Mickey's House of Villains

In this feature-length spin-off from the now defunct Saturday morning House of Mouse series, a cadre of villains, including Jafar from Aladdin, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, the evil queen Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, and Hades from Hercules, plan a trick for Mickey--a toon takeover of the House of Mouse, that fabled hot spot where classic Disney characters gather to watch Disney cartoons. As the clock ticks toward midnight, Mickey introduces eight Halloween-themed animated treats, including the vintage "Trick or Treat," "Lonesome Ghosts," and "Donald Duck and the Gorilla," while the villains take the spotlight for the musical number "It's Our House Now." Marketing-savvy Disney has found a clever way to recycle cartoons with clever interstitial writing and in-jokes for animation buffs, while the cartoons themselves are sure to be a real scream for Disney fans not yet old enough for PG-rated Halloween scares. Recommended. Aud: P. (K. Lee Benson)