Episode Details

Jim Hill and Len Testa explore how Mickey’s Toontown was built at Disneyland and why it took decades for Disney’s characters to receive a permanent home inside the park. They trace the land from the arrival of walk-around characters and the rapid creation of Mickey’s Birthdayland at Walt Disney World through the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Disney’s plans for a much more ambitious Toontown. Jim also examines the Roger Rabbit sequel that could have introduced the land, abandoned Little Mermaid and Muppet attractions, budget cuts tied to Euro Disney, and the legal changes that transformed many of Toontown’s interactive play areas. Recorded live at Disneyland, this episode reveals how home video, character branding, movie partnerships, and financial pressures shaped the cartoon city behind Fantasyland.

Original Air Date: December 27, 2012
Original Title: Disneyland's Toontown - What's Up with That? Recorded Live (Dec. 2012)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Why Disneyland’s opening-day character costumes came from an ice show rather than Disney’s own designers.

• How the earliest Mickey Mouse costumes featured unusual proportions, narrow legs, and designs that looked very different from modern park characters.

• Why Disney did not begin seriously developing its own walk-around character costumes until the early 1960s.

• How guests originally treated Disney characters as brief photo opportunities rather than performers expected to dance and interact.

• Why the rise of affordable videotape in the 1980s changed the way guests expected theme park characters to behave.

• Michael Eisner’s increased emphasis on Disney character branding after taking control of the company in 1984.

• How Disney Afternoon programs such as DuckTales and Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers expanded the company’s character inventory.

• Why Disney initially relied on spontaneous character appearances rather than creating a permanent place where guests could meet Mickey Mouse.

• The 100-day development and construction schedule behind Mickey’s Birthdayland at Walt Disney World.

• How Mickey’s Birthdayland was built for Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday and became an unexpected attendance success.

• Why the temporary County Bounty structure survived through later renovations and continued serving as a retail and character location.

• The multiple character rooms hidden behind Mickey meet-and-greet attractions and the playful comparison to Schrödinger’s cat.

• How the popularity of Mickey’s Birthdayland encouraged Disneyland to create its own permanent character neighborhood.

• The expansion land behind Disneyland’s railroad berm that had previously been considered for several unrealized projects.

• How the proposed Dumbo’s Circus expansion would have used the future Toontown area for new Fantasyland attractions.

• Marc Davis’ unbuilt Snow Queen attraction featuring dancing snow owls, polar bears, penguins, and elaborate winter scenes.

• The original Toontown concept that divided the land between Mickey Mouse’s neighborhood and Winnie the Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood.

• Why Disney struggled to find a convincing story connection between Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh.

• How the 1988 success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit supplied the story framework needed to make Toontown feel like a believable place.

• The shared ownership of Roger Rabbit between Disney and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.

• How disagreements between Disney and Spielberg complicated sequels, animated shorts, attractions, and the future use of Roger Rabbit.

• The numerous unproduced sequel concepts developed after Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

• The proposed movie in which Eddie Valiant and Roger Rabbit would help Walt Disney protect Disneyland while it was under construction.

• How the sequel would have revealed that W