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♫ We're all rockin' at the House of Mouse! ♫
"Now I wanna remind everyone of the House of Mouse rules: No smoking, no villainous schemes, and no guests eating other guests."

This page only covers the House of Mouse portions, for tropes related to the Mouse Works portions, go here.

House of Mouse is an animated show that first aired on Disney Channel on January 13, 2001, and is a Spin-Off/Retool of Mickey Mouse Works.

The concept of House of Mouse was that Mickey and his friends were now running an eponymous nightclub, whose entertainment consisted of special musical guests and showing the cartoon shorts produced for Mickey Mouse Works (some of which had not aired previously), and occasionally classic Disney shorts from the Golden Age of Animation to an audience of Disney characters. The guests consisted almost entirely of characters from all of the Disney Animated Canon films up to 2001's Atlantis: The Lost Empire except for Dinosaur,note  and sometimes characters from the Silly Symphonies shorts (mostly "The Three Little Pigs", though). The series did feature cameo appearances by characters from other Disney TV cartoons (Pepper Ann and her mom are seen outside the House in the first episode), the comic books (Scrooge McDuck bought the House in one episode), theme park attractions (the Hitchhiking Ghosts, also in the first episode), and even live-action movies (Herbie from The Love Bug, Benny the Cab from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the lightcycles from TRON in "Max's New Car", which also featured Susie the Little Blue Coupe), but these were few and far between. Curiously, unlike the later Lilo & Stitch: The Series,note  House of Mouse also did not do any Crossovers with other currently-running Disney cartoons like Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (although Donald wears a Buzz Lightyear outfit in one episode, resembling the design of his suit from the show) and Lloyd in Space, aside from the aforementioned Pepper Ann cameo.

A recurring plot thread to House of Mouse was the threat of the nasty landlord, Pete. He intends to close and tear the House down (what he intends to construct in its place is never mentioned), but this is a goal he cannot obtain because his contract states that he cannot tear the House down so long as Mickey and the gang have an audience to perform for. Thus, in almost every episode he's in, Pete hatches some Evil Scheme to drive the audience away, ranging from sabotaging the entertainment to contaminating the air conditioning with Pumbaa's fart-gas.

52 episodes of House of Mouse were produced, but only half of them were aired on One Saturday Morning before it was rebranded as ABC Kids in September 2002. As a result, House of Mouse was taken off of ABC and moved to the Disney Channel and Toon Disney, where the remaining 26 episodes aired alongside the previously aired ones as well. During the show's run, a few Mouse Works shorts were packaged with some of the classic shorts onto video compilations, but had their title cards cut out and replaced with newly-made framing animation, and were advertised as two direct-to-video movies - Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse and Mickey's House of Villains.


House of Mouse provides examples of:

  • Accidental Misnaming:
    • After learning that Donald is one of The Three Caballeros, Daisy can't say "caballero" correctly.
    • Also the House of Duck misnamings from the pilot.
  • Actor Allusion:
    • The intro shows Little John and Baloo sharing a laugh. Both were voiced by the same actor in their films and even used the same animation at certain parts.
    • Mike, who is voiced by Rod Roddy, introduced Mickey in one episode by telling him to "Come on down!".
  • Actually Pretty Funny: Pete seems to have developed this attitude regarding his and Mickey's interactions. After watching a cartoon of himself and Mickey racing up a mountain that involved him constantly getting hurt (including being repeatedly mauled by a polar bear), he is seen laughing at it and calling it "delightfully entertaining".
  • Adaptational Heroism: Among the guests of the House Of Mouse are a lot of Disney Villains from different franchises and films. They are shown to get along well with the other guests and without villainous ambitions, the only exceptions being Cranky Landlord Pete who occasionally tries to sabotage the show in order to kick Mickey and friends out (which still is less villainous than most portrayals of Pete in various media) and Phantom Blot in the episode House Of Crime as well as the Home Video Special Mickey's House of Villains in which all the classical Disney villains team-up to take over the club.
  • Adaptation Personality Change:
    • Daisy is a lot less intelligent than she was in earlier cartoons. She's gone from level-headed foil of Donald to brain-dead egotistical fangirl.
    • Uncle Scrooge is more a jerk compared to his more benevolent previous animated depiction in DuckTales (1987). In general, his depiction here seems to borrow more from his meaner, more antagonistic depiction in his early comic appearances (or his comically exaggerated depiction in Italian comics), to the point that the show's adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days uses him as a full-blown villain.
    • Hades unlike his source material, is a lot more easygoing, relaxed, and friendly than most of the Disney Villains. This is a lot closer to how he was in the myths.
  • Adapted Out: Dinosaur is the only Disney Animated Canon movie already released at the time of the show's run, going all the way up to Atlantis: The Lost Empire to not be represented in the show at all, due to the film being CG-animated.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle in "Ladies' Night" all host the club together while Mickey, Donald and Goofy are out on a bowling night. Daisy's nieces April, May and June even take over for Donald's nephews' performance.
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: In “Max’s Embarrassing Date”, Max is worried that Goofy will embarrass him during his date with Roxanne and enlists the House of Mouse staff to keep Goofy from embarrassing Max. Unfortunately for Max, his dad’s friends embarrass him far more than Goofy ever would have including trying to make their dinner more “romantic”, taking a picture of Max and Roxanne, and showing off a baby picture of Max.
  • Anchovies Are Abhorrent: In the episode where Goofy had to teach Max how to be a waiter, he sings "Hold the anchovies!" about an order for Ariel.
  • And I'm the Queen of Sheba: In "Donald and the Aracuan Bird", Mickey replies to Donald claiming that he's in a cage because the Aracuan Bird tricked him by saying "Right! And I'm Mickey Mouse! (Beat)) Hey, wait! I'm Mickey Mouse!"
  • Animate Inanimate Object: The House of Mouse has a talking thermostat, DVD player, battery, and, of course, Mike, the talking microphone.
  • Animation Bump: While all the episodes are well animated, some are animated somewhat more intricately than the others - particularly in the fluidity of the characters' motions and more detailed coloring (most noticeable in Mickey's scenes on stage, where the light from the spotlight is much better incorporated in his coloring in some episodes than others). Good examples of these are "Pete's House Of Villains," and "Timon and Pumbaa."
  • Animated Actors:
    • Implied; the characters don't exactly act the same way in the House of Mouse as they do in their films, especially the villains. (The worst thing Jafar does is turn Donald into a literal Large Ham). For the shorts, it's zig-zagged: some are presented as things the characters acted in, others are presented as things that actually happened.
    • Invoked in one episode, where all the cartoons are stolen. The next cartoon is presented as one Mickey and Goofy went and made on the spot.
  • April Fools' Plot: "Donald's Pumbaa Prank" takes place on April Fool's Day and has Pete attempt to trick Donald into helping him use Pumbaa's flatulence to clear out the House of Mouse by promising to help him get back at Mickey's pranks.
