UNEARTHED! Why 'Runaway Brain' NEEDS to be Seen 

Have YOU seen Runaway Brain? What did you think of the short?

Steamboat Willie: Gets turned into a horror movie. Runaway Brain: I made Mickey Mouse scary before it was cool.

In an interview in a 1949 issue of Collier's magazine, Walt Disney stated, "Mickey's decline was due to his heroic nature. He grew into such a legend that we couldn't gag around with him. He acquired as many taboos as a Western hero-no smoking, no drinking, no violence."

Thank God I was introduced to Runaway Brain through Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. 😁 As a fan of Disney animation, I wish the Disney Company would let him have more of a personality. Let him show more emotions than happiness!

Fun Fact: During the development of Epic Mickey, the developers, Junction Joint, were going to have the moral choice when using Toner and Thinner effect Mickey's appearance more than just some paint flying off. One of these concepts was to take ideas from Monster Mickey. However the higher ups at Disney were completely against using ideas from the short, further emphasizing how much Disney attempts to bury the short.

Loved the first part about the lore and story behind Runaway Brain and Mickey himself. And yes, as with every trend that grabs the internet, I'm tired of Steamboat Mickey everywhere, I know that Horror is easy to make and cheap to produce, but come on, let's hope some actual creative good comes from the public domain in the future.

Your scouring of the internet for the short made me watch it, and honestly, I really liked it, it has what modern Disney presentations lack: An Edge, in a sense, it felt like an experimental piece of work, something that wanted to test the boundaries of a character whose identity has been set by nearly a century of content at the time. It's criminal that this short is so hard to find, and so underrated, because it deserves a place in history.

I watched Runaway Brain when I was a kid! I honestly thought it was a fever dream, but I'm glad to see someone mention it now! I honestly loved everything about the short, the animation felt very alive, and I honestly think it might be some of the best work in the last 30 years from that point of view. My best guess? Disney doesn't want people seeing Mickey in a bad light, even if it's because he had his brain switched with a giant monster Pete.

Always lovely to hear both the passion and critiques behind every project you bring to light Maddy :)

I remember seeing this short when I saw the movie “A Goofy Movie” in theaters. But anytime I tried referring to it at people they thought I was making it up. I’m glad someone made a video to prove it to people that it actually existed.

It is included with digital version of Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection.

Wish Disney did more weird shorts like Runaway Brain!!

I can’t remember actually watching the short but I do remember the way evil Mickey looked. I have a vivid image of it in my head and the clips from this video only unlocked further glimpses of memory. I remember trying to find this short when I was younger after seeing it once but I never did so I assumed it was a dream. Knowing that it’s real and I’m not the only person who remembers this is amazing.

The one thing I do appreciate about the later Paul Rudish Mickey shorts is that they've actually brought back in some of the edge that runaway brain did, as well as highlighting Mickey's nice guy attitude in a comedic light. Like he can be nice to the point of a fault and that's always put to the test whenever he winds up in extreme crazy scenarios like a moon interrupting a date or being chased by goofy as a zombie. It's that level of zaniness the mid century mickey shorts were lacking imo.

I faintly remember Runaway Brain. Namely bits and pieces of Mickey acting like Edward Hyde.

Boy, I was OBSESSED with Runaway Brain at age 10, playing in theaters in front of the terrible family film A Kid in King Arthur's Court. I went to that movie 4 or 5 times just to see the Mickey short. Who knew if I'd ever see it again so I actually snuck in my mid-90s camcorder and filmed Runaway Brain playing on the movie screen so I had an awful quality version at home. 10 years later it popped up on the Disney Treasures DVD you mentioned!

Funny thing is, I owned a VHS that included episodes that were considered Mickey's "masterpieces" for various reasons: "Steamboat Willie" (for obvious reasons), "The Band Concert" (being Mickey's first colored short, from my understanding), "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and so on. And the last one featured was none other than "Runaway Brain", apparently because, according to Ludwig Von Drake's narration, it was nominated. So at the age of 5 I was exposed to the short, and got a bit traumatized, not gonna lie, but I definitely had fun! I still remember this short fondly: scary or not, its animation is very fluid, and Monster Mickey as a concept needs more love! ^^

This is easy fixable problem too. Just have a 7+ rating for shorts like Runaway Brain due to it's horror themes. I heard that animated movies with the "cultural insensitive" warnings like Dumbo, Peter Pan ARE blocked for those under the age of 7 on Disney + anyways. Edit: I never saw Runaway Brain as a kid or at the cinema, but I did somehow manage to see Mad Doctor. It was on some random bootleg VHS tape with Minnie's Yoo-Hoo.

Walt Elias Disney, Ub Iwerk, and Hugh Harman made animations in Laugh-O-Gram and then later Universal and then split off at around the mid 20s. Those 3 started an animation boom in Disney, MGM, Warner Bros. and Universal. There is a Merrie Melodies episode by Hugh Harman called “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile” and it parodies everything made by Walt Disney Animation from 1928 all the way to 1931.

When I was younger, I had this Mickey Mouse DVD that compiled some of his best shorts, and this was the last one shown. I really loved the animation style and would watch this a lot with my siblings

I remember seeing this as a kid and I never met anyone else who did. I started to think I'd imagined it. I forgot about it eventually, but for a bit I wanted to see the scary Mickey Mouse "movie" again.

I remember this short, I had no idea Disney swept it under the rug! I did find a copy on youtube years ago, but I doubt that'll still be hiding around the old haunts of RU-vid past?

Crazy thing is the Mad Doctor short is in the public domain, I guess they decided not to renew the copyright, surprised they didn't do the same with Runaway Brain

I also wanted to acknowledge Epic Mickey. Yes, it does have flaws in its gameplay, bits of the presentation and even the logic of Wasteland, but when it does something grand, they delivered it expertly. As in, when Mickey inadvertedly destroyed Wasteland by creating the Blot and looking at the damage that he cause and the history of Wasteland, he felt incredibly guilty for the people and things, especially towards Oswald, meaning that Mickey ALWAYS has a character and personality. In fact, when Mickey and his guide and friend Gus the Gremlin came to Mickeyjunk Mountain (according to the novelisation that I own), Mickey at one point had to look away at his own merchandise because he clearly understands of how heart wrenching the whole situation is. Talking of which, do you think you could make a video about Epic Mickey at some point?

I actually found a dvd that got this one on it just before Christmas. Wadayaknow.

I don't think this is a bad cartoon at all. It was a pretty big deal at the time, I definitely remember seeing it in a theater in front of a movie, and it got good reactions from the audience. It had that "self-aware" 1990's sensibility about it, and it was also designed for the big screen. A towering, monster version of Pete with Mickey's brain was both frightening and hilarious at the same time. It's a clever short, there's no reason for Disney to "bury" it.

I mean it does

What is even more interesting about Runaway Brain is that it was nominated for Best Animated Short alongside the pilot for Courage the Cowardly Dog and the winner A Close Shave.

I've literally never heard of this

I wasn't expecting the civvie 11 joke in this video 13:35. Good stuff. Lol. Good video. Good luck to you all.

Runaway Brain still remains as my favorite Mickey short. It was a breath of fresh air from what was generally expected from Mickey shorts at the time while remaining true to the character. It's funny how the internet has given it this stigma of being "too much" or "traumatic". I absolutely loved it as a kid and is still a pleasure watching to this day.

21:44 Funny that you mention Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway because in the preshow if you look inside the ticket booth for the train, you can see Dr. Frankenollie's Want Ad for "$999.⁹⁹ for a mindless days work" on a newspaper along with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy's "ghostbusting" ad from The Lonesome Ghosts.

