosts
   2. The Sword in the Stone (The wizards' duel)
   3. Trick or Treat
5. Physical Fitness (Hosted by Don Knotts)
   1. Goofy Gymnastics
   2. Clip of Reason and Emotion about the female Reason and Emotion arguing about dieting
   3. No Smoking
   4. Donald's Off Day
   5. Wide Open Spaces
   6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (The Dwarfs washing up before supper)
6. The Great Outdoors (Hosted by Dom DeLuise)
   1. How to Fish
   2. Donald's Garden
   3. Foul Hunting
7. Water Sports (Hosted by Joe Flynn)
   1. How to Be a Sailor
   2. Boat Builders
   3. How to Swim
   4. Hawaiian Holiday
   5. Aquamania
8. Man at Work (Hosted by John Byner)
   1. Dragon Around
   2. Hold That Pose
   3. Inferior Decorator
   4. Clip of Moving Day showing Goofy trying to move the piano
   5. The Fire Chief
9. Music (Hosted by Skiles and Henderson)
   1. Dumbo (The Casey Junior segment)
   2. Cured Duck
   3. Three Little Wolves
   4. Melody Time (Bumble Boogie)
   5. Mickey's Follies
   6. Mickey's Amateurs
   7. Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom
10. Interplanetary Travel (Hosted by Jonathan Winters)
    1. Several clips from Man in Space and Mars and Beyond
11. Homeowners (Hosted by Jim Backus)
    1. Home Made Home
    2. How to Have an Accident in the Home (interspersed clips)
    3. Up a Tree
    4. Mickey's Trailer
    5. The New Neighbor
12. Spectator Sports (Hosted by Charles Nelson Reilly)
    1. They're Off
    2. Double Dribble
    3. Canvas Back Duck
    4. The Olympic Champ
    5. Football (Now and Then)
13. Horses (Hosted by Jo Anne Worley)
    1. How to Ride a Horse
    2. Fantasia (The "Pastoral Symphony" number involving the Unicorns and Peter Pegasus and his Pegasi Siblings)
    3. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (Both Cyril Proudbottom and The Headless Horseman, both separately)
    4. Mickey's Polo Team
14. Aviation (Hosted by Johnny Brown)
    1. Victory Through Air Power (The early history of aviation)
    2. The Flying Jalopy
    3. Goofy's Glider
    4. Test Pilot Donald
    5. Dumbo (The Crows singing "When I See an Elephant Fly" and then Dumbo actually flying)
15. Back to Nature (Hosted by Wally Cox)
    1. Melody Time (Johnny Appleseed, involving a square dance number)
    2. Make Mine Music (The Martins and the Coys, involving a square dance number)
    3. Pinocchio (The loud ticking clocks that keep Jiminy Cricket awake)
    4. Clock Cleaners
    5. Clip of Laurel & Hardy in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood
    6. Clip from Eyes in Outer Space about weather superstition
    7. Clip from Melody (Adventures in Music)
    8. Clip from Magic Highway, U.S.A.
    9. Alpine Climbers
16. Bullfighting to Bullfrogs (Hosted by Pat Buttram)
    1. Clip of Ferdinand the Bull
    2. Baggage Buster
    3. Two-Gun Mickey
17. Sports (Hosted by Pat Paulsen)
    1. How to Play Golf
    2. How to Play Baseball
    3. How to Play Football
    4. Hockey Homicide
    5. The Art of Skiing

Season Two[]