  • Arrowgram: In "Thanks to Minnie", a Gossip Evolution montage features Robin Hood sending a message with his bow and arrow.
  • Ascended Extra: This series brought Clarabel Cow back into prominence by having her form a trio alongside Minnie and Daisy just as Goofy does with Mickey and Donald.
  • Aside Glance: And lots of 'em.
  • Badass Crew: "Pete's House of Villains" among other episodes proves that the House's staff - Mickey (the host), Donald (the maitre'd), Goofy (head waiter), Minnie (behind-the-scenes runner), Daisy (clerk), Horace (tech), Clarabelle (entertainment), and Gus (the chef) - is this when they're in their prime.
  • Bears Are Bad News: Baloo towards Goofy in "Not So Goofy" and "Goofy's Menu Magic".
  • Berserk Button: You better pray that there isn't a door in Big Bad Wolf Daddy's sights.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Ariel in the episode "Jiminy Cricket" after she takes back the shell with her voice in it from Ursula in silent anger.
  • Big Bad: Pete, who always tries to get the house shut down.
  • Big Eater: Gus Goose, the chef. He has a tendency to eat food before it can get to the customers.
  • Blamed for Being Railroaded: Poor Donald gets this bad; the rest of the cast show him no sympathy when he broke into the prop room to steal a lamp for Jafar and get revenge on Mickey. Donald was actually hypnotized into the whole scheme, even saying he wanted revenge in the first place.
  • Bowdlerise: The apples in "Pluto Saves the Day" are supposed to be the "poisoned apple" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but rather than cursing the victims into "Sleeping Death", they're renamed "sleeping apples" and they send the victim into a deep slumber.
  • Borrowed Catchphrase: In Max's New Car, Max yells out his father's holler while riding in the car from the "Mickey's New Car" segment.
  • Brought to You by the Letter "S": Super Goof.
  • Buddy Snaps First: In the short "Donald's Dinner Date", Daisy gives Donald the ultimatum that it'll be over between them if he loses his temper on their next date, which becomes difficult for him when Goofy turns out to be their waiter. But while the Goof's antics get on Donald's nerves at first, it's ultimately Daisy who blows her top by the end, while Donald ends up having a pleasant meal... at least until he gets the bill.
  • Bumbling Dad: Goofy to Max, House of Mouse only.
  • The Bus Came Back:
    • For several classic characters who had vanished from Disney productions, such as Prof. Ludwig von Drake and Humphrey the Bear.
    • Also multiple appearances of Br'er Rabbit, Fox and Bear from Song of the South, which hasn't been aired or released for at least 20 years and probably never will be again.
    • The series also marks the first animated appearance of Daisy's nieces April, May and June (in a cameo as the house band in "Ladies' Night"), who originally appeared in Carl Barks' comics.
    • Roxanne, Max's love interest from A Goofy Movie, finally returns in "Max's Embarrassing Date" after being absent in its sequel.
    • The Horned King in his small cameos. After the disastrous box office results of The Black Cauldron, Disney pretty much all but erased that movie's existence from the general public's mind, refusing to even release the VHS of the film at the proper time and postponing it ten years later. Even nowadays it's hard to see Disney promote this film in video games, the parks, merch and such. The fact that the King appears at all is a miracle onto itself.
  • Butt-Monkey:
    • Poor Donald! Especially when one of Mike's Mickey-openers after the title sequence is "And now, better than Donald Duck in every way!"
    • A Running Gag is that O'Malley and the Alley Cats band never gets to perform.
  • Carnivore Confusion: Mickey states that one of the rules is "No guests eating other guests". Pumbaa then makes Timon spit out Jiminy Cricket.
  • Casting Gag:
    • Mike, the sentient microphone announcer for the show, was voiced by the late Rod Roddy, who was well known as an announcer, specifically on The Price Is Right (and Press Your Luck, too, as well as the short-lived series Whew! and Battlestars plus the sitcom Soap).
    • In the opening titles, Baloo and Little John are always seen talking, a reference to how both shared a voice actor in Phil Harris. Little John is actually an Expy of Baloo meant to cash in on the latter's popularity.
  • Catchphrase: Black-and-white character Dennis the Duck's catchphrase is "Have a sandwich!" In-universe it's famous enough that Daisy asked him to write it in her autograph book.
    • Much of the Disney characters' cameos essentially boil down to repeating their catchphrases / memorable lines from songs and such from their respective movies. Referenced in "Pete's One Man Show," where the staff replaces the empty audience with cut outs of well-known characters and make them seem alive by reciting their catchphrases (with Goofy, playing Dumbo, instead saying, "Be our guest.")
  • Cats Are Mean: Pete as the landlord.
  • Chain of Deals: Subverted in "Rent Day" — Mickey wants a book to give to Belle, in return for the Beast's enchanted rose for Aladdin to give to Jasmine, in return for a carpet ride home for Cinderella, in return for a pumpkin for the Headless Horseman to use as a head, in return for a sword for Arthur, in return for Merlin's 50 bucks so Mickey can pay off the rent, but Yen Sid refuses.
  • Check, Please!: In "Big Bad Wolf Daddy", Mickey announces a performance by the titular character (who's actually The Big Bad Wolf from four of the Silly Symphonies cartoons, but wearing a yellow suit and performing a musical act), prompting Little Red Riding Hood (who previously co-starred in the second of the Wolf's Silly Symphonies cartoons) to nervously call the trope name.
    • It's also part of the lyrics of "Soup or Salad, Fries or Biscuits" because the Beast is angry and Goofy wants to get him out quickly.
  • The Chew Toy: Goofy.
  • Christmas Episode:
    • "Clarabelle's Christmas List", where Clarabelle claims to have Santa's list and everyone becomes tempted to sneak a peek at it.
    • "Pete's Christmas Carol", where Pete volunteers to play Santa just so he can take everyone's presents.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: All of the Tarzan characters except for Tantor (unless you count the website's games), making him the only character from that movie to appear in the show.
    • The three kittens Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz are the only characters from The Aristocats to not appear in the show, even though most of the other characters, such as Duchess and Thomas O'Malley do.
  • Clark Kenting:
    • Just like in the comic books that the episode was based on, no one except for Mickey figures out that Super Goof is Goofy. Clarabelle thinks she worked out who he was, but wrongly guesses he's Dumbo based solely on the fact that they both fly and eat peanuts.
    Goofy: Aw, come on! I may be goofy, but even I'm not that stupid!
  • Clip Show: The House segments are nothing more than framing devices for recycled Mickey MouseWorks shorts. An example of Tropes are not Bad, though, because the House segments are entertaining in their own way and sometimes have important plots, classic Disney cartoons are occasionally shown as well as MouseWorks shorts, and a good number of the MouseWorks shorts used never aired before on Mickey MouseWorks.
  • Comically Missing the Point: If Goofy isn't being a klutz, he's probably doing this.
