The Wonderful World of Mickey and Cuphead - Renegade Animation #86
On this episode, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru review The Cuphead Show's latest batch of episodes, while discussing the long history of one of the biggest pop culture icons, Mickey Mouse!
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, and we’re excited to share this latest episode of Renegade Animation! While we are admittedly about a month late to the main topic, Disney+ is celebrating Mickey Mouse’s 94th birthday with a documentary called Mickey: The Story of a Mouse. Tune into the podcast to hear our full thoughts on this pop culture icon, plus two recent specials that show completely different sides of the character.
The Cuphead Show Part 3
The Cuphead Show (and by extension, the original video game) could not exist without the classic cartoons that inspired them. So while we didn’t necessarily plan to talk about Cuphead and Mickey Mouse in the same podcast, the timing just happened to work out. Anyway, these latest episodes are great, and have really cemented the Devil as one of the best cartoon antagonists of all time. If you haven’t watched the show yet, then I don’t want to spoil the end of the batch. All I can say is that it’s the perfect culmination of the story that began with episode 1.
“The Cuphead Show: Whether this is the last time we visit the Inkwell Isles or not, this new batch of episodes gives us another dollop of zany cartoon antics with a side of compelling story and some of the best jokes and pieces of animation in 2022.“ -The Animation Guru
Mickey: The Story of a Mouse
I’ll save our full discussion for the podcast itself, but one thing I’ll say here regarding Mickey Mouse is that there’s a reason why he became such a recognizable pop culture icon. Mickey represents all of us; our hopes, our dreams, our wildest imaginations. That’s why the character has been so malleable over the past 94 years. The easiest way to demonstrate this is by observing two recent animated specials from two completely different creative teams. On the one hand, you have The Wonderful Autumn of Mickey Mouse, an extension of Paul Rudish’s Mickey Mouse shorts that take the character back to his roots, mixed with a modern sense of humor. On the other hand, you have Mickey Saves Christmas, a stop-motion animated special from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios that’s more family friendly.
“Whether you are watching something family friendly, something wacky and absurd, or hearing about the symbolic meanings behind one of those recognizable characters in pop culture history, Mickey has had an amazing life full of ups and downs, and everything in between.“ -The Animation Guru
That’ll do it for this episode! Thank you as always for joining us, and stay tuned for more down the road!
