Many milestones have been celebrated at Disneyland since it opened in 1955, usually involving the park or the larger Disneyland Resort itself hitting a notable anniversary year. In 2023 though, the Disneyland Resort is part of a much bigger celebration, one that goes companywide, thanks to the 100th anniversary of the entire Disney company.
There are a lot of ways this celebration is reflected, including new displays, merchandise, and nighttime shows, but perhaps the most exciting for guests is the recent opening of a major new ride, focused on the mascot of the company, Mickey Mouse and his longtime love, Minnie.
Read on for more on that attraction, some other highlights of Disney 100 at Disneyland, and thoughts from the community at Fandom’s Disney Wiki about why Mickey Mouse is such an enduring character.
WORTHY OF MICKEY
Disneyland is actually the second location for the newly opened Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, which first debuted in 2020 at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios. Though there have been some attractions that had some imagery of Mickey included, it’s a bit surprising that it’s taken this long for this character to truly get a full attraction built around him and the Disney imagineering team were particularly happy to now have it at Disneyland.
“To bring an experience to life starring two of our most important characters – especially at Disneyland Park, Walt Disney’s original park – is an incredible honor. Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse uniquely embody a welcoming and comedic spirit,” said Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz (Portfolio Executive Producer at Walt Disney Imagineering).
Runaway Railway is a notably modern and impressively fun version of an all-ages Disney attraction, utilizing a trackless ride system – like the one used in the beloved Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – to tell the story of what happens when the debut of MIckey and Mnnie’s new animated short, Perfect Picnic, goes off the rails (pun very much intended) after you board a train with Goofy as the engineer. Soon enough, the train cars, yours included, separate, with Mickey and Minnie attempting to save you as you careen through an animated world depicted through some very eye-popping visuals.
“I absolutely love the character [of Mickey Mouse], and think it has survived since the 20s for many reasons. His design is so simple, yet unique enough that you couldn’t find it anywhere else. Disney has made sure to give their beloved mascot enough spotlight to show up in movies and shows across time.” – ScaryLookinHobo on Fandom’s Disney Wiki
Jonathan Friday (Sr. Creative Director) said he felt the ride had a lot of appeal for guests of all ages, remarking, “It’s got cartoon thrills, it’s got a fun big musical score. It’s kind of got everything that you want in a quintessential Disney attraction. And I think it’s something that grandparents, grandchildren, moms, dads, everyone can do together.”
He added that Runaway Railway was a particularly strong spotlight for the benefits of a trackless system, as you move about the floor while other guests do the same in their own cars post-derailing, noting, “We start off as a train but we don’t end up as a train for very long, as four of our cars are gonna get their own particular path. We were able to infuse a little bit of personality into the cars, so they behave a little bit differently as we go through each of the scenes.” Friday noted that with sequences focused on a stampede, a dance lesson, and a tornado, “Kind of in every scene, our vehicles are moving in a slightly different way. And I think for us, that just lets us immerse you in the story in a more cohesive way.”
Stylistically, the look of the characters is modeled after the Mickey Mouse animated shorts series from the past decade, with Friday remarking, “We knew that we wanted to keep to the new stylized version of Mickey that we’ve seen in the shorts that debuted on Disney Channel and are now on Disney+. But what we were also able to do at Disneyland, which is unique to Disneyland, is take you through this exhibit that walks you through Mickey’s history.”
A QUEUE WORTH QUEUEING FOR
As Friday referenced, even those who have experienced Runaway Railway in Orlando will find something very notably different about going to the attraction at Disneyland – beyond a small extra scene moment in the ride itself.
In recent years, more time has been spent adding more entertaining elements to the queue area for major theme park attractions, and the Disneyland version of Runaway Railway is a true standout in this regard. Where the Orlando version used the pre-existing theming of Hollywood Studios’ Chinese Theater replica (previously home to The Great Movie Ride), the Disneyland version was built from the ground up, themed around the El CapiTOON Theater — a play on the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood that Disney runs — with the queue taking you through quite a journey through Mickey’s past.
“I think Mickey has held up over the years because of his charming personality and his ability to make people laugh. We like to surround ourselves with things or people that make us happy, and smiling is contagious!” – Bonkers D. Bobcat on Fandom’s Disney Wiki
“You walk through ‘Mickey through the Ears,’ put on by the Toontown Hysterical Society,” Friday said, regarding the theming around an exhibit looking at Mickey’s history. “You get to see Mickey evolve from black and white and Steamboat Willie to Fantasia to to the modern day look that we know now. So I think our hope was that no matter what version of Mickey or what Mickey looked like when you’re growing up, you’re going to find him somewhere in the queue here as you approach the attraction.”
This is done via both by including imagery from actual cartoons and other media Mickey Mouse has been associated with – including deep cuts like the Mousercise album from the 1980s – to full size costumes in display cases evoking Mickey’s looks from specific animated stories, such as 1990’s The Prince and the Pauper. And then there’s the movie posters, which humorously take actual Disney live-action films and put a toon spin on them.
