Mousetalgia! - Your Disneyland Podcast

This week on the Mousetalgia podcast, we celebrate the 47th anniversary of the opening of Country Bear Jamboree in Bear Country at Disneyland. Disney voice actor Peter Renaday returns to the show to talk about how he became Henry, the host of Country Bear Jamboree, and we also veer off to reminisce a bit more about the passing of Ron Miller, Pete's role in the Haunted Mansion, and some Country Bea...

In the past two weeks, the Disney fan community was rocked with the news of the passing of two legendary names in the history of the Walt Disney Company. On February 9, Ron Miller - the son in law of Walt Disney and CEO/President of the company for many years - passed away at the age of 85. Miller helped bridge the gap between Walt Disney's personal enterprise and the international entertainment c...

This week, Team Mousetalgia dips into the mailbag to answer some more of your questions about Disney-related topics, including: Disney tattoo ideas; taking large family groups to the park; Club 33 protocol and menu options; hunting down Disney cartoons and shorts; Taschen's Disneyland book; taking balloons on a plane; celebrating Mickey Mouse at Disneyland; a trip report featuring the Walk in Walt...

The Walt Disney Family Museum is celebrating its tenth anniversary year, and Team Mousetalgia reports on the happenings that will be coming throughout the year. From a report on the museum's outreach efforts to an overview of the various events that will be coming in 2019, we cover it all. As a bonus, we'll listen to legendary Disney animator and historian Andreas Deja speak about the upcoming exh...

This week, Team Mousetalgia welcomes Beci Mahnken, CEO of MEI/MouseFan Travel, back to the show to share her expertise on planning those summer vacations to the Disneyland Resort in a year that promises many exciting - and possibly challenging - changes. Beci shares her top five tips for a successful and fun vacation, regardless of the park's circumstances. Also - we talk about Disney treats in th...

This week, Team Mousetalgia welcomes Michael Vargo, Vice President of D23, to the show to talk about the upcoming D23 Expo and the state of D23 - what members can look forward to this year, new opportunities, and that amazing membership pin set for 2019. Then, we start preparing for this year's D23 Expo with a Mousetalgia therapy session including questions and concerns about the 2017 Expo and ant...

This week, we start the Mousetalgia podcast with a conversation about Disneyland ticket prices - are comparable resort experiences ever going to change public perspective of the value of a Disney vacation? Will corporate greed become a new narrative, or is supply and demand the final answer? Dive in with us. Then, the Nine Old Men exhibition closes at the Walt Disney Family Museum, and Jeff report...

This week, Team Mousetalgia invites you to listen along as Jeff tells the tale of New Year's Eve 2018 at Disneyland. The story involves wall-to-wall people, Santa Ana Winds, cancelled performances, and overpriced food - and advice on finding the magic despite the odds. The team also discusses John Lasseter's return to the animation industry, and we try to make sense of what we do know, what we don...

This week on the Mousetalgia podcast, it's anything goes as Dave, Becky, Jeff and Kristen answer questions you posed on our social media for a special AMA (Ask Mousetalgia Anything) episode to kick of 2019. Topics include Mousetalgia's origin story, our favorite characters and attractions, our thoughts on crowds at Disneyland and how they will impact the park this year, Autopia, how we make the sh...

It's time for Mousetalgia's annual year in review show! We discuss our top Disney films from 2018, favorite Disney dining experiences (Bengal BBQ vs. those corn dogs), favorite moments (Fantasmic, meeting Minnie), favorite Disney merchandise, and we hand out the infamous Oswald Awards (for when something didn't appear to go as planned). Plus - our Disney resolutions for 2019, favorite Disney ornam...

Merry Christmas! This week on Mousetalgia, we talk Candlelight with Disney historian Joseph Titizian. Joseph talks us through the history of the Candlelight Processional, and then takes us behind the scenes of this year's 60th anniversary of the ceremony, including some samples from this year's performances. Then, Kristen and Jeff discuss Mary Poppins Returns with a spoiler-free review, a discussi...

This week on Mousetalgia, Disney author and historian Jeff Kurtti joins us to talk about everything Mary Poppins: the history, the cultural impact, the new film - and his new book "Practically Poppins In Every Way." But first, we share our insightful and frank conversation with Academy-Award winning filmmaker Brad Bird about his early career with the Walt Disney Studios and lessons in animation th...