  • Comically Small Demand: In one episode Donald volunteers to steal "the lamp" for Jafar. After Donald's ordeal in the prop room to get Aladdin's lamp, Jafar tells him that that isn't the right one and what he really wanted was the lamp in Mickey's dressing room (with the clock gizmo and the fringe along the shade). Which Mickey is happy to hand over.
  • Compilation Movie: The direct-to-video movies Mickey's House of Villains and Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse both consisted mainly of recycled footage from the show's Halloween Episodes and Christmas Episodes.
  • Continuity Nod: In "Snow Day", Goofy attempts to show his son Max how to snowboard until his son tells him that he already knows how, which makes sense. After all, he once wanted a snowboard for Christmas.
  • Continuity Porn: Literally everywhere, in reference to the Disney Animated Canon.
  • Cool Old Guy: This series has lots of them, with Merlin and Maurice as two examples.
  • Cool Old Lady: Both Mulan's grandma and Wilhelmina Packard.
  • Couch Gag: Before the show's opening starts, Mike the Microphone usually says something that may relate to the episode about to be shown. For example, he said "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Disney's House of Mouse!" before the episode that featured Super Goof.
  • The Cover Changes the Meaning: Goofy singing Donald's theme song changes the lyrics from ironic to moronic.
  • Covered in Kisses: This presumably happened to Donald Duck by Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck in the intervals of the episode "Everybody Loves Mickey", where after playing the final short, Donald appears with lipstick kisses on him as Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck praise him for being a romantic. It also happens to most of the main cast by Pluto in the episode "Pluto Save's the Day" as part of the cure to wake the cast from sleeping apples Pete had given them in the guise of Snow White.
  • Cranky Landlord: Pete goes as far as to screw Mickey into the ground personally. While there are episodic problems, this is the show's main premise.
  • Crossover Punchline: With Pepper Ann of all shows!
    Mrs. Pearson: Don't touch the villain, dear.
  • Cute Kitten:
  • Cutting Corners: Scrooge McDuck buys the club and performs all kinds of cost-cutting ways to save and make money, including having the lights become coin-operated, greatly decreasing the food supply and seating all the guests at one table. Later, Mickey tries to give him a taste of his own medicine by having the cartoons shown a tiny television and cutting off the electricity, but it backfires when Scrooge commends him for it.
  • Deadpan Snarker:
    • The magic mirror, but everyone gains a sharp tongue in this show.
    • Also, the opening conversation of "Dining Goofy".
    Mickey: Today's show is about technology.(his cell phone starts to make electronic beeping noises)
    Wilhelmina Packard: (while in front of a WWII radio) And this isn't hi tech, honey?.
  • Decoy Hiding Place: In addition to disguising himself as Jafar, Goofy, Mickey, and even Donald, The Aracuan Bird used Tantor's trunk and The Mad Hatter's hat as a hiding place in the episode "Donald and the Aracuan Bird".
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Mickey, Goofy, and Donald attempt to disguise themselves as the Quack Street Boys. This includes Donald putting on the same fake webbed feet and duckbills as Mickey and Goofy.
  • Deus ex Machina: Aladdin showing up last-minute with Genie's lamp in the climax of Mickey's House of Villains, which Mickey uses to imprison Jafar and return the House back to normal.
  • Does He Have A Sister?: Lumiere asks this of Daisy when she says she's dating Donald, whom she describes as "the third candelabra" (her mispronunciation of "caballero").
  • Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: Jafar agrees to help repair the House of Mouse building when Mickey offers him Agrabah as a reward. What he didn't tell him was that it would be an Agrabah snow globe.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Invoked by Mickey in "Clarabelle's Big Secret" when he tries to keep Clarabelle from revealing the secret she has to tell everyone by showing her Horace Horsecollar striking a manly pose while wearing just an undershirt and briefs.
  • Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: When Hades is the only guest in the house keeping it from being closed for good, Mickey hires Chernabog to perform "Night on Bald Mountain" for him. When it works and entertains Hades, Pete attacks with a bulldozer to shovel Chernabog away. However, this incurs the wrath of Chernabog’s spirits from the underworld, who begin chasing Pete down to make him join them.
  • Don't Try This at Home: Prepare fondue in the Black Cauldron. Otherwise the undead soldiers will show up.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Quite a bit.
    • The first episode has Pepper Ann, while the later 51 episodes don't have any TVA characters.
    • The first episode has the cartoons created in a similar way to live action, other episodes don't reference it.
    • An early reoccurring character was the Censor monkeys, however, S&P didn't take too kindly to it, so they never re-appeared after Episode 3.
    • In Season 1, Pete was the only one trying to shut down the club, but in Season 2, Mortimer replaces Pete and in Season 3, Mortimer and Pete team up.
    • Early episodes have more new content within the cartoons, later episodes use recycled content from Mickey Mouse Works and the original theatrical shorts.
  • The Eeyore: He's in there. He even does stand-up!
  • Every Man Has His Price: Spoken almost word for word by Scrooge McDuck in "House of Scrooge" after he tells Mickey that he bought the House of Mouse and Mickey protests that Pete is the owner.
    Scrooge: Everyone has their price.
    (Pete drives up in a golf cart, dressed like a pimp and hauling around a huge sack of cash with a dollar sign on it)
    Pete: And my price is a big fat bag of cash!
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In "Pete's Christmas Caper", Pete, of all people, helps out Minnie when Mortimer keeps trying to force her to kiss him under the mistletoe by kissing Mortimer himself. Mortimer flees in disgust and Minnie thanks Pete for his help with a high five.
  • Everybody Has Standards: The episode "Halloween With Hades" reveals that even Mushu can't help but feel bad for Hades when he gets rejected by Maleficent the first time by saying "Ouch talk about being shot down in flames."
  • Evil Lawyer Joke: When threatened with legal trouble, Hades says "Just a reminder, I've got all the lawyers." (Though while Hades himself is a villain, the Greek Underworld is not depicted as Hell in the original film.)
  • Evil Twin: Robo-Mickey and his robo-friends created by Ludwig von Drake in "House of Genius", who opt to take over the House of Mouse by replacing their organic counterparts.
  • Expy: Dennis the Duck is basically an avian version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
  • Face Palm: Donald gives one when when Scrooge reveals he's bought the House of Mouse.
  • Fan Disservice: Pete in a tutu. Ewww. Lampshaded by Mickey, even.
    Mickey: Bigger than life and twice as ugl—uh, "talented", here's Pete!
  • Feud Episode: Timon and Pumbaa in the episode where they were the special guests.
  • Firing Day: In "Gone Goofy", the club goes over-budget and requires one person to be fired, and it has to be someone who is lazy and unproductive. Goofy naturally fits the mold, but the others, barring Donald, don't have the heart to fire their friend. As Donald tries to give Goofy a (literal) pink slip, Mickey decides to fire himself and make Goofy the new host.
