Yesterworld: The Downfall of Mickey’s Toontown & Magic Kingdom's Toontown Fair

this is madness madness I say I haven't had a case in over two stinking lousy weeks when's my luck gonna turn come in that's Mickey I need your help that was the day that was the day Mickey came to me I couldn't say no after hearing a story how it began as a simple birthday celebration became everything he ever wanted and how just as quickly it was all taken away from him leaving just enough to remind him of what once was so I took the case to find out who was responsible all right stitch he's gone man [Music] [Music] the origins of Mickey's Toontown goes all the way back to 1988 with the opening of Magic Kingdom's first new land in almost 20 years Nicky's birthday land Micky first appeared on screen in 1928 in Steamboat Willie so the iconic Mouse's 60th anniversary was tied to a new land of the Magic Kingdom the premise of Nicky's birthday land was that Minnie Mouse was throwing him a surprise party and of course everyone at the park was invited decorated with signs and banners wishing Mickey a happy birthday the official way to enter the new land was aboard the Main Street railroad station on the right over you'd see various Disney characters also trying to make their way to the celebration [Music] [Music] you arrived to this new land by way of the brand-new Mickey's birthday land station and were greeted with a sign that welcomed you to the town of Duckburg this was based off the fictional town as seen in the ducktales comic books and at the time brand-new animated series on the Disney Channel this expansion of the Magic Kingdom featured three main attractions a walkthrough of Mickey Mouse's house which ended in a screening room a separate meet-and-greet with the iconic character and a live stage show that continued into a post show you can also notice another location with painted stripes which was actually the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea show building only painted to blend in Mickey's house was a walkthrough that gave children and fans of the iconic Disney character a glimpse into his everyday life such as his bedroom den and living room but unlike later incarnations these areas were roped off keeping visitors at a distance the tour finished in a screening room where Mickey Mouse cartoons were played for visitors anybody cut cheese sandwich over at Mickey's Hollywood theater you could find Mickey and his dressing room for a photo opportunity presumably getting ready for his big birthday surprise one quart of milk they bloomed all better no dog bones his birthday surprise revolved around a stage show in which Mickey's friends were trying to make him a birthday cake were of course shenanigans ensue and you're invited to watch the show ended with Mickey arriving for a surprise but this actually continued into another tent for the POE show with Mickey and his pals dancing on top of a giant birthday cake [Music] for all of you have ever wondered where that song originally came from you're welcome also part of Mickey's birthday lament aka Duckburg visitors could stroll through the town and view storefronts and facades were supposedly the other Disney characters lived worked and shopped the land also featured a petting zoo a playground and a maze where water would shoot up from the bushes at unsuspecting visitors now to be honest Magic Kingdom's new land was how do I put this delicately cheaply and quickly thrown together who is more of a temporary solution to the many complaints about the lack of a designated place to meet the iconic character however Mickey's birthday land was more popular than Disney it anticipated so in 1990 it was reworked as Mickey star land this time instead of just Mickey Minnie and the usual gang the land featured many popular characters found on the Disney Channel the only real drastic alteration came by way of a new stage show initially called mickey's magical TV world the show initially featured characters from the gummi bears ducktales and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers with Balu and Louis from tailspin included later that year other characters from Disney shows were removed added and swapped around over the first few years but overall the basic narrative of the show remained the same however on the other side of the coast Disneyland was in the middle of plans to receive a major expansion that would feature an even bigger better and more expansive land dedicated to Mickey Mouse and all of his friends I got my inspiration as it were from Walt Disney I think it was a 10th anniversary where he said we're just beginning I couldn't believe watching television that Walt Disney said ten years later we're just beginning Here I am 35 years later feeling exactly the same way labeled as the Disney decade in the 1990s the Anaheim Disney Park was to receive several major expansions and overhauls which initially was to include a much more elaborate Mickey star land this was to open just in time for Mickey's 65th birthday however another expansion was Hollywood land the most ambitious and would conclude the Disney decade Hollywood land was too a larger version of Disney's upcoming Sunset Boulevard expansion at MGM Studios both Disney Land and Florida's version were to feature working trolley cars an attraction based off the upcoming film Dick Tracy with Disneyland to receive a copy of the great movie ride another part of the expansion set for both parks were attractions based off the recent box-office hit Who Framed Roger Rabbit at MGM these would have been within a land called maroon Studios or Roger Rabbit Hollywood but in Disneyland it was to be a separate land within Hollywood land called toontown [Music] unfortunately due to a number of issues including legal hassles over Roger Rabbit the disaster of Euro Disney and under performance of Dick Tracy much of the Disney decade plans were scrapped but not entirely Mickey Starr land and toontown would be combined into a place where both Mickey Mouse and Roger Rabbit could call home Mickey's Toontown aesthetically it was heavily inspired by Who Framed Roger Rabbit Skaar toon