Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures

Undoubtedly this is one of the more innovative cartoons of the '80s, which is not particularly surprising, given it has the talents of both Ralph Bakshi (of "Fritz The Cat" fame) and John Kricfalusi, who would score another cult-favorite four years later with "Ren & Stimpy."

The show, which lasted only one season, added tongue-in-cheek humor to the proceedings (see the "Quotes" section.) It was this rapid-fire wit that was the precursor to the likes of "The Simpsons", among others. This is the same kind of wit that's missing in most cartoons nowadays, which are more concerned with product placement and commercial accessibility (how else to explain how a generation of youngsters embrace something as hollow as "Pokémon"?)

Sadly, there's a dark spot in the show's history, one that led to it's demise. An episode that aired on April 23(?), 1988, drew the attention of Rev. Donald Wildmon. This particular episode featured a scene that showed Mighty Mouse sniffing what appeared to be cocaine. In actuality, Mighty Mouse was sniffing a dead, dried-up flower that had been given to him by Scrappy, the orphan. (This was an incredible piece of symbolism: the flower represented good in a world of evil.) Even when confronted with this, Wildmon insisted that it was cocaine. This led to protest from media watchdogs, which prompted brass at CBS to move the show to a later timeslot, only to cancel it shortly thereafter. Aside from a brief reappearance on the Fox network in November 1992, the show hasn't been widely seen.

All in all, if there's one relic from the 80's worth bringing back, this is it. And you gotta love that a capella reworking of the theme. :-)

This is something I happen to know a little bit about. I saw the alleged coke sniffing episode, it is called "The Littlest Tramp". I was fortunate enough to record it off the air. It was actually shown twice before they got in trouble, and then edited in further showings (quite different from "never being seen again"). There is a British video cassette collection of New Mighty Mouse available only in PAL format; I have seen it and the alleged sniffing has been editing out. If you watch the cartoon, wait for him to say these words: "I know someone else like that". You should immediately see the pink powder fly up his nose. If you see Mighty staring at a fire or something else, the scene is missing. I saw John K at an appearance at the Seattle Art Museum. He said that he was the director, Bakshi was the producer. Both of those guys can say that it was a symbolic flower all that they like, that's their perogative. I say that if someone sniffs powder up their nose, it is a drug reference. It also seems to me that the show went on for quite some time after this happened.

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 have to say that I never was a fan of the original Mighty Mouse. However, I liked the style of the new Mighty Mouse. Why? Well, because despite the strange style of the show, I found it very funny and clever. I liked the animation, the new characters, and the way in what the characters of the old Mighty Mouse were used.(Like the episode of Gnady Goose)

even when John Kricfalusi said that this show didn't have his humor style, there are some elements in common with his other shows, as "Ren & Stimpy" and "The Goddamn George Liquor Program". (at least in the animation and the bizarre characters and situations) I miss a lot this one. It is one of the few cartoons that loved as a kid and I still like it.

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.