I’ve never seen the short in theaters, but I swear I’ve seen it on tv once. I can’t find proof that it ever aired on tv but I know I’ve seen it once on either the Disney channel or the ABC family 13 nights of Halloween. I forgot about it for years until a friend brought it up, convinced I’ve never seen it I searched for it hours until I eventually found it RU-vid. A few minutes in I instantly remembered I’ve seen it before. But anyway the short is beautifully animated and a blast to watch. It really show cases the missed opportunity with modern Disney shorts not taking the necessary risks in animation and storytelling. House of Mouse is also one of my favorite Disney cartoons growing up. And is another example of the studio show casing Mickey in a more “edgy” fashion for lack of a better word. Not buy much, but there are a lot of shorts and backstage gags with Mick that don’t fit the usual mold. The new Mickey shorts equally have a lot of fun injected into them, and to me feel a lot like the old black and white Mickey adventure comics. All be it a lot more toned down, but still. Side note: I always find it funny how Disney acts like Song of the South doesn’t exist, but I remember growing up while the VHS release of the movie and singing a long tapes were being heavily pushed. The movie was always considered controversial, but I think it’s funny how in the late 90’s early 2000’s Disney still felt comfortable enough to heavily promote it. Like the tv commercials were everywhere, posters were at every store I went to, it’s just funny to me.

i remember watching the short on here a long time ago, another piece of obscure(?) disney media i remember is a japan only album called mosh pit on disney, there's not many youtube uploads of it but i think its a pretty neat album since it only released in japan i don't really have any viable way of buying it for cheap but if i could i absolutely would :3

a lot of good gags in runaway brain. also more adult. really wish we got more mickey stuff like this

honestly run away brain was really a great treat when I saw it, hell fun fact. My first exposer to Julies was from kh 3d ddd As a secret boss. And I tried to figure out till researching where he came from and man it’s refreshing seeing Mickey being a character then just “HAHAH” you know. Tho I will say I suggest to watch the vanish of s.s Willie cause trust me it’s WAAAAY better then what ever the hell happen once steam boat Willybecame public domain, BUT as a heads up it’s a short horror film, tho there is no jump scare.

5:09 That’s also weird. Mickey doesn’t become evil, he had his brain swapped.

4:55 Well that’s weird, if they came close to winning you would think that they would want to keep it around.

And disney would later cancel a show due to not fitting the disney brand, after hiding this short under their sleeve this whole time.

After all these years I just assumed I'd imagined this short 😅

what i remember is how it aired once in the disney channel at 2 or 3 in the morning back in the early 2000's

I remember seeing evil Mickey on a poster showing the different Disney villians, and wondering who on earth that character was. I got the poster around 2000 at Disney world.

I can´t imagine having to live like you did. I am happy you eventually found all this cartoons and could talk about them later. Anyway I remember during Disney Afternoon they had like a News insert between the shows and one of them talked about Runaway brain. I was intregued but a little scared as a 9 year old but never found it anywhere. I only saw it last year when a friend of mine ripped it from a VHS. I agree it´s silly that even The Mad Doctor is´t on Disney+ that one is an esential classic. Just put it in Scary Disney Shorts. It is wierd still how some people manage to get a small le way to try and make Mickey something else like with Epic Mickey both returning Oswald and giving Mickey a scary story. So the company can´t control which Mickey we prefer to watch, comic book Mickey, old shorts Mickey, modern Mickey or that pre school Mickey. It´s our choice. And they will always have the Disneyland mascot Mickey. Now I do think it´s to late to make a movie. If they tried they would force in a reference to every single reincarnation of Mickey. All from Wizards Apprentice, Kingdom Hearts and yeah even Runaway Brain. It would be to much. But yeah so far the closes to a movie is The Prince and the Pauper and his cameo in A Goofy Movie.

I own a copy of the Mickey Mouse color volume 2 Treasury collection DVD. 📀 I'm glad I got it when I did, most of those kinds of DVDs are hard to get, either because of availability or cost. 💸

7:42 You would think that would be a good thing. Even with his flaws, Mickey is still a happy and heroic guy.

I saw the short after fighting the boss in a Kingdom Heart's handheld game. It intrigued me and stuck with me. Thanks for covering it 😃

what was a surprise is that Julius was a boss in Kingdom Hearts. i don't think anyone saw that coming

I Agree With You Maddie They Should Just Make Run Away Brain Mickey Public Domain Already"

I could have sworn that I saw this thing on the Disney Channel. Maybe it's on the Gooffy Movie/Extreme Gooffy Movie VHS . 🤷🏽‍♀

Did julius ever show up in other mickey mouse shows or movies? I know he was a secret boss in kingdom hearts dream drop distance

Wow. I remember watching this short years ago as a retail from a local library my family and I would frequent often. I think we watched it from the exact Disney collection box shown. Though I completely forgot about it til today.

Runaway Brain is so epic.

0:47 nice to see I’m not the only one whose never been to the Disney parks XD

actually u can fight Julius in kingdom hearts as dream drop distance as a secret boss fight its hard but hey thy didn`t forget him after all

I want to give Mickey a hug. I just wanted to say that for no reason at all.

I've only seen Runaway Brain once, here on RU-vid. It's been so long since then, though, so I sadly don't remember it as well as I wish. I wish I'd found a DVD with the short on it

I learned of the short bc of a toy car DISNEY had been selling at Disney Land Florida a bunch of years back.

I remember seeing this before a Goofy movie, and years later, I almost thought it was a fever dream I had, glad people are finally talking about it and giving it it’s due

i feel like somehow they could bring it back because they are bringing epic mickey back which is something nobody would expect cuz why would disney bring EPIC MICKEY back which is dark as well but not the other dark mickey thing they made?

13:51 Ok, that‘s understandable.

17:16 Don’t forget Mickey Mania

9:53 Justice for Mickey

I'm glad to own a copy of this short as part of the DVD Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume Two: 1939-Today.

There are only four places I ever cared for and cared about Mickey as a character: 1. Kingdom Hearts 2. The Paul Rudish shorts 3. Sorcerer's Apprentice 4. Runaway Brain

I watched it today for the first time ever. It's not bad! I have the only DVD release the short is on.

Ive seen a lot of clips and stills from this short but this is the first time I'm actually learning about its name. I guess its kinda edgy for the time, but thats mostly just looking at disney and not other media, which im sure there was other edgy children's media being produce too. If Disney really wanted to make an attempt to some recovery from their recent flops they should rerelease this. It might not do much but it'll show people that Disney has completely lost their identity and might even change what they start producing. Also I never really cared too much about Disney growing up but stuff like this that they did make was something that I loved

South Park really took advantage of this every time they made fun of Disney

Run away brain what a awesome short this was micky at his best and darkest

This is why I like Epic Mickey. He caused a terrible disaster in a world made for forgotten characters, and you can choose what he does while in Wasteland. You can either make him restore the world and fix his mistakes, or destroy it even further. And even besides that, Mickey has a personality in the game! The first game is a better example of this instead of the second one (not the devs’ fault though, Disney sabotaged them to shut down the studio behind it to push their mobile game campaign), but nonetheless it gives Mickey a chance to be a flawed character.

i agree.

Mickey seems like a Mary sue character the company what’s him to be perfect. But that’s boring and the audience has trouble relating to him because he’s depicted as the perfect character. I think Ran away brain Gave him more depth.

For a 7 minute Disney short, it really held a lot when it came to storytelling. Especially when it comes to neat details, like for example the sunset during the climax makes everything look red and thus would make it all more tense, or another being how you can tell who's controlling who by their design, with Julius (being controlled by Mickey) losing his various sets of razor teeth and having them replaced with the traditional Disney friendly look. This short goes to show how good Disney WAS. (And it's too bad I had to say that considering the movies they make now and days...I call them "Woke-mares.", Nightmare + Woke.

Just realizing- the monster version kinda reminds me of a rip off taz manían devil. And… I remember in those years Taz was everywhere.