  • Flanderization: Quite a bit for several of the movie characters (the most obvious one being Gaston, who's basically turned into a living Running Gag and is more than likely the source of the "No one ___ like Gaston!" meme), mostly thanks to the many Shout Outs to their original movies.
  • Food Slap: Dennis the Duck's signature move is to yell "Have a sandwich!" and hit someone in the face with a Dagwood Sandwich.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: The intro has lots of them, but the one that stands out the most is Rita's cameo.
  • Full-Body Disguise: The Aracuan Bird is fond of this trope. When disguised, he goes from being The Voiceless to perfectly imitating the voice of whoever he's impersonating. He disguises as Jafar, Pluto, Donald, Goofy, and even Mickey Mouse at the end.
  • Furry Confusion: Both anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic animals are treated as guests.
  • Furry Reminder: Two gags involve Mickey acquiring more mouse-like traits such as drinking out of giant water bottle and being asked if he needs a run on his exercise wheel. Another involves Donald wading through a flooded House of Mouse, quacking indiscriminately and tripping face first into the water as if he were a wild duck looking for food.
  • Gassy Gastronomy: "Dining Goofy" begins with Goofy accidentally giving the guests the wrong orders. One such example is giving Pumbaa beans. Timon complains, but Pumbaa doesn't mind, as he likes them. Unfortunately, that's why Timon's worried, as Pumbaa is infamous for passing gas, and the beans will make said gas ten times worse.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: From guess where and where else.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser:
    • Both the heroes and villains from the various Disney movies wine and dine at the House of Mouse. Hades even single-handedly prevents it from going under at one point by staying during a heatwave, ensuring they have an audience.
    • The first Halloween episode focuses on none other than Hades.
    • Jafar also gets a chance to save it. When Daisy fails epically at magic and makes it disappear, Jafar shows up (he was late, which is why Daisy tried to do magic in the first place to replace his act) and sings a cover of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.
    • The villains are overall much milder and nicer than in their established movies. Understandable considering the series implies they're all actors living in a Roger Rabbit-esque Toontown, but it's impressive to observe considering the immense crimes they do in their movies (murder, regicide, kidnapping, manipulation), while here the most they make is snarks or mild pranks.
  • Good-Guy Bar: A good deal of the titular establishment's guests are Disney heroes, but there are also just as many villains being served there.
  • Gossip Evolution: In "Thanks to Minnie", a compliment to Minnie uttered by Mickey, which he says he can be quoted on, turns into an insult to Minnie after this trope is through with it.
  • The Grinch: Donald acts like one of these in the Christmas 'movie'.
  • Guilt-Induced Nightmare: In the segment "Donald's Goofy World", Donald loses his temper at Goofy and yells at him to leave, saying he never wants to see him again. After he's knocked unconscious thanks to a door hitting him on the head, he dreams that Goofy is everywhere and he eventually turns into Goofy himself. When he wakes up, he starts to take his anger out on Goofy, only to apologize and admit he's happy there's only one Goofy.
  • Halloween Episode:
    • "Halloween with Hades", where Hades tries to court Maleficent.
    • "House Ghosts", where Pete tries to use the ghosts of the Haunted Mansion to scare everyone out of the club so he can shut the place down.
  • Hand-or-Object Underwear: In "House of Scrooge", Mickey Mouse is forced to use his face logo from his 1930's cartoons to cover himself when Scrooge takes away his clothes on the grounds that they are too expensive for him to wear.
    • In "Salute to Sports" Goofy continues with his RunningGag of trying to sing the National Anthem except he is singing America the Beautiful however he has notecards to help him remember the lyrics all over his body. So while performing a song in front of a paying audience Goofy strips naked with only one of his larger cards covering him.
  • Held Gaze: In the episode "Max's Embarrassing Date", Max and Roxanne stare into each other's eyes before they Almost Kiss, wherein Minnie interrupts them.
  • Here We Go Again!: "Goofy for a Day" has Max take over Goofy's job as waiter over the assumption that his dad's job is easy, only to give up after discovering the hard way that taking customers' orders and delivering them to the right people isn't as simple as he assumed. The end of the episode has Goofy offer to handle Max's job as parking valet for similar reasons to his son not seeing what's so hard about being a waiter.
  • Hey, You!: Mushu in Dining Goofy.
  • Hidden Depths: It's all jokes, of course, but we can get some idea of what other aspect the characters are outside of their movie arcs.
    • Big Bad Wolf is friends with Chernabog and seems to support his friend getting together with Maleficent in House of Villains.
    • The Horned King is the only character to guest star from the Black Cauldron, and the little we see of him seems to imply he has a more courteous and well-mannered side to him aside from his terrifying aspects.
  • The Hilarity of Hats: A whole song about them, sung by the Mad Hatter of course.
  • Hopeless Suitor: Mortimer as always to many of the other female guests including Laverne from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, and Madam Mim from The Sword in The Stone to name three examples.
  • Hostile Show Takeover: Pete has one at one point, and in another episode Scrooge McDuck buys the club and nearly drives everyone away by being so stingy.
  • Humanlike Hand Anatomy: Averted with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and any Dogface that shows up because the former two are Funny Animals with feet shaped like human feet and the latter two have that along with a completely humanoid body shape. Donald, Daisy and the rest ducks play it straight by having lower bodies that are less anthropomorphic than their upper bodies.
  • Hurricane of Puns: Where do we start?!
    • Hades comments on it in one episode. His attitude on the subject clearly hasn't changed since he and Jafar teamed up.
    • Most of the dishes on the menu.
    Max: You know; Baby-Hunchback-ribs, Winnie the Poit, Lion King-cutlets with Zazu-cchini.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Max has a hard time driving a car and narrowly avoids crashing into another car, whose occupant screams "Watch it, you maniac!" The other driver? Cruella de Vil.
  • Implausible Deniability: Pete does this in the first episode when he denies being responsible for stealing the cartoons and tying up Horace Horsecollar. He says that the rope used to tie Horace up isn't his when it clearly says that it belongs to him, he fits his hands over the fingerprints while claiming that they aren't his fingerprints, and he says that he doesn't know Horace Horsecollar right before saying "Hi, Horace" after Horace says hello to him.
  • In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: Almost every Disney cartoon show has had "Disney's" prefacing the title, but House of Mouse is always referred to as Disney's House of Mouse on Wikipedia.
  • Incompetent Guard Animal: In the short "Pluto vs. the Watchdog", Mickey tries to test Pluto's watchdog abilities by pretending to be a burglar, but he's only interested in playing with him, prompting him to buy another dog. Little does he know that the new dog is actually working with Pete to help rob the house, but Pluto ends up foiling both of them.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Goofy comes up with "Jafar was gonna get back at Mickey for calling Donald a ham if Donald got him the lamp, but Mickey got him the lamp, so shouldn't Jafar get back at Donald?" (And what Disney villain would turn down the chance to torment the Butt-Monkey?)
