Fewer than a thousand people worldwide have viewed this??!! Mike is a pioneer of cinema - he should be monumentally famous for his effort and tenacity let alone his extraordinary originality and wit. Green is Great.
KZSU Stanford radio played the last part of the music on the radio today. What a pleasant surprise. “Baroque Hoedown“. It was extra nice to find this video. I remember this was a sensation when it was on TV.
While a teen, in the 80s, i met him at my dad's alternative film theatre in Omaha. He left the highest impression on me and has influenced the character of my work and life tremendously.
Until I saw this version, I had always believed that THE COLLECTOR and MOUSE MANIA were two different films. Seeing the (for me) new footage linking them together was a treat. Thank you.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the puzzle shot! Jittlov's genius is chucking in shots like that and never hanging on them. There's always a next to get to, regardless of how much work went into whatever is on screen.
I saw the mouse car driving down the hill and immediately went "oh, that's where it's from!" Specifically about his flashback in WoSaT. Also, my gramma had that Mickey lamp-phone, and now it's currently sitting on my dining room table because I don't have anywhere to put it.
Thank you for posting this! This short was one of the most magical things I had ever seen in my life in '78 (as a five year old tyke). Almost forty years later and I still think it's amazing!
This - or rather, the "Mouse Mania" portion of the short - was also seen as a bonus feature on the Walt Disney Treasures DVD set "Mickey Mouse in Living Color - Volume 2". I could be wrong, but Leonard Maltin said in his introduction for the short that the special of which the short came from only had one airing. Clips of it were also seen as bumpers on the "D-TV" show on Disney Channel.
These shorts are incredible but at 2:40 when Mike goes to the company psychiatrist the special effects go off the rail and enter a whole new level. Everything is hand done LIVE ACTION stop motion with light effects predating Peter Gabriel’s Sledge Hammer by close to a decade. It boggles the mind how long this 1 minute section of video took to make with no computers. Just a guy sitting and cutting frame after frame with a manual film editor.
ALurkingGrue Ah! Thank you so much! I was sure MJ had secreted an encrytped massage. I'd have spent all the Christamas holidays trying substitution codes.
At the time, the ONLY name allowed on a Disney film was Walt's. Mike put in Christopher Barczak Cameraman (written on the rolling drum) and A.D. (assistant director) Deven Chereghino in such a way that Disney couldn't take it out without mangling the music.
