House of Mouse : Season 1 Episode 6
"Jiminy Cricket"

Air Date February 24, 2001

Synopsis

When Jiminy Cricket leaves Pinocchio to become Mickey's conscience, Mickey must do what it takes to get them back together. (includes "I'm No Fool" performed by Jiminy Cricket.)

Characters

Pinocchio, Pain, Panic, Blue Fairy, Cruella De Vil, Lady, Tramp, Genie, Pooh, Tigger, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Genie, Dumbo, Pecos Bill, Jafar, Abu, Phoebus, Esmeralda, Hades, Merlin, Prince John, Baloo, Mowgli, Ursula, Maleficent and her raven, Aurora, Ichabod Crane, CaseyÕs daughters, Magic Mirror, Queen (from "Snow White"), Anastasia, Drizella, Lucifer, Snow White, the 7 Dwarfs, Scar, Lady Tremaine, Ariel, Cinderella, Mice (from "Cinderella"), Young Simba, Young Nala, Flora, Fauna, Merryweather, Aladdin, Quasimodo, Pongo, Perdita, Belle, Beast, Timothy Mouse, Kaa, Shere Kahn, Bagheera, Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Miss Bunny, Chipmunk, Grandmother Willow, Rafiki, King Triton, Foulfellow, Gideon, Lampwick, Hercules, Phil, Mulan, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, Brer Bear, Goons (from "Sleeping Beauty"), King Of Hearts, Card Soldiers, Prince (from "Snow White.")

Credits

Writer

Tracey Berna

Editor

Kevin D. Campbell

Directors

Robert Gannaway

Tony Craig

Storyboard Supervisor : Rick Schneider

Storyboard

Chong Suk Lee

Sean Bishop

Thomas Bernardo

Additional Storyboard

Robert Griffith

Gregory Peters

Thomas Bernardo

Rebecca Shen

Calvin Suggs

Shorts Shown

Mickey's Mistake

Daisy's Road Trip

Comments

From Juan F. Lara : This episode made the best use of classic character the show has had so far.

LOL'ed at the Blue Fairy's scene. I could go along with this HoM version of the character being authentic. The tone of that scene and the Blue Fairy's characterization matched her scene in the original film. At the same time, this scene innocently wound up entrapping Mickey Mouse into a deal he didn't really want. But I had a problem with the Blue Fairy's very awkward animation. Did they rotoscope her from the original film? Pinoke's scenes with Pain and Panic didn't work that well for me. Pinocchio still felt out-of-place in the HoM setting, and the animation of him still didn't seem right. As for Pain and Panic, those two are the "heart of gold" kinds of villains who were always showing good sides in the TV series. They seemed too soft to play the roles of leading Pinoke astray. But these problems didn't really matter much since Jiminy was the main focus. John Grant's "Encyclopedia of Walt Disney Animated Characters" mentioned that when "Pinocchio" came out it had several criticisms that Pinoke's personality was a clone of Mickey Mouse's. Remembering that, I was amused at seeing Mickey dressed up in the Pinoke outfit. With the outfit came the problem with lying that was good for a couple of great gags. Of course the highlight was Jiminy's performance at the end. That was a wonderfully unexpected break from the production numbers done up to now. (I thought he was going to do "I'm no fool" again.) Jiminy's characterization seemed the most dead-on in this scene. The best sections of his monologues were the least specific, like in the quotes I have below. Those cases I thought about how the quotes applied to the guests in the spotlight, and I thought they applied very well. Speaking of the guests, this scene had the best artistic renderings of them the series has had so far.

It wasn't until days later that I discovered that Jiminy's monologue was actually a cultural reference. I then found "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)" and read the text. And now Jiminy's scene is even funnier. I was very impressed that the scene worked great without knowing the reference.

From Lee Suggs : This is an amusing episode, if not all out funny like last week's show. We begin with Mickey being heckled by Pain and Panic. Jiminy Cricket, using his acute sense of character, tells Pinocchio (who somehow is still a puppet here) he shouldn't be sitting with these unsavory characters. This gets him flicked across the room, and feeling he's failed as Pinocchio's conscience. While Mickey is trying to console Jiminy, the Blue Fairy shows up and makes the Cricket Mickey's conscience. This, of course causes no end of trouble. Jiminy tries to make Mickey act, dress, and even do that nose thing, like Pinocchio. Minnie finally saves the day by having Jiminy perform his "I'm no fool..." routine using the mistakes of Snow White, Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella, and many other Disney characters, as examples. (This bit was the highlight of the show!) After he performs everyone wants Jiminy to replace his or her sidekick. This makes Pinocchio beg Jiminy to be his conscience, again, and so everyone (especially Mickey) is happy.

We fade out to an ad for "Pain And Panic Temporary Services" which is clever and fun. So despite no new shorts, a very creative episode that featured roles by the most Disney characters yet.