    • The Mad Hatter shows he's, well, mad during the musical number "Soup or Salad, Fries or Biscuits" by ordering pizza with "no crust, no sauce and no cheese."
  • Intercontinuity Crossover: The show has Mickey and friends as well as numerous characters from the Disney Animated Canon and the Silly Symphonies shorts all under the same roof, plus Pepper Ann & her mother outside the club in the first episode.
  • Ironic Echo Cut: Done twice when Jafar is scheduled to perform at the House of Mouse.
    Mickey: Gee, I hope they're not lost.
    (Cut to Jafar and Iago standing in the middle of the desert)
    Iago: We are SO lost.
    Jafar: Calm yourself, Iago. Mickey won't replace us.
    (Cut back to the House of Mouse)
    Mickey: Now who can replace them?
  • Irony: Tony Jay voices the Magic Mirror and Shere Khan, but not Frollo, his most iconic Disney voice role before his death.
  • It's All About Me:
    • Donald is secretly jealous of Mickey's game and has made numerous attempts to turn the spotlight on him (despite being the co-owner of the House of Mouse), he even attempted to change the logo into House of Duck, but he soon accepts that Mickey is the owner.
    • Every time Daisy gets a musical number, it's a parody of a famous Disney song rewritten to be about her own delusions of self-importance.
  • I Would Say If I Could Say: Hades remarks in "Halloween with Hades" that Maleficent's name would warm his soul if he had one.
  • Jerkass:
    • Pete, of course.
    • Several of the guests and/or episode centric characters, particularly the ones related to Donald Duck (Baby Shelby, Humphrey, the Aracuan Took a Level in Jerkass for this show, etc). Pain and Panic have an episode to themselves that specifically plays up how jerkish they are.
    • Most of the villains, though they're generally willing to be amiable. Sometimes. Just make sure you don't tick them off.
    • Mortimer Mouse is also rather mean. The lengths he'll go to make a fool out of Mickey and steal his girlfriend Minnie border on Hate Sink.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: In one episode where the club goes over budget and needs to fire someone, Donald decides it should be Goofy. Mickey tells him they won't fire their friend, but Donald is right Goofy does fit the criteria Minnie laid out for selecting a candidate.
    Minnie: It'll have to be someone who doesn't get their work done, makes mistakes, asks for time off, and breaks things.
    Goofy: (entering the room) Daisy, I didn't finish setting the tables. Donald, I accidentally locked the front door and now no one can get in. Minnie, is it okay if I take every other week off? And Mickey, I broke your TV.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite helping Mickey fixing Timon and Pumbaa's friendship, Donald still wants to change the House of Mouse to "House of Duck".
  • Karma Houdini: Chip and Dale do not get any repercussions for stealing the nuts given to the guests since they are never found out and Mickey and Goofy wrongfully accuse Donald of being the thief and Donald’s only let off the hook because they assume he was only stealing the peanuts to fill up the club to celebrate Chip and Dale’s appearance in the house.
  • Lampshade Hanging: In the episode where Timon and Pumbaa are the special guests, Simba (the star of the movie they debuted in) complains that "those guys always get all the attention".
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: King Louie was replaced by his twin brother King Larry because Louis Prima's estate was entitled to royalties should King Louie make an animated appearance anywhere at the time. As of 2011, King Louie making appearances in Disney's works is no longer an issue.
  • Let's See YOU Do Better!:
    • Having had enough of Pete's criticism, Mickey and the entire staff quit and get Pete to try to run the house for a night. Pete changes the name to "Pete's House of Villains", employs some of the Disney Villains, and things are off to an auspicious start, but gradually things fall apart and Pete begs for Mickey to take the House back.
    • In another episode Max keeps talking down to Goofy the head waiter for having the easiest and least important job compared to Mickey and Donald. He learns the hard way that from Goofy's POV House of Mouse is a Crème de la crème restaurant with some of the most dangerous villains as regulars.
  • Limited Wardrobe: The characters dress the same almost every single night (except in the Halloween episodes, of course).
  • "Lion King" Lift: In "King Larry Swings In", while preparing for the arrival of King Louie's twin brother, Mickey reminds Donald that he's had bad luck with royalty in the past; cut to a Flashback recreating Simba's presentation, with Donald holding the baby Simba... only to drop him.
  • List Song: Professor Von Drake performs one in "House of Genius," listing off many of the Disney characters in attendance (plus Roy E. Disney).
    • The Mad Hatter's song about hats is another example. Though him being the Mad Hatter, it totally derails into implausible hats like "Hats that are made up of giant broccoli!"
  • Look Behind You: "Oh! Look! Annette Funicello!"
  • Loves My Alter Ego: Subverted by Clarabelle in the Super Goof episode.
  • Meat-O-Vision: When dinner is late in "Goofy's Menu Magic", the guests start seeing their dining companions as roast chickens, save for Clara Cluck who appears like a bug when seen by Timon and Pumbaa. Dumbo also pictures Timothy Mouse as a peanut.
  • Medium Awareness: All the cartoon characters know they're cartoons. Lampshaded by everything everywhere.
  • Metaphoric Metamorphosis: Donald literally being turned into a ham after overdramatically reacting to Mickey calling him one.
  • Mocky Mouse: In a rare example of the trope where the expy is actually in a Disney work, Dennis Duck blatantly takes some cues from Mickey Mouse and is mainly based on his trickster personality from his earlier shorts.
  • Modest Royalty: Aurora seems to prefer wearing her peasant dress from her "Briar Rose" identity over her fancy gown from her princess identity since she's seen with the former on in almost all of her appearances at the House.
  • Mundane Object Amazement: An example of this in "Donald's Lamp Trade"—the lamp in Mickey's dressing room is completely mundane, yet Jafar wants it enough to force Donald to try stealing it...not that he told Donald what he meant by "the lamp."
  • Musical Nod: A surprisingly large amount of them hidden in the background music - a great example: in the episode "Ladies Night" Minnie is the host instead of Mickey. When she comes out, the band plays an instrumental of "Minnie's Yoo-Hoo" that is easy to miss under the dialogue and sound effects. Plus, nearly every musical number in the show is a redone version of an older Disney song.
    • "The Spectrum Song" plays as Mickey confronts Professor Von Drake in "Ask Von Drake."
  • Mugged for Disguise:
    • "Unplugged Club" has Pete drag Goofy off-screen and take his clothes to disguise himself as a waiter.
    • "Humphrey in the House" has Humphrey the Bear take Merryweather's clothes to disguise himself in another of his attempts to pilfer the club's food.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • Many jokes with the guests are references to their respective movies. There are also several jokes that reference the past works of Mickey and the rest of the staff, and there are a ton of gags hidden in the music.
    • Just try and count the number of Steamboat Willie jokes throughout the series. Or the number of sailor suit gags about Donald. Or the times Pete is either related to piracy or called "Peg-Leg."
