Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures

Undoubtedly this is one of the more energetic and creative cartoons of the '80s, which isn't that surprising, given that it had the combined talents of Ralph Bakshi ("Fritz The Cat", "American Pop") and John Kricfalusi, who'd score another hit four years later with "Ren & Stimpy". The show, which lasted only one season on CBS, had a spark that's missing from most cartoons today.

One of the things that distinguished this cartoon is its deadpan sense of humor (see the Quotes section.) It goes without saying that this serves as the precursor to the likes of "The Simpsons", "King of the Hill", and many more sophisticated cartoons of the '90s.

For all the creativity throughout, there's a dark spot in the show's history, one that led to its demise. An episode that aired on April 23(?), 1988, drew the attention of Rev. Donald Wildmon. This particular episode contained a scene that showed Mighty Mouse snorting what looked like cocaine. In actuality, and in a brilliant piece of symbolism, Mighty Mouse was sniffing the dead, dried-up remains of a flower, given to him by the orphan Scrappy as a symbol of the good in the world. Despite this, Wildmon, along with other media watchdogs, instigated a strong campaign against the show. CBS brass then decided to move the show to a later timeslot; shortly thereafter, it was cancelled. Aside from a brief run on the FOX network in November-December of 1992, it hasn't been seen on television since.

Controversy aside, this still remains one of the finer pieces of animation ever seen on network television, and if there's any relic from the '80s worthy of resurrection, this would be it.

I honestly loved it because as a kid, I was always wise beyond my years. So most of the jokes and connotations were over the heads of 90% of their target audience- but they made ME laugh.... When I look at Cartoons on Adult Swim and Cartoon Network now its almost like they can't be funny without taking the adult humor to an extremely vile and offensive level. Either that or they'll throw in a gay undertone and that's not really a paradigm that I want my children to follow or think that it is funny or cute. This incarnation of Mighty Mouse pushed the envelope and made you forget about the golden age image by making it into a parody of the innocent age. IT WAS ORIGINAL. Not some cheesy retread of an old series. I personally didn't like the old school version anyway. I thought it was non-innovative like "Anybody can take the framework of Superman and project it onto a Mouse"

I liked the characters, supporting cast and villains on the new adventures. I also liked how they threw Cosmic Cow in the mix and made him an extremely wacky anti-hero. It was extremely creative.

In my opinion this cartoon should be re-aired on Adult Swim to see if people catch onto it in this era. Kids are into that stuff nowadays. But Saturday morning definitely wasn't an appropriate slot for it back then. That is probably why they pulled the plug on it so quickly.

I think that this show was a wonderful new version of the original terry Toon character, combining some elements of the original with others that were new and innovative at the time when it was released. Now the Mighty Mouse have a secret identity, also new friends and new enemies as well (as the Cow, that was my favorite villain) The show frequently parodied other shows, some from 1940's cartoons , Scooby Doo, classic and modern movies, and also the humor of the show was more sophisticated than the other cartoons of the same years, making it good for children and adults as well . The show also involved the collaboration of Bakshi with Canadian John Kricfalusi, creator of "Ren and Stimpy", (Also a good show).

I think that this show deserves more appreciation, it is way better than the horrible cartoons that were made in the recent years.

I think I was like 6 when this was on the air and it used to freak me out. not that I didn't like it, I remember totally not understanding any of it. but, 4 years later when Ren and Stimpy premiered, I became totally obsessed with the same warped comedy. I wish I could find a copy of this cartoon. it, and the twisted adventures of felix the cat. that reminds me Ralph Bakshi did NOT create Fritz the Cat. He stole it from R. Crumb. anyway, this is a great cartoon, highly recommended

Out of a sense of nostalgia, I decided to rent a DVD of this cartoon series. I remembered when "Mighty Mouse, the New Adventures" premiered back in 1987. Compared to the rest of the cartoons of the day, it was terrific. This Ralph Bakshi production was clever at times and was filled with sarcasm and as a result, adults could even enjoy it. But, I also noticed as I watched the show that by the mid-1990s, LOTS of more clever and more sarcastic cartoons had come along and were simply better. So, while "Mighty Mouse, the New Adventures" looked great when it came out (and it was ahead of its time), compared to later shows like "Animaniacs", "Pinky & the Brain" and "Time Squad", this 1987 show comes up lacking in most every way--particularly when it comes to the quality of the animation--which is awfully poor. Not a bad show but certainly not as good as my memory thought it was--probably because 1987-88 was just before cartoons in the US became rejuvenated with a much, much higher quality standard. Worth seeing but not at all a must-see.