In 2004, around the time Aladdin got the DVD treatment, Jim Hill wrote an article on two canceled Mickey projects. The first was Mickey Columbus based on the story of how Columbus discovered America with Mickey and Company in the lead. The Arab Mickey short was set to play in front of a different Beauty and the Beast version that never got past storyboard stage. “Mickey’s Arabian Adventure” got canceled according to Jim because the Studio bosses felt the talent of the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida shouldn’t be wasted on shorts.
The irony is that Pixar is doing just that today, use key people to produce a short connected to the main film who made that feature film examples include Jack-Jack Attack (The Incredibles), Mike’s New Car (Monsters Inc.), Mater and the Ghostlight (Cars) and the upcoming Wall-E short Burn-E. Not the mention the shorts that don’t tie in with a feature film like my favorite the cute For The Birds. I’m just saying if it works for Pixar now why wouldn’t it worked for Disney a decade ago when everything they made was (still) pure gold.
I for one would’ve loved to see a new Mickey short set in the desert before Aladdin.