Hello & welcome to a special A Look at Disney. Last year, after so many people passed, I for a while stopped writing articles honoring the deceased not because I didn't care but I couldn't bring myself to show any emotion for these people that I didn't know. However, when I learned of the passing of Mickey Rooney, I knew that I had to write something. While I may have never seen any of his classic films that he starred in with Judy Garland, he was very much a part of my childhood and I don't care what anyone says, he is the best Santa Claus, yes even better than the one from Miracle on 34th Street. To me, he is Santa Claus and he's been Santa Claus since I was five years old. Why this song taught me how to walk. Y'know, what I know it's not Disney but I want to start off this article by talking about the role that I'll always associate him with.
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Out of all the Rankin-Bass specials, this is in my top three right behind Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. I just loved the story of Santa Claus came to be and the way, Mickey Rooney voiced him was so jovial and happy that I loved hearing Nick's voice every Christmas and as a little boy, I truly believed that this was what Santa Claus sounded like. Well, until I saw The Santa Clause but no offense Tim Allen, Mickey Rooney is a better Santa Claus than you. Even outside of this role, he still had that Santa like quality to him that made him seem approachable and jovial. Mr. Rooney, thank you for giving me what in my eyes is the best portrayal of Santa Claus ever. This song and this special hold a special place in my heart and I'm sorry to kick things off with something not Disney related but I couldn't not talk about this, when talking about Mickey Rooney because this is the character, I think of, with Mickey Rooney. Now onto his Disney's roles. Well okay, the first one is kinda weird as it is a Disney character but it wasn't under Disney that he played the character. As I've mentioned before, Walt's first creation before Mickey was Oswald The Lucky Rabbit and he lost Oswald to Charles Mintz along with some of his animators to Universal and unlike the Disney shorts, where Oswald was silent, in these spoke. He was first given a voice by Pinto Colvig, who later go onto originate the voice of Goofy but after Colvig stopped voicing Oswald, who should take over but Mickey Rooney. That's right. from 1931 - 1932, Mickey Rooney was the voice of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit.
Uh, yes that is Oswald but I don't believe that he looked like that back then. Try this.
Personally, I prefer the new design but that's just me. Oh, and you wanna know who voiced Oswald after Rooney, June Foray. Now, his next notable and I guess technically first Disney role was that of Lampie in Pete's Dragon. Back during 2012 for my Dragon Week event, I reviewed this film and I mentioned again that he was warm, inviting and just a lot of fun in the role of Nora's father.
This is probably my favorite Disney role of his and oh, yeah I gotta include this song. I Saw A Dragon, and also is it just me or does anyone think that they took inspiration from Lampie for Maurice. And I never understood the hatred for this film and Disney, please do not go through with the remake.
His next role for Disney wouldn't be until many years later, when he voiced the adult version of Tod in The Fox and The Hound.
As a little boy, this was one of my favorite Disney movies and the song, Best of Friends is still one of my favorite Disney songs. Now, I'll admit I preferred the stuff with Tod and Copper as kids as opposed to the stuff with them as adults but that's not to say that Mickey Rooney doesn't do a good job as adult Tod and the same is true of Kurt Russell as adult Copper. With them as adults, you see that their relationship takes on a new meaning and I'll be honest and saying that I've been watching clips from The Fox and The Hound all day as I originally intended on doing a Breaking Dow The Scene featuring Mickey Rooney's adult Tod to honor his memory but I couldn't ignore his other roles at Disney, and the way he plays as Tod as an adult is just so wonderful as he is still learning to adjust and he still seems optimistic, even though the world has changed but he has a word time accepting that and it's so hard but that is the way, life works and it's hard to accept that things change but that is the truth and it's hard to swallow but sometimes needed. For his next role, with Disney, we jump all the way to 200 for the Disney Channel Original film, Phantom of the Megaplex. In this, he played Movie Mason.
I remember the first time, that I saw this film and the best way to describe for those that have never seen it, a phantom is going around a megaplex movie theater terrorizing the theater goers by using attacks related to the movie they are seeing. Movie Mason was an old man that worked the megaplex that most of the staff, who were teenagers looked up to and Mason had wide and vast knowledge of all things cinema and would share it with you and even treated life like a movie and told people in life to slow down because if they go too fast, they'll miss the best part. Now, it was a minor role at best for Rooney but I was surprised to see him still working and I thought at the time that it was really cool that he was in a DCOM. Now, his next role for Disney was in a direct-to-video sequel, Lady and The Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, where he played Sparky. And to be honest, I don't remember a thing about this film and I only know of this role because of the Disney Wiki.
For his last role at Disney, we go to 2011 as he had a brief but nice cameo in The Muppets (2011) during Life's A Happy Song
This number was actually choregraphed by his son, Michael Rooney. And while, this wasn't a role of his, in the Donald Duck short, The Autograph Hound, he was drawn as a caricature. Looks, I may have a future review for when Showcase resumes.
Mr. Rooney, I may not have known some of your classic roles from the early days but from Santa Claus to Lampie to Tod to Movie Mason, all of these roles brought joy to me and were in one way or another, a part of my childhood and seeing you pop up in The Muppets (2011) was a huge treat and thank you for bringing me joy in these roles and just remember to keep putting one foot in front of the other to cross the floor up there. I want to end this with a song and there was only one that seemed fitting and it's from The Fox and the Hound, so I leave you with Goodbye May Seem Forever.
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