world is seen in the film where the buildings in architecture were given a squish and squash luck with virtually no straightedges the various ideas and concepts for the Roger Rabbit attractions were instead combined into a single experience Roger rabbit's cartoon spin alongside Roger Rabbit Mickey Mouse and all of his friends would reside on the other side of toontown and their houses would become attractions for visitors [Music] Mickey's Toontown began construction in 1992 built on the empty land behind it's a small world initially intended for Micky starland speaking of Micky star land during toontown's construction the park would take inspiration from the Magic Kingdom in the form of Disney Avenue were much like star land it was a temporary home for the stars of the Disney Channel guests could meet their favorite characters see cheaply thrown together facades of where they lived and view a special state show called Disney Afternoon live I bring this up not just because of its birthday land similarities or as an example of horrible attraction we theming but because toontown's future entrance was utilized as a meet and greet for Balu from tailspin according to theme park historian Jim Hill this was used as a sort of dry run for toontown's Mickey Mouse meet-and-greet when how to handle guests flow and interactions this didn't last long as soon the entrance was blocked off with the teens for visitors and his toontown grew closer to opening you could catch a glimpse on the Disneyland railroad for the first time in over 20 years a new land has been open at Disneyland it's Mickey's Toontown home to Mickey Mouse and his friends Donald Duck Goofy and Chip and Dale Roger Rabbit Minnie Mouse and the rest of his cartoon pals there's no question that the highlight of Mickey's Toontown was Roger rabbits cartoon spin and was met with unanimous praise but if you visited the land during its soft opening you had to rely on other experiences visitors could take a ride on the Jolly trolley a working trolley car which offered a tourist la shortcut through toontown for rollercoaster both kids and adults could enjoy there was gadgets go coaster and next door was Chippendales treehouse a tree fort of sorts just for kids featuring a slide in bulkhead there was also Goofy's bounce house and while it was a major hit for kids it was a disappointment if you were above 52 inches as this was the maximum height allowed there was also Donald's bow which featured a slide spiral staircase rope climb and other fun activities for kids inside the gag Factory gift shop you'd see empty gloves on a conveyor belt traveling into a machine of sorts coming out the other end was some sort of prop of course one of the main draws of this land for kids was to meet Mickey Mouse and Torres it was called Mickey's Toontown after all unlike the Magic Kingdom here you could actually explore the mouse's house and interact with decorations and set pieces but if you were like me with an irrational fear of mascots the walkthrough portion was the highlight and you'd sort of just awkwardly run past the characters to the exit I wish I were making that up you could also visit Minnie Mouse's house where just like Mickey you could soar her fabulous and interactive home there was also toon Park where parents could take a breather while kids enjoyed a playground and even got to meet a few of their favorite characters of course toontown had many other things to do and see but we're just focusing on the ones that pertain to this story and what comes later by the way if you want the official backstory of toontown's existence pause the video and read this description as it's pretty clever but would take too long to read through the whole thing as far as toontown's overall reception it was very mixed as well kids such as myself loved all the fun things to do many felt it didn't quite live up to expectations but now it's time to head back on over to the Magic Kingdom as with the opening of Disneyland's toontown it was time to make the Florida equivalent feel more permanent and less thrown together Mickey and his friends have brought the county fair to town at Mickey's Toontown fair it's the place to meet your favorite characters the backstory of this updated land was simple a vacation spot from Mickey and his friends who lived in Disney owns toontown structurally aside from the cheap facades the only elements of birthday land slash star land that was removed entirely was Mickey's Hollywood theater replaced with Minnie Mouse's house the original location of the stage shows became the county bounty the main stage was now a massive gift shop and the connected original post show became the Hall of Fame a place to meet the other Disney characters Mickey's house was given a modest update as he traveled through his somewhat redecorated vacation home the rooms furniture and personal possessions of Mickey and now reflected the more cartoonish design of his toontown location though for some reason with the exception of his updated garage guests were still not permitted to explore the rooms up close and were roped off since the Hollywood Theater was gone Mickey's new meet-and-greet was over at the judges tent behind Mickey's home this was the original Reading Room's shown animated shorts only now themed as a Film Festival and who best to judge his own cartoons than the mouse himself Minnie's house at Disneyland was popular enough to warrant aversion at the Magic Kingdom run like Mickey's you could actually explore the rooms and interact with the objects and set pieces there was also Donald's bow but was more of a decoration than something to explore finally Mickey's Toontown fair featured an actual rideable attraction the barn stormer at Goofy's wiseacre farm which had replaced the petting zoo the queue itself began in a farmhouse or barn giving visitors quite a bit to look at as they waited in line including a glimpse of the coaster whizzing by while the write itself was identical to gadgets go coaster the section where you traveled through the barn past the visitors in the queue hence the name barn stormer gave it a unique appeal there's