    • In Pete's House of Villains Ariel holds up a sign that reads: "Someone stole my voice again".
    • In Goofy's Menu Magic, Goofy's Dippy Dawg incarnation briefly appears (albeit with pants), as Goofy's father.
    • While not on stage, Huey, Dewey, and Louie can occasionally be seen casually cameoing the outfits they wore in Quack Pack - but with the colors shifted around: Huey wears Louie's clothes, Louie wear's Dewey's and Dewey wears Huey's.
    • Mickey's flashbacks to the favor he promised Goofy in "Hickory Dickory Mickey" have Mickey and Goofy drawn in their appearances from the early 1930's shorts, with the scenes being in black and white as well.
  • Negative Continuity:
    • Guests at the House of Mouse aren't restricted to one specific form. Simba regularly flip-flops between his cub and adult forms, and Ariel makes appearances in both human and mermaid form. Plus all the many guests that died in their movies such as Mufasa and most of the villains.
    • And Jafar can drive the Cave of Wonders, in spite of the original Cave of Wonders neither moving nor letting Jafar in.
    • Plus, for any Beauty and the Beast characters, they all appear as their enchanted selves — for example, the Beast is still a beast and Lumiere and Cogsworth are still a candelabra and a clock, respectively. In the first episode after Minnie said "The crowd is turning ugly.", Beast in his human form turns back into a beast.
    • In one episode, Figaro is shown as Minnie's pet in the same show where his usual owner Geppetto is a regular.
  • Never My Fault: When Daisy finds out that Donald paid Mickey to put her act on stage, she quits because that's not how she wants to get her break; Donald responds to this by blaming Mickey for getting her mad at him.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Big Bad Wolf as "Big Bad Wolf Daddy", who performed along with The Three Little Pigs in a 1940s-style house band.
  • Nobody's That Dumb: In "Super Goof", after eating some contaminated peanuts, Goofy becomes a superhero named "Super Goof". When Clarabelle thinks she figures out who Super Goof is after finding a contaminated peanut shell, she thinks it's Dumbo despite Goofy's superhero costume is just him wearing a red jumpsuit and a blue cape with nothing obscuring his face. Goofy was not amused by this.
    Goofy: Oh, come on. I may be goofy but even I'm not that stupid.
  • Not Actually the Ultimate Question: Used as a Running Gag with Horace Horsecollar, mainly with the question "What's wrong?" (The rainforests are being cut down, nobody votes anymore, and the Internet's too dang slow!)
  • Not Me This Time: Pete isn't always responsible for the central problem of the episode. During "Rent Day" he demands they pay him rent (which is within his rights) and the only reason it becomes an ongoing problem is that Mickey carelessly spent the $50 Minnie gave him to pay Pete on cheese instead. Minnie's resigned comments indicate this is pretty typical of him too.
  • No, You: "No, it is you who will be fired" is said by both Jafar to Pete and Lumiere to Mortimer, before literally setting them on fire.
  • Obviously Evil: Jiminy Cricket lampshades this tendency in Disney villains when he gives his big speech to the audience.
    Jiminy Cricket: Avoid anyone with a fiendish cackle, sinister smile, or diabolical glare. Not necessarily in that order.
  • "Oh, Crap!" Smile: Mickey gives one in "The Stolen Cartoons" when the Queen of Hearts glares at him for lifting her skirt while looking for Pete.
  • One-Shot Character: Percival C. McLeach and Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke who both make one appearance total in the episodes "House of Crime" and "Donald Wants To Fly" respectively.
  • Only Sane Man: Minnie, who is Mickey's voice of reason whenever he gets panicked and needs to be calmed down. (Such as the very first episode.)
  • Overly Long Name: Panchito of The Three Caballeros sings a song about how he got his previously unmentioned full name of Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González.
  • Papa Wolf: In "Goofy for a Day," Max attempting to wait on Hades has him sic Pain and Panic on him to take him to the Underworld. Goofy immediately runs in to save his son before warning him about Hades.
  • Parental Bonus: At the end of Max’s Embarrassing Date, Roxanne says “I’ve got one thing to say to you about tonight,” and then proceeds to whisper in Max’s ear, causing him to look absolutely shocked. While Max later claims that she just said that it was the best date she’d ever had and couldn’t wait to come back, the previous scene was clearly meant to invoke a more salacious conclusion in the minds of the older members of the audience.
  • Parental Hypocrisy: Occurs in "Max's New Car", when Goofy refuses to give his son Max a car because he is not responsible, but is revealed to have been a rather reckless driver himself when he was younger once Max shows footage from the short Motor Mania.
  • Parody Commercial: Almost every episode ended with Mic performing one of these, announcing the fake product which had sponsored that particular episode. For example, there was "Disney Magic", a spritz which was guaranteed to make even the grouchiest person smile; the product was then demonstrated, transforming Grumpy the dwarf into Happy the dwarf. It wouldn't work on any villains or lawyers however.
  • Power Outage Plot: In the episode, "Unplugged Club", Pete attempts to sabotage the titular club by cutting the power so Mickey will be unable to put on a show and pay the club's bills. When Pete removes the battery that powers the club and it runs dead, Minnie improvises by using Zeus' lightning rod as their new power source. Pete later sabotages that plan by tricking Zeus into thinking the titans stole his chariot and taking his lightning rod with him, but Minnie comes to the rescue again by charging the battery (by having her and her friends run at it to scare it awake).
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Most of the Disney baddies appear to be these, at least in this show. When they're at the club, they're off the clock and — for the most part — are just relaxing. And even when they do do something bad, it doesn't even compare to the atrocities they committed in their respective films (for example, Jafar in the Mickey's House of Villains film merely uniting the other villains to take over the House of Mouse when in Aladdin, he tried to have the title character drowned and enslaved Jasmine).
  • Puppy-Dog Eyes: Max uses these in order to finally get a car from Goofy.
  • The Quiet One: Often the same handful of guest characters have prominent speaking roles in the show (likely due to accessibility of their voice actors). Out of the Winnie the Pooh cast, only Eeyore gets in many zingers, the others usually in silent cameos. The Bambi cast (rather fittingly) seldom speak either, to the point Bambi himself only has one line in the entire series.
  • Read the Fine Print: It is repeatedly stated that as long as Mickey and company put on a show, they get to keep the club.
  • Real-Person Cameo: At one point, during a song by Ludwig Von Drake about the guests in the club, Roy E. Disney gets mentioned and even appears as an animated character.
    • Another episode shows Hades starring in a commercial with Mr. T (As Himself too!).
  • Reality Warper: Many characters can do this on a single gag basis as long it's funny, but none surpass the Aracuan for sheer physics and causality breakage.
  • Rebus Bubble: Mickey does this to figure out that Mortimer has played him for a sap in "Mickey and the Culture Clash".
