Mickey's 60th Birthday Party is about to get underway, though Mickey can't quite fathom that people will want to see him as himself. After rummaging in his old prop trunk, he comes across the sorcerer's hat he doffed in 'Fantasia.' However, the wizard of the hat (and this time, it's not Yen Sid from 'Fantasia') warns Mickey that he doesn't need someone else's' magic when he has his own. Mickey tries to get on with the show, however, the newest member to the Disney family, Roger Rabbit, causes a bit of his own madcap destruction, destroying half the stage and blowing up Mickey's cake in the process. All seems lost, until Mickey goes against the magician's wishes, and throws on the sorcerer's hat, cleaning up the mess, and has the crowd chanting for more. All goes well, until suddenly: the mouse vanishes! The wizard is none to pleased, and after leafing through his spell book, hits on a fitting punishment: he'll make Mickey unrecognizable to others, until Mickey can find his 'own magic.' Mickey is then returned to the normal realm, but no one recognizes him anymore. And so begins his journey, as he treks his way through several sitcom locales, such as the 'Family ties' family, and even winds up in the 'Cheers' bar, where he talks up conversation with Sam Malone and the crew.
Meanwhile, the world goes into overdrive at the loss of Mickey, as media services go into all-out panic mode looking all over, doing commentaries on him from friends, and more. And as one reporter chimes, "The stock market continues to go down, Michael Eisner's blood pressure continues to go up."
The 60th Birthday special for Mickey aired in the fall of 1988, after the summer when 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' started the renaissance of animation the world over. It was a big kick for me to see Roger on screen, let alone interacting with his voice actor, Charles Fleischer, as a stagehand for the party.
A glaring thing I have often wondered, was exactly who the wizard who claims the sorcerer's hat is. He's never given a name, and all inquiries into who he is have met with roadblocks. One has to wonder why Yen Sid was not resurrected, as he could definitely stare down Mickey with those accusing eyes of his.
