The Mickey Mouse Revue was an indoor audio-animatronicstage show in the Fantasyland areas of the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland theme parks. It was one of the three original opening day attractions in the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland in 1971, and after closing in 1980, it was moved to Tokyo Disneyland for that park's opening in 1983. The basic premise of the show was a musical concert, in which Mickey Mouse conducted an orchestra made up of various Disney characters.
Attraction
Pre-show
Before the concert, guests were loaded into a theater featuring an eight-minute film detailing the history of Mickey's illustrious career and the use of sound in his films, from his debut in Steamboat Willie to his role in the feature Fantasia. The film ended with footage of Mickey and his friends dancing at Disneyland, and Mickey told the guests that it was time for the main show.
Concert
After a cast member recited the theater's safety spiel, the house curtains opened up to reveal maestro Mickey Mouse and an orchestra made up of various Disney characters. After Mickey gave his count-off, the orchestra performed a medley of Disney songs; they were "Heigh-Ho", "Whistle While You Work", "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee". After they finished, they were lowered into the orchestra pit as the theater went dark. A spotlight was projected onto the side curtains, depicting a silhouetted image of the Big Bad Wolf. Afterward, a side curtain opened up to reveal a scene from Three Little Pigs in which the pigs performed "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" The next act depicted scenes from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; the first depicted Snow White singing "I'm Wishing" to a group of forest animals, and the second featured the Seven Dwarfs performing "The Silly Song" in their cottage. On the far right of the stage, a scene from Alice in Wonderland appeared, depicting Alice singing "All in the Golden Afternoon" along with a garden of live flowers. In the following act, The Three Caballeros appeared to sing their song, with Donald Duck on maracas, Jose Carioca on guitar, and Panchito firing his pistols. Throughout their act, the three disappeared and reappeared in various spots around the theater. On the far left of the stage, a scene from Cinderella appeared, and the Fairy Godmother sang "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" while she magically turned Cinderella's rags into a sparkling ballgown. After the scene faded out, a spotlight appeared on the side curtains, depicting Cinderella and her Prince Charming waltzing to "So This is Love". For the grand finale, Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear appeared to sing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", while Mickey and the orchestra rose from their pit. As they played, characters from the previous acts reappeared to join in the song, and the side curtains parted to reveal a bright, sunny field. Once the performance concluded, the performers solemnly sang the "Mickey Mouse Alma Mater", while the lights faded until there was only a spotlight shining on Mickey, who turned toward the audience and took a bow. Mickey thanked the audience for watching the show and bid farewell. The house curtains closed, and the cast member recited another spiel as the guests exited the theater.
History
In a 1962 interview, Walt Disney talked about his new audio-animatronic technology in The Enchanted Tiki Room and untitled haunted house attraction. He said that he had similar plans for "all the Disney characters." Contributing Disney Imagineers were John Hench, Bill Justice, and Wathel Rogers. The original theater at Walt Disney World sat 500 park guests, but the pre-show area only had room for 300, a planning mistake. The animatronic Mickey currently resides in the Walt Disney Archives, and was put on display at the D23 Expo in 2011. The animatronics of Donald, Jose and Panchito were put on display at D23's Destination D: Walt Disney World 40th event. In 2015, the figures were redressed and placed into the finale of Epcot's Gran Fiesta Tour attraction following a refurbishment in December of that year.