  • Recurring Extra: Oliver, Dodger, and other Disney characters who have background cameos usually in response to some mishap happening such as Goofy causing the tables to tip over in the episode "Max's Embarrassing Date" (an episode of which Oliver and Dodger have background cameos in), and the Big Bad Wolf bringing down the house in the episode "Big Bad Wolf Daddy" (the guests stand there shocked at first before cheering at the Big Bad Wolf's performance)
  • Recycled Premise:
    • The show liked to use the plot of having one of Donald's trickster nemeses visit the club and run around causing mischief, while nobody but Donald notices. While he tries to tell everybody what's going on and stop it he inevitably ends up getting injured and humiliated, in addition to being blamed for the trouble himself. Three of the episodes have this plot (using Humphrey Bear, Chip and Dale and the Aracuan), while a fourth have the plot with one of Donald's nemeses but with Mickey in Donald's place (the Baby Shelby episode), though Donald still ends up being the butt of the joke in the end.
    • "Gone Goofy," "Not-So Goofy" and "Dining Goofy" all have the basic premise of Goofy being too... well... goofy, and the rest of the staff deciding something needs to be done about his clumsiness, only for their plan to succeed too well and for them to want Goofy back (or in Donald's case, to tolerate him a bit more) by the end. Likewise, both "Clarabelle's Christmas List" and "Clarabelle's Big Secret" use the plot of Clarabelle having a secret gossip bombshell that she plans to unveil at the end of the show, which causes the rest of the cast - paranoid about being embarrassed - to go nuts trying to stop her from revealing it.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Dennis the Duck from the episode of the same name—he's regarded in-universe as a famous 1920s cartoon character, with Mickey even calling him "legendary" at the end of the episode and treating him as an extra special guest overall, but he was actually created specifically for the episode with no prior basis as something of an Affectionate Parody of the old black and white rubber hose characters. Some fans have speculated that he's meant to be a stand-in for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit but there's no confirmation of this.
  • Removable Shell: Baby Shelby and Mama Turtle have these.
  • Rump Roast: After Mortimer takes advantage of being Mistaken for Special Guest, the real critic, Lumiere, decides to punish him with a Rump Roast.
  • Running Gag:
    • Thomas O'Malley and the Alley Cats from The Aristocats are constantly invited to perform at the House, but something always happens that results in their act being canceled.
    • Also "nobody (does X) like Gaston."
    • Something happening to cause all the guests to leave in a rush, trampling Donald as he tries to stop them.
    • Aladdin stealing other people's bread. One episode combines this with the previous gag by having the audience rush to the exit, with Aladdin at the rear carrying armfuls of bread from the kitchen.
    • One that comes from a short in Mouseworks and continues into House Of Mouse: people, particularly machines, calling Donald "Duwald" thanks to (intentionally or accidentally) misunderstanding his speech - much to his chagrin.
    • Mr. Toad's insane driving, which often takes him crashing through the front doors and careening through the club. In one episode he gets in a high-speed chase and arrested. Doubles as a Mythology Gag, given what happened to him in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
    • The opening sequence's "____________, it's Disney's House of Mouse!"
  • Savethe Villain: House of Crime
  • Scenery Censor:
    • In "Salute to Sports", Goofy wrote the lyrics for a song he's singing on cards attached to various part of his body. He removes the clothes that hides these cards (including his Goofy Print Underwear) until the cards are the only thing hiding his dignity.
    • Chernabog is once seen sitting at a table inside the club, and he's just as nude as in his segment in the film. The table blocks the view, though.
  • Screw Yourself: Averted when Prof. Von Drake makes an Opposite-Sex Clone of himself as an example of his perfect mate who is "exactly like (him)" in the Valentine's Day episode. They end up getting into a fight because Ludwig gets annoyed with his female clone always finishing his sentences.
  • Self-Deprecation: In "Jiminy Cricket", Mickey intros a cartoon by saying, "Now here's a really great cartoon!" This causes his nose to suddenly grow.
  • Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Mickey uses this in order to appear more sophisticated in "Mickey and the Culture Clash".
  • Shout-Out: To many of Disney's animated films, obviously, and essentially the entire Disney canon up to that point.
  • Show Within a Show: Main Street Gossip.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Mortimer Mouse and Gaston.
  • Spanner in the Works: One plot of Pete's was to sabotage the thermostat so that it was unbearably hot, driving the customers out. As Pete goes to gloat and demands the house over, he and Mickey find one last customer: Hades. And when Pete tries flooding Hades out, Ariel shows up instead.
  • Spiritual Successor: To The Muppet Show, in terms of framing device and style of humor.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Despite the hundreds of Disney characters present, if the plot doesn't revolve around Pete's latest scheme, it's usually got Timon and Pumbaa, Hades, or Jiminy Cricket upfront. Likely due to their Ensemble Dark Horse status.
  • Stalling the Sip: In "Pluto Saves the Day", this happens when Pete, disguised as Snow White, tries to trick Goofy into eating a poisoned apple.
    Pete: (in falsetto) Oh, Goofy! I have a delicious apple for you!
    Goofy: No thanks. Ma said never to take fruit from a stranger.
    Pete: But I'm Snow White.
    Goofy: Yeah? Well, who's that? (points to the real Snow White)
    Pete: Uh, well, uh, you know... An apple a day keeps the doc away.
    Goofy: But I like Doc.
    Pete: (normal voice) Just eat this apple!
    Goofy: Okay, Snow. Bet'cha Prince Charming never saw this side of ya before the kiss.
    (Pete shoves the apple in Goofy's mouth)
  • Stock Audio Clip: With the obvious exception of the two episodes that focus around him ("Suddenly Hades" and "Halloween with Hades"), any lines Hades has in an episode are always recycled from episodes of Hercules the Series.
  • Stock Footage: Crowd applause shots are constantly reused as are a number of shots where Horace is told to "hit it," plus the various scenes of Huey, Duey, and Louie's musical act.
  • Suicide as Comedy: Dennis the Duck, depressed that Donald dislikes him, attempts to rub himself out with an eraser. Donald finds him and re-draws him over and over as Dennis continues to erase himself.
  • Sure, Let's Go with That: When Hades tries to court Maleficent, Mickey advises him to try to be nice and more like him to impress her. It doesn't work, but Hades' subsequent rage impresses Maleficent. Mickey delivers a "Lesson of the Day" Speech about being yourself, and Minnie coyly suggests he planned it all along. Mickey hesitates, and invokes this trope.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: King Larry, the so-called twin brother of King Louie from The Jungle Book (1967).
  • Talking with Signs: In "Ladies Night", a smashed electronic device manages to flash "OUCH!" before it breaks.
  • Take That!:
    • Two early episodes feature appearances by the Censor Monkeys, an obvious jab at the censorship that the Classic Disney Shorts (and other theatrically-released cartoons) endured when shown on television.
    • The ad for "Disney's Magic in a Bottle," which can cheer up anyone except "Disney villains and lawyers."
    • The episode where Mortimer pretends to be a critic and makes ridiculous demands just to freebies seems to be one at toxic fandoms and hatedoms that have extreme expectations for a show or movie.
