My daughter has a new favorite show on Playhouse Disney — “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.” My daughter just calls it “House.” No, it is not reminiscent of the old “Mickey Mouse Club” where you had Mouseketeers shouting their names and performing cute skits. This show is completely animated and involves Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, and their old nemesis Pete.
The show begins with Micky Mouse greeting the viewers. In order to make the clubhouse appear, you have to say the magic words with Mickey — “Meeska, mooska, Mickey Mouse!” The oddly-shaped, Mickey-Mouse-like clubhouse then appears in the middle of a grassy lawn. The plot usually involves some sort of problem that needs to be solved. With the help of the entire gang, the viewers “help” solve the problem.
Before the characters set off to solve their problem of the day, Mickey introduces some tools that they will be using through the course of the journey. There are two or three tools — from bottles or pacifiers to tape and ribbon — and then a special mystery tool. This is called the mystery Mouseketool. When each tool is used, it is crossed out so that the viewer knows not to use it again. Usually as the characters are approaching the end of their journey, Pete shows up just in time to cause some sort of extra delay. Naturally, our heroes always get past him.
At the end of the show, the whole gang gets back together in the clubhouse and all stand on platforms. They dance to a song called “Hot Diggety Dog,” which is a celebration in song that they have solved their problem of the day. They congratulate themselves and the viewers on a job well-done and end the show. The characters say so-long and the clubhouse disappears…until next time.
Visit PlayhouseDisney.com for more information, to play “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” games, or to watch a clip of the show!
Jaime’s Score: 5 for Education, 6 for Entertainment, and the Parent Annoyance Factor is 4 (Mainly for “Hot Diggtey Dog”).