I think the short was on the house of mouse or on TV anyway but it was eons ago and I liked it x3

16:35 so they were fine with bringing this one back but not runaway brain?

I really don't get why Disney would try to hide this. As a kid I thought nothing of it, it was just a fun Mickey short! Really isn't that dark as your watching it. It's got some darker themes, sure, but it doesn't focus on it in a way that's traumatic, nor does it bring a bad name to Mickey Mouse. Just another case of Disney being too uptight about things that aren't even that bad. Good that it's at least able to be found on RU-vid: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4SPSGQj-sUI.htmlsi=iu7h0pPAGtxOTP_U

Why I like that mickey is in the public domain. The public seems to be more creative with the mouse than the company is right now, like if you see any fan-art or fanfiction, you can see what I'm talking about, and more mickey content is in the works after public domain

Come on, they should know that we all need for bright and happy-go-lucky media like Mickey Mouse to be dark and disturbing for at least once.

I remember seeing this. I thought it was dope!!

Mickey Mouse should be flawed. No one likes flawless characters.

instead of Wish imagine a timeline where to celebrate Disney's 100th birthday we got a feature length version of Runaway Brain which is something I would do if I was charged with birthday celebrations.

I vaguely remember this short as a kid, but I didn’t really get into it until my tastes took a turn for the er, unusual. This short deserved better, too bad Disney cares more about pandering to tweens/kids. Yes. I'm bitter.

I am laughing too hard

Hey, I remember this one! Wacky and fun as hell!

I feel like why this short was banned because Disney felt that people don’t like seeing Mickey used in an edgy way. If you were to replace Mickey with Bugs Bunny in the short, people would accept it because the Looney Tunes were use to this type of content, not any of Disney’s characters.

I've seen the short and it's a very good animated short. The animation is good, and seeing Mickey Mouse's monstrous design is very nice. Seriously Disney remove this well known short, cause Jeffrey Katzenberg made Mickey Mouse look like a monster. Disney has made lots of dark toons and were okay with it, but making Mickey Mouse into a monster is too much for them. He did a good job of making into a flaw mouse here, and making him into a monster, when he got his brain switched with someone. This short deserves to be recognized.

Hunh. After listening to the full story on how Disney is trying to keep Mickey on the aforementioned pedestal, it makes me wonder if it's the same at Warner Bros. or DC Comics where they similarly try to hoist Batman as this neigh infallible god of superhero-ing. Not like, say, the Batman of Batman: The Animated Series that is often praised as the definitive depiction of Batman as a character, and not as an icon that can't be a character like the corporate depiction of Mickey.

Exactly how have you never been to any Disney park in your life?!?!?!? Seriously how?

Closest thing Mickey has to a feature film that I can think of are the 2 House of Mouse movies, Mickey's House of Villains and Snowed In At the House of Mouse and even that I think Isa major stretch

13:57 does that mean that they almost made Bambi take place in a video game

15:18 They’re supposed to be Easter eggs.

Interesting that in the section talking about a restrictive Christian media upbringing, Testament: The Bible in Animation is shown. I like that series, quality animation and storytelling, like the Prince of Egypt. It's episode on the Creation is personally my favourite retelling of the Adam and Eve story.

Runaway Brain is so cool! I love it!!!!

0:04 wait that’s real?! I use to have nightmares about that and my sister didn’t believe me about a werewolf Micky mouse

They need to bring evil Mickey back, man.

Is there anywhere that Pirates can find Runaway Brain?

This short was originally going to be about Donald trying to kíll Mickey Mouse.

I would definitely recommend the wonderful world of Mickey mouse (and related). It gives Mickey an actual character, and the art is like a modern redo of the old style. Side note: what's the problem with Song of the South?

Your comment about Disney not knowing what to do with Mickey? In my opinion, they don't know what to do with any of their properties/franchises these days.

Runaway brain Mickey reminds me of Sonic the warehog.