Were Michael Jackson & Mickey Mouse actually supposed to team up for a music video back in the 1980s? Profiles in History has the proof

Jim Hill

11 years ago

Just a quick heads-up to all you animation & theme park history buffs
out there: Profiles in History is holding an animation art auction on
Wednesday, July 31st that you really don’t want to miss.

Joseph Maddalena and his PIH team always manage to chase down some truly
amazing items for their auctions. Rarer-than-rare pieces like this early concept painting of Snow
White
from back when Walt was considering making “The Fairest in the Land”
a blonde.

Or this “Brer Rabbit’s Splash Mountain” booklet that the
Imagineers put together in the mid-1980s, back when Walt Disney Parks &
Resorts was still trying to persuade McDonalds to come be the sponsor of this
still-yet-to-be-built flume ride.

That’s what’s usually so great about the animation art auctions that the Profiles in
History people put together. The entertaining & eclectic mix of items that
Maddalena & Co. always manage to put together. Weird
period promotion items like the cell below, which shows Donald Duck dressed as the
Coachman from Disney’s “Pinocchio
” …

… or how about the ultimate pool toy? Which would be a couple of full-sized deep sea
diver figures that used to be part of the show at Disneyland‘s Submarine Voyage ride.

But if I had to pick the one item from Wednesday’s animation
art auction that is the true gem, that one thing which Disney enthusiasts &
pop culture fans are going to completely lose their minds over, I’d have to say
that it was Item No. 374. Which is this set of 12 storyboards for a never-shot
music video which was to have started Michael Jackson & Mickey Mouse.

Yep, back in the late 1980s, the King of Pop wanted to do what his idol —
screen legend Gene Kelly — had never been able to pull off. And that was dance with
the world’s most famous cartoon mouse.

For those who haven’t heard this story before: Back in 1944 when Kelly was still
pulling together the dance routines that he wanted to perform in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer‘s then-upcoming musical, “Anchors Aweigh
,” he reportedly reached out directly to Walt Disney
and asked for his permission to use Mickey Mouse in a musical number that would combine live-action footage & animation in a way that had never been done before.

The Gene Kelly Audio Animatronic figure from the
“Singin’ in the Rain” sequence in
the Great Movie Ride at WDW’s
Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All
rights reserved

As the story goes, Walt allegedly initially gave Gene permission to use
Mickey in this soon-to-begin-shooting screen musical. But then Roy O. Disney
reportedly nixed the idea, arguing that since the Studio still owed millions to
the Bank of America for earlier production loans, it just wouldn’t be wise for
Disney to lend out the Studio’s biggest star to the competition for free.

So since Gene now couldn’t dance with Mickey in “Anchors Aweigh,” Kelly
was then forced to go with the second most famous cartoon mouse in the world. Which is Jerry the Mouse of “Tom & Jerry” fame.
And while the finished version of this musical number still wound up being a wow … To hear Michael tell this story, whenever these two legendary entertainers
got together to talk about Hollywood history, Gene would
always eventually wind up moaning about how Roy O. Disney had ruined his chance to work with Mickey
Mouse. Which is why he had to settle for the second best cartoon mouse instead.

Now jump ahead to September of 1986. Which is when “Captain EO” had just
opened at Disneyland Park.
Which — to Michael Jackson’s way of thinking, anyway — meant that The Walt
Disney Company now owed him.

And given that Michael was already been developing
“Moonwalker
” at this point (i.e., a “Fantasia
” -like concert film
that Jackson dreamed of building around some of the songs featured on his
soon-to-be-released album, 1987’s “Bad
“) … Well, he wasn’t going to settle for second best. Michael now wanted to do what Gene Kelly hadn’t been able to do 40+ years earlier. Which is why Jackson reportedly reached out
to Michael Eisner and personally pitched Disney’s then-CEO about Michael &
Mickey possibly teaming up to do a dance routine together for this
yet-to-be-shot motion picture.

