Kenneth Anger's "Mouse Heaven"

Richard Metzger is the current Boing Boing guest blogger

Kenneth Anger's creepy/funny homage to Mickey Mouse:

Richard Metzger blogs at Dangerous Minds. Follow him on Twitter.

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TroofSeeker

Didn’t realize there was a period where Mickey wore a “mouse stache”. Almost didn’t recognize him!
Remember how ancient B&W cartoons used to pulsate and throb? That was so cool. Don’t know why…

Great job, Mr. Anger!
SeeChao

Damn you Richard for making me watch that, at least it left a smaller scar on my psyche than the one left by inauguration of the pleasure dome… Which I also watched because of you, altho less directly since I think you where just editing the book of lies. Great book that btw, I think its the book that has seen to most abuse in my library at the moment(I’ve been a bit rough with it through the years)
Roy Trumbull

Was this the sequel to “Scorpio Rising”?
buddy66

Nice job. The mouse is so weird though…always gave me the creeps, even when I was a kid. But I dig the duck.

One night back in ’65 or ’66 my friends and I went to a theater to see ”Scorpio Rising,” either in West LA or Hollywood. (I’m a little vague on this because it was an acid-laced year that gave validity to the old joke that if you remember the sixties you weren’t really there.) It was a Saturday night theater where the movies you came to see were screened after the night’s regular program was over; the real things, either experimental, campy, or underground, started at midnight. Very hip for the times, that much I remember.

But that night we got to see what I think was a first. It might even remain so to this day. Kenneth Anger was out in front picketing the showing of his own film. There was some dispute between him and the people showing the print. I Don’t know how it was resolved, if it ever was, but he was definitely upset about the injustice of it all, of one thing or another. it wasn’t for publicity. He was seriously, loudly protesting.

So I didn’t get to see the movie. I never cross a picket line.
Anonymous

That was a beautiful tribute. I wonder if Disney will have the gall to sue for unlicensed use of their icon. I can understand them questioning Ron English for using the mouse as breasts… but I would really get a kick out of seeing them attack something like this. This vid perfectly reflects the argument that the mouse crept into our dark theaters, then hearts, now minds and is firmly a PUBLIC icon, an item in a global collective conscious. Seeing Disney try to bat away the fans is just another sign of the hysteria overtaking the conglomerates who don’t know what’s going to become of them when not only are copies free, but it’s becoming more chic to build your own.
skramble

I’m glad I got to see this before they get the take down notice.
License Farm

How did the other Ken A. get footage of Cory’s dreams? ;D (Of course, 15 years ago this would have been THIS Ken A.’s dreams, too.)

I wonder if those were all officially licensed merch from back in the day; some looked so off model, but originally Disney was so chuffed that anyone was putting his (and Ub Iwerks’) creation on things that I doubt they were great sticklers for details. On the other hand, I also wonder which of those might have been modern merch executed in the retro aesthetic. I doubt Clarabelle and Horace Horsecollar were such popular members of the Disney stable to warrant their own merch in the early days.
Jack

@License Farm:
To my knowledge, there were tonsâ€”literallyâ€”of characters and cartoons that comes close to or are derivations of the original Mickey Mouse. But they weren’t necessarily direct rip-offs. Just tons of small rodent-like creatures with “pie with a slice missing” eyes.
Anonymous

Just recently Mr. Anger has been hospitalized because of an attack by an ex male lover, who tried to behead him!
Takuan

@2, possibly the pulsation came from varying background “light” levels. Projection artifacts?
Anonymous

Horace and Clarabelle really did have their own merchandise in the 1930s. There were bisque figurines, wooden figurines, and children’s chinaware sets; and while I’m not aware of any formally manufactured stuffed animals at the time, McCall’s did sell licensed Charlotte Clark patterns, so 1930s dolls do turn up now and then. They were designed proportionally to Mickey and Minnie, so are tall and so floppy they can barely sit, let alone stand.
There was a manufactured Horace doll by Gund later on in the mid-1940s: http://plushcatalog.dirtybutter.com/disneypage01.htm

David Gerstein
gpeare

With Ian Whitcomb performing “Whispering”