While some casual viewers might consider him a bit of a one-note character, Mickey Mouse has had quite an extensive film career with a variety of roles that fill out his repertoire. He's been everything from a steamboat captain to a sorcerer, and the years have certainly been good to him.
RELATED: Mickey Mouse's 10 Best Powers & Abilities
But while Mickey definitely has a large list of roles under his belt, some of his shorts have ranged from the slightly quirky to the outright bizarre. Sometimes it's all for a big laugh, other times it just feels like the animators might have been experimenting with more than just artistic styles. Either way, there's no denying these outings weren't memorable.
Mickey’s Garden (1935)
If viewers have played enough hand-drawn rounds of Cuphead, they'll definitely see some familiar elements during Mickey's pie-eyed era, especially in shorts like Mickey's Garden. The idea of Mickey and Pluto fending off a swarm of bugs from their home garden doesn't exactly sound like a complicated idea, but when a toxin-induced hallucination comes into play, things take a turn for the weird.
After being gassed by his own bug spray, Mickey essentially has a bad trip involving gigantic bugs, angry insects, and one particularly vengeful stag beetle. While it can all be chalked up to cartoonish antics and vivid imagination, Mickey getting involved with hallucinogenics is a bit out there.
Thru The Mirror (1936)
Long before Disney's animated Alice took her trip to Wonderland, Mickey decided to take a trip through the looking glass with its own cast of colorful topsy-turvy characters. There was even an army of temperamental playing cards waiting for him if the imagery alone wasn't enough.
The animators obviously had a ball bringing this short to life as they personified anything and everything from a rocking chair to a telephone in the mirror world. Although he was a few hatters short of a tea party, this proved to be one of Mickey's favored adventures.
The Worm Turns (1937)
This bizarre short can be summarized as "Mickey experiments with chemicals in his basement and chaos ensues." As weird as that sounds, that's precisely what happens as Mickey dabbles in a little Jekyll and Hyde while making a concoction of literal liquid courage. The end result is definitely stronger than any 1930s cocktail.
With aid from his potent potion, a fly trounces a spider, a mouse mangles the housecat, and Pluto gets the drop on Pete the dog catcher. While the cartoon is loaded with some of Disney's best slapstick, it might raise a few questions about what Mickey does in his spare time.
Ghoul Fiend (2013)
Paul Rudish revamped and revitalized the classic Mickey Mouse formula with his series of modern short films, but his comic-inspired sketchbook art style allows for Mickey and pals to get away with some really strange activities. Case in point, Goofy becomes a rotting zombie and chases Mickey through a dark forest when his car breaks down on the side of the road.
Goofy has never been a particularly frightening character, but the image of him as a decaying corpse has got to give some children nightmares. Although he ultimately means no harm, the chase sequence in the short isn't exactly something viewers would see on Scooby-Doo.
Cheese Wranglers (2021)
There's weird, then there's the outright bizarre. In this segment from The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Mickey is cast as a cheese-wrangling cowboy who can charm giant wheels of cheese through the art of yodeling. It might sound ludicrous, but there's something to be said for the originality of the idea.
Absurdist humor is something Paul Rudish uses to a great extreme in his modern Mickey cartoons, and that notion is clearly and keenly felt with this trip to the wild west. It also might leave some viewers craving a large quantity of fondue.
Gone To Pieces (2021)
Once more, Goofy is the subject of bodily dismemberment, but perhaps in a less painful form than his previous zombification. That being said, the idea of having his limbs and features shattered apart and rearranged into things like a racecar and a pogo stick doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant experience.
With plenty of screwball antics, Mickey and Donald have to literally help Goofy pull himself together after going to pieces before the big game. What transpires is a jigsaw-puzzle-inspired outing that quickly reaches rigmarole status.
Game Night (2021)
The idea of board games coming to life isn't exactly new, but Mickey's rendition of the motif widens the playing field a little bit more than the average game of Jumanji. After his friends have had their fill of his regular game nights, Mickey decides to spice things up a bit by turning his house into a giant game board with all the tropes and traps a seasoned player could expect from the themes.
In true fashion with the trope, the game has to be finished before things go back to normal. But just because the concept is heavily played doesn't mean the visuals and gags aren't original, especially when Donald has to sacrifice himself to a barrage of pies in an overly-dramatic fashion.
Keep On Rollin’ (2021)
Mickey has never had a problem fitting in with the times, but this callback to his disco days is easily one of his most enjoyably dated outings. Essentially, Mickey, Minnie, and their friends have to vanquish a group of Disney villains who take over their roller rink with the power of disco.
It's just as absurd as it sounds, and watching the gang move and boogie their way through Yen Sid's rink is one of Disney's most eccentric images in recent years. As weird as it is, it does come with a healthy helping of fanservice for those die-hard Disney fans.
Duck The Halls (2016)
A Christmas special with Mickey and friends shouldn't be too out there, but Paul Rudish's gift for design and imagery grants this holiday outing some seriously strange visuals. When viewers think of a Disney Christmas, they should think of decorated trees, presents, and twinkling lights, not Shining references or Donald Duck getting grotesquely sick.
When Donald decides to stay home for the holidays instead of flying south for the winter, the change in climate has a devastating effect on both his body and his mind. Viewers are definitely treated to a certifiably more bizarre side to their favorite duck.
A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular (2016)
A Halloween special is definitely an outlet for Disney, and Mickey by extension, to get away with a decidedly darker tone. That being said, some of the imagery seen in this anthology of animated spooky stories isn't exactly something Walt might have put his hand to.
While it does have its delightfully silly moments such as Mickey, Donald, and Goofy paying tribute to Young Frankenstein, it does feature a particularly uncharacteristically creepy third act which sees Minnie in the role of a cannibalistic witch who gruesomely turns kids into pies. It's so delightfully unhinged that viewers can't help but laugh at its surreal levels of absurdity.