Sunday, October 11th, 2009 (Short Film Sunday: Runaway Brain)

Today will be the first Short Film Sunday that I have posted since the ever-lengthening Halloween season has began. So, in honor of the time of year, as well as a story from Cinematical earlier in the week on Epic Mickey, I thought I would go for a no-brainer with Chris Bailey's 1995 animated horror-homage short starring Mickey Mouse, Runaway Brain.

The aforementioned story was that Pixar Animation is rumored to be considering adapting the new imaginative upcoming Nintendo Wii game, Epic Mickey, into a feature film. The game, due out next fall, looks strikingly well for a Wii game, and is already in talks to be developed to Play Station 3 and Microsoft XBox 360. The plot of the story is that some of the more jaded characters in the Disney animation canon is angered at Mickey Mouse's endearing and undying cultural status, led by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks' original creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, begin wreaking havoc on some of the more beloved Disney stories. Back to the Cinematical article about the consideration of putting the game's intriguing plot on the big screen, it caught my eye as special due to the fact that it will be the first time the newer generation will see a charming version of Mickey, which, in the last few years has become more synonymous with any other symbols of conglomeration or bastardry. In fact, the last time I was happy to see Mickey on screen was during his brief cameo in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. So, it brings up the question, could the cutesy mouse be entertaining enough to keep the attention of children once again in a new generation outside of Kingdom Hearts and in the cinematic world?

Well, I may had answered that question myself when I was reading my latest copy of Geek Monthly, and saw the ad for Medicom's figure for Runaway Brain (as pictured up above), and remembered the nice little short that accompanied by A Kid in King Arthur's Court and George of the Jungle, as well as being on the home video release for A Goofy Movie. Of course, before I watched it again, I didn't recall it being as good as it was. Some of the finer points missed during my younger, more innocent days, is the fact that Mickey is playing a Mortal Kombat style game with characters of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, that Kelsey Grammar voices Dr. Frankenollie (which Wikipedia tells me is named for classic Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston), the frame that mimics the poster for The Exorcist, and a nice Wilhelm scream.

As for the director Chris Bailey, he has yet to take a jump into feature films, but is best known outside of this short, which played at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, for being an animator on The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. So, without further adieu, enjoy Runaway Brain.

P.S., since I've not been blogging as of late, a bonus short for today. After talking about Oswald up there, I thought I would give him his moment after I found the famous 1927 short that brought the character to prominence, Trolley Troubles, directed by Disney himself.