The Mystery of the Missing Mickey Christmas Special “Snowed in at the House of Mouse”. From 2001 to 2003, with 52 episodes and 2 direct-to-video releases “Mickey’s Magical Christmas – Snowed in at the House of Mouse” and “House of Mouse: Villains,” Disney had, what a lot of people would agree with, the best animated TV show of the decade.
It is 2024, and we are still waiting for an official Disney+ release of Mickey’s Magical Christmas – Snowed in at the House of Mouse. Snowed In was the tale of all the characters being stuck inside the Dinner Theater after a huge snowstorm left them stranded. So Mickey decided to make the best of the evening and show different Disney shorts, like Mickey’s Christmas Carol, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, and a Donald Duck cartoon with Huey, Dewey, and Louie ice skating. Also shown is a Ludvig Von Drake “Science of Santa” short. Characters like Yen Sid, Jafar, Belle & Beast, Tinkerbell, and many others appear throughout the show, all sharing Christmas memories or explaining what Christmas means to them.
While some of the shorts featured in the show are available on Disney+, like Mickey’s Christmas Carol it was the whole movie that was special and a family favorite of ours and many others. This makes us wonder why we have not seen House of Mouse released on Disney+ streaming platform? We have done some research and there is no good answer that we can find. Various theories are in the wild, like Disney may not own the streaming rights, or Amazon still owns the rights for a few years, since you can purchase Snowed in at the House of Mouse.
Disney+ has a full lineup of shows and NBA games airing on Christmas Day, read the full schedule for the holiday. Also, you can start the morning with the Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade airing on ABC and Disney+.
Our biggest concern is the lack of The Walt Disney Company information on House of Mouse. We spent time looking through the Walt Disney Archives and could not bring up a search for House of Mouse on the website. Searching The Walt Disney Company House of Mouse, or Disney House of Mouse, no direct search pops up for an official Disney website in the first 5 pages. After scouring the web, we did finally find a small snippet on the D23 Disney Archive Website, and here it is in all its glory:
House of Mouse (television) – House of Mouse (television). Animated characters gather each Saturday at this “nightclub” to enjoy musical guests, cartoon shorts, and Mickey Mouse’s comical introductions from the stage. There is constant backstage pandemonium as Mickey, Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Pluto attempt to ensure that “the show goes on.” Premiered on ABC on January 13, 2001. The last new episodes were produced in 2003, and the series ended in February 2009. 52 episodes.
What was Disney’s House of Mouse?
Think Disney’s Once Upon a Studio, only done 20 years earlier, where over 400 Disney characters from the first 100 years of Disney Animation came together!
The show featured Disney characters from across its various movies and shows interacting in a way that few other shows have ever done. Each show felt like a flashback to television crossover specials from the past. Never knowing who would pop up and interact or be the star of the show was always fun. Could I see Mickey Mouse try and mend the lost friendship between Timon & Pumba from The Lion King, or Jafar and Donald Duck working together? House of Mouse was Meta before meta was a verb! The show stood out as exceptional to both nostalgic adults and kids growing up with Disney Afternoon.
One of the best things about House of Mouse was the way Disney Television Animation handled the characters. Mickey Mouse was not hip and cool, or being a stereotype of the times, he was still the lovable Mickey who got into trouble and needed his pals around to help solve the issues. Mickey was the MC of a Dinner Theater that showed classic cartoon shorts, along with Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and a talking microphone who each helped run the show each night.
Penguins from Mary Poppins would serve the guests dinner and drinks, and part of the fun of the show was seeing who would be in the audience that night! You could see the Hyenas from The Lion King, Cinderella, Eric, and Ariel from The Little Mermaid, also lesser known characters would pop up as a nod to Disney’s history like The Three Little Pigs, and even the Bre’r from Song of the South, which was a choice even in the early 2000s.
Are you a fan of the House of Mouse? Drop a comment on Facebook and let us know.