Now as I understand it, it was Jackson himself who hired a
former Disney artist to put together the storyboards that were used for this pitch. Which
starts out with the King of Pop telling the kids he’s babysitting that it is now time to go to bed.

And as Jackson
is herding this boy & girl into their bedroom, Michael notices that these
kids have left some of their toys behind on the floor.

But as Michael bends over and picks up that Mickey Mouse doll, the King of
Pop’s magical touch then somehow brings this plush toy to life.

At first, Michael & Mickey just dance & interact inside of that kids playroom.

But then with a wave of that magical paintbrush which so
often appears in Disney productions …

… Mickey & Michael find themselves dancing through a
surreal animated landscape that borrows a number of ideas & key creative
concepts from the Benny Goodman sequence in Disney’s 1946, “Make Mine
Music
.”

The borrowing from other earlier Disney animated films continues as
Mickey — just as he did in the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” sequence in
“Fantasia” — lose control of the magic that powers this fantasy world.
And as giant dinosaur-like musical notes threaten to eat the world’s most
famous mouse, it’s up to the King of Pop to rescue this rodent.

Before things get totally out of control, Mickey &
Michael finally manage to make their way back to the relative safety of that kids playroom which they started out in …

… where Mickey now decides that he’s had more than enough music
& magic for one night. And as the Mouse climbs up onto the dresser …

… and as Michael clicks off the lights in the playroom …

… the camera swings back to the dresser, revealing that
Mickey is now once again just a plush plaything.

Isn’t that a cute — if somewhat slight — concept to build a
late 1980s-era music video around? Michael Jackson certainly thought so. And even though he
and Disney’s lawyers reportedly repeatedly tried to find a way to make this
live action / animated musical extravaganza actually happen, in the end, they just
couldn’t get the financials to line up.

Long story short: Given that Michael had made “Captain
EO” for the Disney Parks, Jackson
— being the shrewd businessman that he was — felt that Eisner should now give him
a sweetheart deal. Make him only pay pennies on the dollar for the rights to use Mickey Mouse
in this proposed music video.

Whereas Michael Eisner … While he recognized what a huge deal it would be from
a promotional point of view for both the Company & its most famous character to have Mickey Mouse & Michael Jackson appear together in
a music video, he still wasn’t willing to sell Disney’s corporate symbol
short. And when Jackson wasn’t able
to get Eisner to budge on the proposed budget for the project … Well, that’s
when Michael suddenly found himself in Gene Kelly country. That if he still really wanted
“Moonwalker” to have an animated sequence in it, Jackson
was now going to have to creatively compromise. Which is why the proposed
Mickey-and-Michael musical number got ditched in favor of a new Will Vinton-produced Claymatian sequence built around Jackson’s
“Speed Demon” song.

So was Jackson angry with Eisner specifically and The Walt Disney Company in general for not allowing him to use Mickey Mouse in this proposed music video? Well, as you watch the “Speed Demon” sequence in “Moonwalker” today, it’s hard not to look those two huge, obnoxious & grossly overweight Disney fans with their Mickey Mouse ears who are prominently featured in this portion of that motion picture …

… without thinking that these two Claymation characters have to be some sort of crude attempt at payback.

Anyway, this 22.5-by-30-inch board (which is covered with 12
drawings that are each 5.5 by 6.5 inches) are now all that remains of that proposed
Mickey & Michael team-up. And given how many Mickey Mouse & Michael
Jackson fans there are out there … Well, I’d have to say that — when this
animation art auction is all over on Wednesday afternoon — I will be very
surprised if this piece of pop culture history doesn’t wind up going for a multiple of the amount than the
people at Profiles in History currently suggest that it will. Which is a relatively lowball
bid of $600 – $800.

So what did you folks think of the artwork for this proposed
Mickey & Michael music video? If this project had actually been completed,
would you have been that much more likely to see “Moonwalker” when it
was released to theaters back in 1989 and/or have purchased this Michael Jackson movie when it then became
available on VHS?

Your thoughts?