not much else to say about Toontown fair as it stayed virtually unchanged even past the 2000s however Mickey's Toontown at Disneyland had seen far better days if you first visited toontown in the early 90s and then later by the mid 2000s you might have been shocked by just how much had been abandoned first you might have wondered where was the iconic Jolly trolley well the trouble first began within months of opening as they faced constant maintenance issues including the second trolley car occasionally D railing from the tracks so in 1994 the second trolley car was removed entirely however there was still the problem of a moving vehicle traveling the same pathway as countless pedestrians unfortunately despite the Jolly trolley being a toontown icon in 2003 this was shut down for good the tracks were left behind and eventually a standalone non moving vehicle became a photo op but that's okay you may be thinking at least there's Goofy's bounce house unfortunately this was also closed out of safety concerns but since the attraction was one of the land's highlights they simply took away the bouncy fun part of the experience becoming a playhouse with very little to play with okay okay but what about Chippendales treehouse whoa Chippendales treehouse wasn't safe either as but this point it was decided to be far too dangerous for children the slide had been removed he to a child and I'm not making this up breaking his leg on a decorative acorn the pulpit was blocked off from visitors and was also removed in off limits due to more safety concerns but this time regarding hygiene unfortunately there's more Donald's boat saw the removal of the slide out of even more safety concerns as well as the children's entrance into the upper deck due to more safety concerns the spiral staircase and a rope climb were also now off-limits and eventually the staircase an entryway was removed entirely even the horn from the tugboat was turned off allegedly from parents who complained about the constant noise but marca hear you asking can I at least visit toon park with my kids yes but without the fun as toon Park also fell victim to more safety concerns and the playground was gutted and replaced with more benches but to be fair even McDonald's had the same issue of post 1990s at some point the conveyer system and the gag factory was shut down as well and for many years it was abandoned and left static eventually the system was turned on again but the empty gloves entering the machine was completely gone now the equivalent of a joke with a punchline but no setup last was the removal of the goo effect and Roger rabbits cartoon spin it really doesn't have much to do with toontown's downfall but it's something that's always bothered me however Mickey's Toontown fair at the Magic Kingdom was about to fare even worse thank you I'm here all night [Applause] in part as a response to universals incredibly successful Wizarding World of Harry Potter which Disney missed the chance to have for themselves as covered in a previous episode Disney announced a drastic change to the Magic Kingdom by this point 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had long been abandoned and paved over so it was decided to expand Fanus who and over this and its neighboring land Toontown fair initially Toontown fair was to become Pixie Hollow which made sense to Disney since the Hall of Fame within the county bounty had been reworked into a fairy tale meet-and-greet however due to complaints about the expansion relying so heavily on meet and greets this was soon reimagined Mickey's Toontown fair would become the storybook circus perhaps as a nod to Disney Lions failed Mickey Mouse Club Circus it actually has a pretty interesting history so if it's something you want to see as a future episode leave a comment down below in February of 2011 Mickey's Toontown fair was permanently closed and began a very lengthy demolition process as part of the expansion Dumbo would move to this new land with an impressively theming and wall Goofy's Barnstormer would technically remain it was redeemed as fly with the great goofy knee unfortunately the coolest part of the ride in which he traveled to the barn was removed as it didn't quite fit with this new idea and sadly nothing took its place making the coaster even more generic the basic structure of the original tents which dated all the way back to Mickey's birthday lands were surprisingly saved but that's about it [Music] never never forget at the New Fantasyland the storybook circus opened to generally positive reactions but you couldn't help but feel a little sad to no longer be able to walk through Mickey and Minnie's homes and their town Mickey's meet-and-greet was moved over to the Main Street Town Square theater where inside you could find a few tributes and traces to his former home of course Disney when's toontown still offers many of the experiences found in Magic Kingdom's various Mickey lands but there's no denying that this section of the park has lost much of its luster so Tokyo Disneyland's version of toontown is the closest you'll get to the original version of the land but even its version of the Jolly trolley was closed in 2009 however with the recent announcement of Mickey's runaway railway it's possible toontown will receive the much needed love and attention it truly deserves as always thank you all so much for watching and if you enjoyed the episode give it a like and make sure to subscribe also make sure to check out the yester world podcast which can be found in the description below and we'll see you next time on yester world [Music]

Channel: Yesterworld Entertainment

Views: 2,150,487

Keywords: the history of mickeys toontown, disneyland toontown, mickey's toontown, roger rabbit toontown, magic kingdom's mickeys birthdayland, mickeys birthdayland, mickey's toontown fair, who framed roger rabbit, who framed roger rabbit toontown, disneyland roger rabbit toon town, toon town at disneyland, toontown mickeys house, toontown roger rabbit cartoon spin

Id: t_vvHX4nYXQ

Length: 18min 15sec (1095 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 17 2019