  • Thememobile: Several characters who didn't have a vehicle in their movie are given a thematic car in House of Mouse. When Jafar isn't utterly breaking canon by the aforementioned driving-the-Cave-of-Wonders, he has a snake car.
  • Threat Backfire: In the episode "Suddenly Hades" this happens with Pete when his plan to make the club so warm all the guests leave succeeds but also fails at the same time. He doesn't count on Hades remaining and saying he loves the heat.
  • Toilet Humour:
    • One Running Gag is Pumbaa's flatulence.
    • A downplayed example happens in "Daisy's Debut", where Mickey's half of "I'm the Mouse and I'm the Duck" has him mispronounce "pout" as "poot".
    • In "Unplugged Club", when Eeyore performs stand-up comedy, he says "I just want to start off by saying I'm not gonna tell any Pooh jokes." Upon hearing this, Piglet says "But Pooh's funny!"
  • Took a Level in Badass: Mickey in House Of Villains. When his usual cheerful diplomatic nature is laughed off by the roster of villains, the mouse finds his old Fantasia wizard hat, and starts throwing fireballs in a Tennis Boss match against Jafar.
  • Toon Town: "Downtown Main Street" is implied to be an unseen corner of Disneyland, and Mickey and the gang's hometown in the Mouseworks shorts is Disneyland's Toontown.
  • Totem Pole Trench: "House Ghosts" has a scene where the Seven Dwarves stand on top of each other to impersonate Paul Bunyan.
  • The Determinator: Donald's pursuit of the Aracuan Bird in the episode "Donald and The Araucan Bird" revolves around this trope and Donald's failed attempts to catch the bird. Their chase even has the two end up in the control room where Horace Horsecollar runs the cartoon player and The Aracuan Bird pulls out a mallet and flattens Donald into a disk and inserts him into the cartoon player. By the time the cartoon is over, the Aracuan Bird puts a bucket over Horace's head and Donald and the Aracuan Bird resume their chase as Horace is left confused as to what just happened.
  • The Trope Formerly Known as X:
    • Donald temporarily goes as The Duck Formerly Known As Donald in "The Three Caballeros". The whole incident inspired Mickey to close out the episode as "The Mouse Currently Known As Mickey".
    • In another episode, Pete performs on stage and is referred to as "The Villain Formerly Known As Peg-Leg Pete."
  • The Voiceless: Percival C.McLeach and Mr.Snoops who following the passing of their voice actors George C.Scott and Joe Flynn in 1999 and 1974 respectively, are given no lines of dialogue out of respect for their late voice actors.
  • Unholy Matrimony:
    • There's a Hades/Maleficent episode. Hades wants to impress Maleficent and Mickey gives him advice that only makes the situation worse. But when Hades gets mad at Mickey and stops being nice, Maleficent likes him and the two of them leave together. It ends with Mickey giving the (rather broken) message "Even if you're a bad-tempered lord of the underworld, you should always be yourself!"
    • Maleficent seems to be a bit of a Disney Villain Dude Magnet in the series; in "Max's Embarrassing Date", she can be seen on a date with Jafar (which doesn't go too well), and in "House of Villains" she flirts with Chernabog, who claims to "love her work".
  • The Unintelligible: Both Gus Goose and Clara Cluck only communicate via honking and clucking sounds respectively.
  • Unusual Euphemism: Mickey uses these a lot for swearing. Sometimes exclaiming "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!" or "Ah, Jiminy Cricket!" when he's frustrated.
  • Verbal Backspace: In "Timon and Pumba," Mickey accidentally signs off saying, "That's all folks!" before correcting himself.
  • Villain-Based Franchise: Because of the disastrous box office failure of The Black Cauldron, the Horned King and his henchmen are the only characters from that film to actually appear in this show.
    • Sleeping Beauty is also a case of this, because Aurora and the Good Fairies only make non-speaking appearances, while Maleficent stars in an episode.
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Pete becomes a victim of this trope in the episode "Pluto Saves The Day" courtesy of Dodger, Tito, DeSoto, and the other Disney dogs from before that performed in the Pet Shop Dogs quartet chasing him out of the club. He also falls victim to this trope in the episode "Suddenly Hades" when Chernabog's minions foil Pete's attempts to use a bulldozer to sabotage Chernabog's Bald Mountain act.
  • Villain Song:
  • "The Villain Sucks" Song: Mortimer's song in Ladies Night, which was written by himself, praises himself. When Minnie, Daisy and Clarabelle sing it and the reception is negative, they change the lyrics so that they insult Mortimer. Everyone, even the villains, loves the new version.
  • Visual Pun: Happens quite a lot. For example, "The crowd is turning ugly!" (cue cut to Belle’s Prince turning back into the Beast) and two line sketches saying that Mickey is lucky to be "overdrawn" because "We're not done yet!"
  • We Want Our Idiot Back!: Goofy becomes subject to this in "Not So Goofy," when José Carioca teaches him how not to be clumsy. At first people are glad he is able to wait tables without issue, but when he loses his trademark goofiness in the process, the others begin to regret being so hard on him.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at The House Of Mouse ends with everyone still snowed in at the House Of Mouse, but at least Donald has "Christmas spirit" now.
  • Who Writes This Crap?!: A self-indulgent song about Mortimer Mouse in "Ladies Night".
    Daisy: Oh, brother. Who wrote these lyrics?
    Clarabelle: I'll give you three guesses.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
    • The unhappy customers in "Dining Goofy".
    • The stew attack in "Goofy's Menu Magic".
  • Witch with a Capital "B": Daisy tries to move some villains to different seats and Hades says "Witch" in this tone. It doubles as Insult Friendly Fire since he's sitting with Jafar, Ursula, and the queen from Snow White.
  • World of Pun: Aside from being anthropomorphic, the technology in the house seems to run entirely on this. One time, the battery for the main power went dead, until being startled awake by the Minnie and co charging it. Another time, Pete's evil plan revolved around taking money the thermostat owed him until it was broke. Here's another example:
    Geppetto: I didn't get a wink of sleep last night.
    Pinocchio: I slept like a log!
  • You Meddling Kids: Pete quotes the Scooby-Doo villains when Donald foils one of his plots to shut down the House.
  • You Monster!: In "Halloween with Hades", Panic yells "You monsters" after seeing that Mickey has made Hades dress like him and act nicer.
  • You Say Tomato: The song "I'm the Mouse and I'm the Duck" from "Daisy's Debut".

 
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How to Haunt a House

After Goofy failed to scare Donald throughout the cartoon as a ghost, he wakes up Donald after reading a book on sleeping with your eyes open and got frightened. He ends up running out of the haunted house, where he ends up hit by a car, becoming a ghost himself. The narrator lampshades this where at the end of the cartoon, they chase each other, scream comically and then Iris Out.

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5 (14 votes)

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