We, at The Lemon Press, were recently invited to attend a screening of the first two episodes of the upcoming Mickey Mouse Clubhouse reboot at the Exeter Backstreet Theatre and Strip Club. Here’s what we made of it.

The series has certainly changed in the years it’s been off-air – the producers’ promise of a “more adventurous” tone is certainly showcased in the opening. The traditional scene of Mickey Mouse greeting the audience with a smile and inviting them inside his clubhouse has been replaced with him stumbling on screen red-eyed and half-dressed, unshaven, clutching a whiskey bottle, glaring at the camera for ten seconds, and then saying, in a voice drenched in contempt, “you… you”. 

Similarly, instead of the classic “meeska, mooska, Mickey Mouse!” chant being used to summon the clubhouse, Mickey just stands around complaining about “that bitch Minnie” for five minutes, occasionally making a vaguely threatening reference to the people of Llandudo, Wales, before throwing up and passing out.

Despite the severe tonal shift, the series is incredibly well-made, both in concept and in execution. The lesbian sex scene between Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse was a coup de main of cinema; Mickey’s visit to a heroin den rivalled Tarantino; and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Goofy blew his brains out with a shotgun.

Episode 1, “Donald’s Gambit” features Donald reuniting with the old gang in order to fight a rival mob boss for control of Mouse Valley. Fans of Peckinpah will especially appreciate the scene where Donald and Goofy roll up to their rival’s home with Chicago Typewriters and fill the punk with hot lead. Episode 2, meanwhile, features the gang dealing with the fallout of Mickey’s syphilis diagnosis.

TLP rates this 10/10 – fun for the whole family.