The hit Disney Jr. series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse may have slowed down as the network shifts its focus towards the upcoming Mickey and the Roadster Racers, but with sporadic new episodes and over 120 in the can there are always unseen episodes to discover. The latest DVD compilation skews more boy-centric and arrives just in time for this year’s summer Olympic games. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Sport-y-Thon features two hours worth of episodes, most of them with at least a minor sports theme.
In “Mickey’s Sport-y-Thon” Mickey and his friends are preparing for their own marathon of sports games and the winners each receive a medal. But when a spaceship lands, they find themselves competing against Martian versions of Mickey and Minnie. The other world visitors will have to learn how to play fair in order to play a nice, clean game.
Ludwig Von Drake invents a new anti-gravity ball game in “Mickey’s Mousekeball.” But when the ball goes out of bounds and lands in Willie the Giant’s backyard, the gang will need your help to pick the right tools to get their ball back. Next, Mickey and his friends have to find liquid light to power the Mosekedoer in “Mickey’s Mousekedoer Adventure.” Traveling inside the computer, Mickey, Donald and Goofy enter a TRON-like world and must be swift to get through it before the time is up.
The sports theme begins to get lost by the fourth episode. The gang celebrates Mickey’s special birthday in “Mickey’s Happy Mousekeday” by planning lots of fun activities, including a bike race. The final two episodes completely abandon the theme, but are a lot of fun. Donald Duck builds his own clubhouse in “Donald’s Brand New Clubhouse,” but quickly discovers that he has much more fun with his friends in Mickey’s clubhouse. And lastly, Mickey and his friends set out on an Indiana Jones-style adventure in “Mickey’s Mystery,” where Mickey even goes by the name “Kansas City Mickey.”
The episodes on this release are sure to be a hit with any preschooler, but holds a particular interest for young boys who enjoy sports. The convenience of being able to offer up episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse wherever you have access to a DVD player is worth the low cost of this release. Plus with a physical bonus feature, there’s an extra level of play with this DVD.
Bonus Features
There aren’t any on-disc bonus features, but the initial pressing comes with a medal just like the one Mickey and his friends receive at the end of the episode “Mickey’s Sport-y-Thon.” The coin is made of real medal and it on a tri-color ribbon with a plastic clasp to help fasten it on your child.
Packaging & Design
This standard-sized DVD case is housed in a sparkly embossed slipcover. The medal is affixed to a cardboard card inside the case and other inserts include a Disney Movie Rewards code worth 75 points and a flier for Disney Movie Club.
This release uses Disney’s Fast Play service, which allows parents to insert the disc and walk away without waiting to get to a menu to press “Play.” Letting it run its course plays an ad for Finding Dory before the episodes begin. After all the episodes play, it shows one final ad for Disney Movie Rewards. You can skip Fast Play and go directly to the main menu, where both ads are accessible under “Sneak Peeks.”
Final Thoughts
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Sport-y-Thon offers slightly more than two hours of Mickey Mouse fun. With the bonus medal and low price point, it’s not a tough decision to make for parents with kids who love this show. But as digital media grows more and more convenient, parents will have to make the call if DVDs offer more bang for the buck than a season pass on iTunes.