Wayne Allwine Movies

Produced for the Disney Channel, this half-hour educational series marked two "firsts" in the Disney canon: the first time that studio icon Mickey Mouse headlined a show designed specifically for preschoolers, and the first time (outside of a few commercials) in which Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale, and the rest of the studio menagerie was animated via CGI rather than traditional "cel" cartoonwork. The program utilized the familiar Disney characters to help the kids at home with their cognitive skills, to learn how to help others, and to develop strong moral and ethical values. Each time a new word or phrase was introduced, a mouse-shaped "toolbox" appeared onscreen, through which the kids at home could interact with the characters onscreen as part of the basic learning process. Trademarks of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse included the magic words "Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse" (a variation on a familiar incantation introduced on the original Mickey Mouse Club way back when) and a sort of signature tune, "The Hot Dog Song," performed by They Might Be Giants. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse debuted worldwide over the many Disney cable- and digital-TV outlets on May 5, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When some of cartoonland's biggest bad guys show up to make trouble, it's up to Mickey Mouse and his pals to set things right in this direct-to-video animated adventure. Mickey (voice of Wayne Allwine) and his pals, including Donald Duck (voice of Tony Anselmo), Goofy (voice of Bill Farmer), and Minnie Mouse (voice of Russi Taylor), are relaxing at Mickey's house, looking back at some of their past exploits, when a number of villains they've tangled with before -- including Captain Hook (voice of Corey Burton), Cruella De Ville (voice of Susan Blakeslee), Jafar (voice of Jonathan Freeman), Hades (voice of James Woods), and more -- appear en masse, determined to take over the House of Mikey in the name of evildoers everywhere. Mickey's House of Villains contains many clips from classic Disney cartoons of the past, re-edited to fit the film's new storyline. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The first appearance of Mickey Mouse and the rest of his gang of friends in over 40 years in this newly created ABC Saturday morning cartoon series. ~ Rovi

The star of this animated 23-minute version of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper is Mickey Mouse...and Mickey Mouse. The bare bones of Twain's mistaken-identity plotline are adhered to, with several delightful slapstick sidetrips along the way. Supporting Mr. Mouse are such Disney stalwarts as Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Black Pete (as the villain, natch.) The film is a delightful hark back to such Disney cartoons of yore as Brave Little Tailor (1938) and Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947), though there are plenty of contemporary references to keep a 1990s audience happy. When originally released to threatres before The Rescuers Down Under, The Prince and the Pauper included a "count-down" clock to bridge the intermission time between the cartoon and the main feature. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In Robert Zemeckis's trailblazing combination of animation and live-action, Hollywood's 1940s cartoon stars are a subjugated minority, living in the ghettolike "Toontown" where their movements are sharply monitored by the human power establishment. The Toons are permitted to perform in a Cotton Club-style nightspot but are forbidden to patronize the joint. One of Toontown's leading citizens, whacked-out Roger Rabbit, is framed for the murder of human nightclub owner Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye). Private detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), whose prejudice against Toons stems from the time that his brother was killed by a falling cartoon piano, reluctantly agrees to clear Roger of the accusation. Most of the sociopolitical undertones of the original novel were weeded out out of the 1988 film version, with emphasis shifted to its basic "evil land developer" plotline --and, more enjoyably, to a stream of eye-popping special effects. With the combined facilities of animator Richard Williams, Disney, Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic, the film allows us to believe (at least for 90 minutes) that "toons" exist, and that they are capable of interacting with 3-dimensional human beings. Virtually every major cartoon character of the late 1940s shows up, with the exceptions of Felix the Cat and Popeye the Sailor, whose licensees couldn't come to terms with the producers. Of the film's newly minted Toons, the most memorable is Roger Rabbit's curvaceous bride Jessica (voiced, uncredited, by Kathleen Turner). The human element is well-represented by Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, and Joanna Cassidy; also watch for action-film producer Joel Silver as Roger Rabbit's Tex Avery-style director. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first Disney animated feature to make extensive use of computer technology, The Great Mouse Detective was based on the children's novel Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus. The titular hero is Basil, a Holmes-like rodent (complete with deerstalker) who solves crimes in the company of his friend and chronicler Dr. Dawson. Basil and Dawson are retained by the daughter of a mouse toymaker who has been kidnapped by the diabolical Ratigan. The villain hopes to force the toymaker to construct a fake version of the queen who will grant power to the bad guy--or at least, for that part of the world behind the walls of London. Though nearly eliminated by Ratigan, Basil and Dawson trap the villain in the fast-moving mechanisms of Big Ben. By relying on computer animation, Disney was able to keep the budget of Great Mouse Detective down to a manageable size, thus earning back the losses incurred by the studio's previous cartoon feature, The Black Cauldron. Among the talented voice actors utilized in The Great Mouse Detective is Vincent Price, who plays guess what part? (Hint: he ain't Basil). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

"I'm in love with a mermaid!" read the opening line of Leonard Maltin's original review for Splash. And with the delightful Darryl Hannah in the lead, who could fault Maltin for his public declaration of ardor? The story begins in 1959, when a young boy is rescued from a watery grave by an adolescent mermaid. Twenty-five years later, the boy has grown up--and lo and behold, it's Tom Hanks. Meanwhile, the mermaid, likewise grown up, has surfaced in search of Hanks, her long-lost love. On dry land, the mermaid is able to walk about on legs; any contact with salt water, and she reverts to her half-fish form. Adopting the name of Madison from a New York street sign, the girl manages to win Hanks' heart. Alas, a secret government lab, populated by such smarmy types as Richard B. Shull and Eugene Levy, captures Madison for research purposes--and possible vivisection. Egged on by his brother John Candy, Hanks rescues his beloved, joining her in the ocean depths as a mer-man (mer-fellow? mer-guy?) A captivating confection from the peerless creative team of director Ron Howard and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, Splash was a winner all the way--especially at the box office, where the $11 million film racked up a huge profit. Historical sidebar: Splash was the first release from Disney's Touchstone Pictures division. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi