The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show (1968) Online

I first saw this special on Vault Disney, which is what is on the Disney Channel late at night. It features Mickey Mouse's history from the time he appeared on Walt Disney's drawing board to the days of the theme parks. It tells how it started when Walt Disney was coming back to Los Angeles from New York. He had lost his latest cartoon creatin, Oswald the Rabbit so he needed to come up with a new character: Mortimer (as Walt wanted to call him) Mouse. When he arrived in L.A., the mouse had been changed to Mickey by the suggestion of Walt's wife. It showed part of the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Plane Crazy" in its original silent form. After that, it showed part of Mickey's first cartoon released, "Steamboat Willie." Other clips included, "Mickey's Gala Premier", "The Pointer," and "Haunted House." The special told us about Mickey's skyrocket to fame. They also showed complete cartoons (with the beginning and ending titles cut off) like "The Symphony Hour" and "The Nifty Nineties" Mickey sure has come a long way from the little mouse in "Plane Crazy" who only wore shorts to the Mickey of today.