Rob LaDuca & Kim Duran on Mickey Mouse’s Return to the Clubhouse

Disney’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse may have ended in 2016, but its legacy has endured on Disney+ and online, raking in billions of views on YouTube, with its song “Hot Dog!” earning over 1.1 billion views across channels and becoming certified platinum by the RIAA. Disney Branded Television decided to bring the show back, revamped as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, with an updated look, new story elements and fresh characters.

“I’ve been asking for years to bring back Clubhouse,” says Rob LaDuca, who was an executive producer on the original series and returns in that role for the reboot. “I love the old show, but the animation itself was pretty rudimentary. A CG show back then on TV was a hard thing to do. Now, we have plussed-up technology. That’s why we have a plussed-up Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”

Among the new elements of the series, “all the pals get their own clubhouses,” says Kim Duran, co-producer and story editor. “Each clubhouse is personalized to that character. For example, Goofy, who has on occasion liked to do magic tricks, has some magical areas and places for him to practice his magic. And Donald has his clubhouse as a boat, so they can actually sail off in the clubhouse. Each clubhouse is an extension of the character’s personality and it lends itself to other story ideas for us. It expands the Clubhouse world.”

An integral part of the original show was the Mouseketool segment, in which three known gadgets and one mystery tool would pop up on-screen when the clubhouse pals needed help. If the three known gadgets weren’t the right choice for the task, the pals would choose the mystery Mouseketool, which was always exactly what they needed. For Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, instead of the mystery Mouseketool, there is a Mousekepal option.

“In this series, we thought that this mystery Mouseketool can now be a pal that can help them because that’s prevalent in the series,” Duran explains. “There’s always somebody there to lend a hand to help. We’ve had some fun with it. Maybe it’s Farfus the Dragon who’s the mystery Mousekepal and can light a fire in the pizza oven for them. Or maybe it’s roller-skating Hilda. It’s exactly the pal that they need at the right time. We thought that was a kind plussed-up tool to use.”

Another major part of the new series is Little Helper, a new character created by Duran and rounded out by LaDuca. “When I created Little Helper, I thought that it was going to just be a little preschool helping hand, along with the Handy Helpers in the clubhouse—the ones that scissor out and put a hat on somebody’s head or whatever the task is,” Duran says. “Rob took the idea of Little Helper and put the character on wheels so that he could travel with Mickey and friends and added sound effects so you always know what Little Helper’s thinking, kind of like with R2D2. You always knew what R2D2 was thinking.”

“He squashes and stretches,” LaDuca says. “We kept him kind of cartoony. He’s a little mechanical thing, but he’s very expressive. His little Mickey head lights up blue when he’s happy and red when he’s alarmed.”

“It is a little preschool character that we hope the audience will relate to and see themselves in because kids love to be little helpers around their own houses,” Duran explains. “They love to eat the cookie dough, sweep up the floor and help mom and dad or grandma and grandpa. They love to help. That all ends about age nine, but our audience loves to help!”

Little Helper is what Duran is most excited for kids to see. “We’ve got the sensational six,” she says, referring to Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Daisy, Donald and Pluto. “This will be the seventh. I think kids are really going to fall in love with Little Helper.”

As with many Disney programs, music is an intrinsic part of the series. “Hot Dog!” has over 1.1 billion views on YouTube. Already, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+’s version of the song has 2.3 million views on the Disney Jr. YouTube channel after nine days. Beloved songs like “Hot Dog!” and brand-new ones are included in the reboot.

“There’s a lot of songs,” LaDuca says. “Every [episode] has at least three, along with the ‘Hot Dog!’ song and the ‘Mousekedoer’ song. When you see kids watching the old show, they are always up and marching or jumping. We incorporated that into the music so that it’s interactive. Mickey [already] talks to the audience, but then to dance and jump around with the characters is a lot of fun for the kids.”

There are new songs related to the Wacky Tube, which transports the pals up to the loft or down below the clubhouse, and the Glove Balloon, which allows them to float somewhere. There is also a song dedicated to working together.

“Music’s just a huge part of the show, whether it’s to explain a plot point or as they’re driving or doing something, to keep the audience informed on what’s going on,” Duran says.

Overall, “the look of the new show is so beautiful, and the characters are so much more expressive and there’s more funny humor,” LaDuca notes. “It’s just a plussed-up show. It really is. The name was so perfect.”