Said Allie Wong (Graphic Designer), “As soon as you walk through the queue, you see there’s so many Disney details that we put into it. I remember all these brainstorms where I was thinking of all the different movies we could incorporate and all the different characters through the 100 years.”
The team worked hard to go far beyond the obvious choices for characters to include, with Friday adding, “Some characters you have not seen in a while are sprinkled through some of the posters. You’re gonna find lots of funny Easter eggs for fans who’ve been with us for a lot of that journey. You’ll find Mickey’s nephews, Minnie’s nieces, the cast of Duck Tales… You’re gonna find them all,” with Wong pointing out a nod to the 1980s animated series Gummi Bears at the movie theater concession stand you pass by on the way in.
The Disneyland version of Runaway Railway is located in the Mickey’s Toontown area of the park, which meant they wanted the look and backstory of the El CapiTOON to fit that area. Explained Wong, “This is where Mickey comes to premiere movies with his friends. Mickey and Minnie are celebrities and so this is really where they get to showcase all their movies. The El CapiTOON was inspired by an art deco style, but because we’re in Mickey’s Toontown, we made it “toon deco” – to make it toony and really over exaggerate, add a lot of colors, make it really playful and fun.”
“[Mickey] is always helpful and friendly but also adventurous and inventive. He is almost always cheerful.” – Marc Selman on Fandom’s Disney Wiki
Disney Parks attractions are known for their famous “Hidden Mickeys,” but just because Mickey Mouse is front and center at Runaway doesn’t mean he’s not hidden as well. Friday laughed that while yes, Mickey is “not-so-hidden” at the attraction, you should keep your eyes peeled in other areas. Pointing to the popcorn at the concession stand in the queue, he added, “Even here actually, if you look closely at some of the popcorn, you’ll find one shaped like Mickey and Minnie and Donald too. We do have a lot of hidden Mickeys.”
MERCH AND MORE
Not shockingly, there is a ton of new merchandise released at Disneyland Resort and other Disney Parks tied to Disney 100. With an entire century to look back on, plenty of planning went into this and Disneyland Resort Spokesperson Oscar Moto told me, “It’s been at least a year where we have been preparing and imagining all of these so we are able to celebrate with all our guests.”
There is so much about Mickey that makes him the legendary figure he is. He was the inspiration that saved Walt Disney from bankruptcy, a glimmering prospect that was, at the time, his only hope to make it big, and Mickey Mouse put him on the map, and he would never leave. He is the cornerstone of the biggest franchise cinema has ever known. Not to mention that Walt Disney himself voiced Mickey Mouse first. That’s just too iconic. – Zrob8 on Fandom’s Disney Wiki
While there were items tied specifically to Disneyland or Disney Parks in general, Moto said they really wanted to stress that “The 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company is not just the parks, it’s the Walt Disney Company in general.” That was reflected in a lot of the merchandise, such as the line labeled the Studio Collection, which included items like a light up sketch board like an animator might use, or a large, impressive lamp that is a replica of the water tower that sits at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA.
Throughout Disneyland Resort you’ll find decorations and symbols of the 100th anniversary, including Mickey and Minnie statues. And timed to the kickoff of the celebration was the debut of two new nighttime shows, one for each of the parks. At California Adventure, a new version of their World of Color show – utilizing large projection and light displays on top of cascading water – has debuted, called World of Color – ONE. Focused on several beloved Disney and Pixar animated films and their characters, including Moana, Coco, Encanto, Mulan, and more, the show also notably incorporates Marvel and Star Wars elements alongside those aforementioned Disney and Pixar ones, with sections that feature those franchises characters and music, along with dialogue from the films and series. (the crowd I attended ONE with cheered hearing the Avengers theme)
As for Disneyland, their increasingly elaborate fireworks-based shows have leveled up once more with Wondrous Journeys, which incorporates projected footage running through the history of Walt Disney Animation Studios films and a focus on how animation is created, showing characters like Mickey Mouse, Bambi, Ariel, and Mirabel being brought to life. Most of the Disney 100 merch based around Disney characters focuses on core classics like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy, but as Moto noted, not only do these two new nighttime shows include plenty of others, but a huge spotlight is given to Big Hero 6’s Baymax, who actually is seen flying by the famous Disneyland castle.
Crowds were cheering for Baymax as he made his debut, something that wouldn’t be a surprise to Moto, who told me he felt, “That’s one of the new highlights. That’s pretty cool.”
The brunt of the Disney 100 celebration debuted January 27, but spokespeople for the company noted there will be additional elements as well, including the return of the popular Magic Happens parade on February 24 and the full reopening of Mickey’s Toontown on March 8 beyond the area Runaway Railway is located in, which includes some re-theming and newly added elements.