1. Alligators (Hosted by Johnny Brown)
   1. Don's Fountain of Youth
   2. Peter Pan (Tick-Tock the Crocodile trying to eat Captain Hook at Skull Rock)
   3. Fantasia (The "Dance of the Hours" number with Ben Ali Gator)
2. Paul Bunyan (Hosted by Jim Backus)
3. Bullfighting (Hosted by Bill Dana)
   1. For Whom the Bulls Toil
   2. El Terrible Toreador
   3. Ferdinand the Bull
4. Knighthood (Hosted by Henry Gibson)
   1. A Knight for a Day
   2. The Sword in the Stone (Merlin watching Sir Kay jousting and then Merlin turns himself and Wart into fish and encounter a predatory pike)
   3. Ye Olden Days
5. Pluto (Hosted by John Astin)
   1. The Mad Dog
   2. Bone Trouble
   3. Mickey's Parrot
6. Goliath II (Hosted by Kurt Russell)
7. The Mouse Show (Hosted by Dave Madden)
   1. The Flying Mouse
   2. Cinderella (The mice outwitting Lucifer)
   3. The Country Cousin
8. Cats (Hosted by Shari Lewis and Hush Puppy)
   1. Clip of The Great Cat Family involving the history behind cats
   2. Puss Café
   3. Pluto's Judgement Day
9. Ben Franklin (Hosted by Wally Cox)
   1. Ben and Me
10. Mickey Mouse (Hosted by Annette Funicello)
    1. The Barnyard Broadcast
    2. Symphony Hour
    3. Thru the Mirror
11. Lions (Hosted by Henry Gibson)
    1. Lambert the Sheepish Lion
    2. Lion Around
12. Consciences (Hosted by Harry Morgan)
    1. Donald's Better Self
    2. Pinocchio (The Blue Fairy dubbing Jiminy Cricket Pinocchio's conscience and Jiminy singing "Give a Little Whistle")
    3. Lend a Paw
13. Noah's Ark (Hosted by Bill Dana)
    1. Father Noah's Ark
    2. Noah's Ark
14. Hunting (Hosted by John Astin)
    1. The Fox Hunt
    2. No Hunting
    3. Moose Hunters
15. Sports (Hosted by Nipsey Russell)
    1. Toby Tortoise Returns
    2. Touchdown Mickey
    3. Tiger Trouble
16. Tugboats (Hosted by Dave Madden)
    1. Tugboat Mickey
    2. Steamboat Willie
    3. Melody Time (Little Toot)
17. Automobiles (Hosted by Ken Berry)
    1. Donald's Tire Trouble
    2. Mickey's Service Station
    3. Susie the Little Blue Coupe
18. Trains (Hosted by Harry Morgan)
    1. Mickey's Choo-Choo
    2. Pigs is Pigs
    3. The Brave Engineer
19. Homes (Hosted by Jim Backus)
    1. The Little House
    2. Building a Building
20. The Reluctant Dragon (Hosted by Wally Cox)
21. Wheels (Hosted by Johnny Brown)
    1. Donald and the Wheel
22. Winter Fun (Hosted by Kurt Russell)
    1. On Ice
    2. Bambi (Bambi and Thumper on the ice)
    3. Corn Chips
23. Penguins (Hosted by Annette Funicello)
    1. Peculiar Penguins
    2. Polar Trappers
    3. The Three Caballeros (The Cold-Blooded Penguin)
24. Elephants (Hosted by Nipsey Russell)
    1. The Big Wash
    2. Elmer Elephant
    3. Dumbo ("Pink Elephants on Parade")
25. Mickey and the Beanstalk (Hosted by Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop)
26. Dancing (Hosted by Ken Berry)
    1. Mickey's Birthday Party
    2. How to Dance
    3. Make Mine Music (All the Cats Join In)
    4. Woodland Café

Gallery[]

Ward Kimball, the show's creator

Promotional phonograph record

A scene of the "Physical Fitness" episode

A scene of the "Water Sports" episode

A scene of the "Man at Work" episode

A scene of the "Music" episode

The opening of the "Interplanetary Travel" episode

The opening of the "Spectator Sports" episode

The opening of the "Pluto" episode

A scene of the "Trains" episode

TV Guide Ad (The Great Outdoors episode, KNBC, 1972)

TV Guide Ad (Physical Fitness episode, KNBC, 1972)

The Mouse Factory Disney Channel Promo (1987)