  This week, Mousetalgia takes you to the parks for some holiday dining updates. First, we review "Mickey's Tales of Adventure" Breakfast Buffet at Storyteller Cafe - omelets, prime rib and Froot Loops, oh my! We discuss the revised menu offerings and enhanced character interactions which have made the new buffet at the Grand Californian a popular dining destination. Plus, Becky offers a review of...

Mousetalgia's correspondent Lindsey reports from D23's Destination D, and we bring you the scoop on the latest news and all the happenings from the Disney fan event that was held at the Walt Disney World Contemporary Resort on November 16, 17 and 18. Lindsey discusses the exciting panels, the intriguing exhibits, the exclusive merchandise, and the exciting opportunities she had to interview some o...

Disney artists and historians Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily visited the Walt Disney Family Museum this month to discuss the Swiss Family Robinson, and to talk about their journey to Tobago to search for the film sets from the filming of this astonishing film, and Dave reports on the event. Plus, we take a holiday stroll through the history of New Orleans Square, with a look at the first years of Clu...

Mickey Mouse turns 90 on November 18, and we have a spectacular special show for you to celebrate the occasion! In honor of #Mickey90, all of the Mousetalgia family of podcasts have come together to honor the Mouse who started it all. Author/historian/D23 Contributor Jim Fanning joins Team Mousetalgia this week to talk through all nine decades of Mickey Mouse, from the original pie-eyed superstar...

Mousetalgia welcomes producer/director Don Hahn back to the show to discuss his latest film, Howard - a documentary of the life and work of Howard Ashman, the legendary lyricist behind hits including "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Aladdin". Hahn discusses the genesis of and story behind his documentary, and answers some questions about working with Ashman and how his life and d...

This week, Jeff talks to author/artist Heather Dixon Wallwork about her new novel "The Enchanted Sonata" based on the tale of the Nutcracker, and we discuss her new book in which Clara Stahlbaum is whisked away to an enchanted empire where she must face a magician who uses music as spells while she faces her own future. Heather also talks about her work as a story artist for Disney, and - as a hug...

For Mousetalgia's special Halloween episode, the "PDX Sanderson Sisters" - prize-winners from Freeform's Hocus Pocus 25th Anniversary Halloween Bash - join us to share some behind the scenes secrets from the recent production, which was filmed at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The cosplay trio talk about their origin story, the Freeform show, hanging with Doug Jones, going viral, and life as the...

This week, Mousetalgia is pleased to welcome 1954 original Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer Nancy Abbate to the show as we continue our build up to Mickey's 90th birthday. Nancy shares some stories about her time as a Mouseketeer and dancing for Walt Disney, along with the story of her career and life after the club. Then, Jeff shares a trip report about the taping of the upcoming "Mickey's 90th Spec...

This week, author and self-proclaimed geek Amy Ratcliffe joins Mousetalgia to talk about "Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy," her new book profiling 75 female characters from the Star Wars universe. Covering personalities throughout all of Star Wars from the original trilogy through "Star Wars: Resistance," the book covers an exhaustive herstory of the entire world of Star Wars, deriving content from...

"Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" turns 25 this week, and Team Mousetalgia takes a scary look back at the holiday classic that's been haunting our dreams for the past quarter century. We talk about our own memories of the film's release, and Jeff shares a Haunted Mansion moment about the special holiday overlay that takes up a quarter of the Haunted Mansion's entire operating year. The...

It's a Mousetalgia Emporium show! In this week's episode, we discuss the new Funko "Pop! Rides" Haunted Mansion vinyl collectible; the Mickey Mouse 90th Birthday Party hosted by all of the Mousetalgia podcasts; and the aftermath of the latest and greatest Van Eaton Galleries' "That's From Disneyland!" auction. Plus - Kristen launches an entire month of Halloween music performances, and we propose...

This week, Mousetalgia welcomes author and historian Jeff Kurtti back to the show to discuss his new book "From All of Us to All of You: The Disney Christmas Card." We take a deep dive into the history of the various Christmas cards distributed by the Walt Disney Studios over the years and we look at some of the artists responsible for the beautiful mailings. Kurtti also gives us a look behind the...

It's a Mousetalgia Emporium this week! Topics for the week include alcohol in Disneyland, lights on floats and remembering a friend. First, Team Mousetalgia offers a listener a "Hand with the Land" with tips for solo touring at Walt Disney World. Then, we finally tackle the issue of alcohol coming to Disneyland, and debate the pros and cons. Does the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Cantina warrant an auth...