I like to think I'm Mickey's biggest fan. Which is certainly a title that many people would like to claim, though honestly that title will belong to Janet Esteves who has more than once broke her record of the world's largest Mickey Mouse collection, and as I far I know it's still growing. But never the less, I love Mickey Mouse thanks to the various shows and movies I've seen of him growing up(I'm still waiting for Disney to put House of Mouse on Disney+). I then started looking into Mickey's rich history of his film career and being the mascot for Disney as a whole. Many of his projects are still very much beloved to this day, but there's one short in particular that Disney has been very quiet about, and that is Runaway Brain.
Released in 1995, premiering along side A Kid in King Arthur's Court and a Goofy Movie internationally. Runaway Brain tells the story of Mickey Mouse who needs to get a ton of money in time for him and Minnie's anniversary. He looks at the newspaper and finds an ad for a mindless day's work at a lab, only to find that he's an unwilling test subject in a brain transplant with a monster. And once the monster's brain is in Mickey's body and finds out about Minnie, Mickey in the monster's body has to stop him.
That's pretty much the premise, and it's a very fun one at that. Parodying Frankenstein and referencing The Exorcist of all things, it's a lot of fun and also very dark for a Mickey short which is a refreshing change of pace I feel. As the stakes are higher so the suspense is greater. And the overall aesthetic is rather dark and kind of gloomy like that of a horror film. Its Mickey's darkest short though it's still light and fun, but still creepy as when Mickey and the monster switch brains, the lab blows up, and when Mickey in the monster's body taps the professor on the shoulder, the professor turns to dust. And the thought of what the monster will do too Minnie is scary to think about.
With all that I said it's no surprise that Disney has since been hush hush about this short. As it doesn't align with the image Disney wants for Mickey, though I would argue that a little darkness here and there shouldn't be off limits, as I feel people young and old will still love Mickey regardless of this short. And what's wrong with a little creepiness? If anything, it will make more people like Mickey thanks to the darkness of the short and Mickey's design with the monster brain is both creepy and cute. I can definitely see this short having merchandise made of it and sold at Hot Topic. And Mickey's personality is still very much in tact, he's still a brave, heroic yet flawed mouse that we all love. And I for one really enjoy seeing Mickey being portrayed as just a regular person which Disney hasn't portrayed him as much these days as he's mainly a host for toddlers now, with the exception of the new Mickey shorts of course.
And like anything with Mickey, there's Easter eggs of Disney's catalogue, with Mickey playing a Snow White fighting game(with a Bambi inspired first person shooter suggested during production believe it or not), a photo of Mickey steering Steamboat Willie in his wallet, a cameo of Zazu from The Lion King. And also for old school Disney fans, the scientist's name is Frankenollie, combining the names of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, two of Disney's Nine Old Men, the men who help shaped Disney animation and animation in general to what we know of today.
I think it's really a shame Disney's not too fond of this short. It's not on Disney+(and neither is House of Mouse or Mickey Mouse Works for that matter), and there's only two at home releases for it, one being the out of print Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color Vol. 2, and Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films on DVD and Blu-Ray, and the only way to see this short on this release, is through the digital code included with each new copy.
With that being said though the monster(who's named Julius) appeared as a secret boss in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Destiny. And I have read that Runaway Brain has had some influence on the Epic Mickey games so Disney isn't acting like Runaway Brain doesn't exist. But I wish more people knew about this short as I feel a lot of people will really dig it.
It's probably Mickey's best short in my eyes, and that's a bold statement as there's tons of fantastic Mickey shorts out there like The Brave Little Tailor, and while I love that short, the fact that Runaway Brain took a chance and dared to be different with the darker story and vibe without losing Mickey's trademark charm, and the fact Disney has sealed it away from most people's eyes has made me deem Runaway Brain as Mickey's best short to date.
Give it a watch if you have the chance:)
