House of Mouse : Season 2 Episode 4
"The Mouse Who Came to Dinner"

Air Date October 13, 2001

Synopsis

Mickey and the gang are hard-pressed to please restaurant reviewer Mortimer Mouse.

Credits

Writers / Editors

Henry Gilroy

Directors

Robert Gannaway

Tony Craig

Shorts Shown

Mickey's Mix-Up

Maestro Minnie : Flight of the Bumblebee

Donald's Grizzly Guest

Comments

From Juan F. Lara : This February 3 episode was the first weak episode of "House of Mouse".

An empty episode that week. Donald put on that rapper outfit. So? The makers didn't give him enough time to do anything with that new look. Just a couple of quickie gags of him promoting himself that ate up time until the song. (Craig and Gannaway ARE getting a lot of good mileage out of the Bimbettes, though.) The song itself turned out to recycle the music from Richie Valens's "La Bamba". Because of that the sequence seemed really shabby to me. None of the sight gags in the song stood out. Just Donald getting knocked around or run over. There wasn't any moment in the song where I felt that Jose and Panchito really shot down Donald's new image. I laughed at the pitch for the "Three Caballeros" album. Especially at the artworks that accompanied the song titles. Mickey asking people on the street about the Third Caballero made me smile. That was a reference to how people can never remember names of characters in groups, like the Seven Dwarfs or the Mouseketeers.

They reused the crowd scene that had the "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom" cavemen. I hope that recycling doesn't become too common, or that'll hurt the show bad. Speaking of reusing, I'm really sick of the "Quackstreet Boys" scene. DYN: The Speak-No-Evil monkey talked this time. They shouldn't have redone the safe gag, though, as that punchline had no setup here.

From Lee Suggs : House of Mouse is getting to be more and more about the happenings in the House, and less and less about the "MouseWorks" cartoons. This week's episode is an excellent example, with Mortimer taking full advantage of being mistaken as a restaurant critic. Some very funny stuff here, but you need to be paying attention or you will miss it. We start out with Mickey being introduced as "the only Mouse who can be in Florida and California at the same time." (LOL) Next we have a great shot of the Disney villans being put out of their booth so that Mortimer has a good view of a cartoon "starring" guess who?

Meanwhile back at the HOM Sebastian is running for his life because Mortimer wants more lobster. (I always thought Sebastian was a hermit crab, but he is quite red. :o) Donald gets Mortimer some feminine compansionship to take his mind off of his stomach. Donald seems O.K. with this, but Mickey is a bit worried, since Mortimer's companions are Daisy and Minnie, and Daisy is a duck. (with a great new look, I just love her new feather style.) Mickey has reason to wory since there was a time Minnie was quite taken with Mortimer. {see "Mickey's Rival" (1936)}

Mortimer is of course found out, and he suffers greatly for his deception. Lumiere reveals he is the real critic and he gives the HOM a "glowing" review. Mickey promised earlier to show a Donald cartoon, and now he does since his critical rival is out the door.

The episode ends with an ad for "Lumiere's Dinning by Candlelight". The ultimate (and quite amusing) guide to every Disney dining experience. (Pooh's Hunney Spot was great! This HOM outing for great fun, now we just need some new cartoons.