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Just a quick heads-up to all you animation & theme park history buffs out there: Profiles in History is holding an animation art auction on Wednesday, July 31st that you really don't want to miss.



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Joseph Maddalena and his PIH team always manage to chase down some truly amazing items for their auctions. Rarer-than-rare pieces like this early concept painting of Snow White from back when Walt was considering making "The Fairest in the Land" a blonde.



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Or this "Brer Rabbit's Splash Mountain" booklet that the Imagineers put together in the mid-1980s, back when Walt Disney Parks & Resorts was still trying to persuade McDonalds to come be the sponsor of this still-yet-to-be-built flume ride.



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That's what's usually so great about the animation art auctions that the Profiles in History people put together. The entertaining & eclectic mix of items that Maddalena & Co. always manage to put together. Weird period promotion items like the cell below, which shows Donald Duck dressed as the Coachman from Disney's "Pinocchio " ...



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... or how about the ultimate pool toy? Which would be a couple of full-sized deep sea diver figures that used to be part of the show at Disneyland's Submarine Voyage ride.



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But if I had to pick the one item from Wednesday's animation art auction that is the true gem, that one thing which Disney enthusiasts & pop culture fans are going to completely lose their minds over, I'd have to say that it was Item No. 374. Which is this set of 12 storyboards for a never-shot music video which was to have started Michael Jackson & Mickey Mouse.



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Yep, back in the late 1980s, the King of Pop wanted to do what his idol -- screen legend Gene Kelly -- had never been able to pull off. And that was dance with the world's most famous cartoon mouse.

For those who haven't heard this story before: Back in 1944 when Kelly was still pulling together the dance routines that he wanted to perform in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's then-upcoming musical, "Anchors Aweigh ," he reportedly reached out directly to Walt Disney and asked for his permission to use Mickey Mouse in a musical number that would combine live-action footage & animation in a way that had never been done before.



The Gene Kelly Audio Animatronic figure from the "Singin' in the Rain" sequence in

the Great Movie Ride at WDW's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

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As the story goes, Walt allegedly initially gave Gene permission to use Mickey in this soon-to-begin-shooting screen musical. But then Roy O. Disney reportedly nixed the idea, arguing that since the Studio still owed millions to the Bank of America for earlier production loans, it just wouldn't be wise for Disney to lend out the Studio's biggest star to the competition for free.

So since Gene now couldn't dance with Mickey in "Anchors Aweigh," Kelly was then forced to go with the second most famous cartoon mouse in the world. Which is Jerry the Mouse of "Tom & Jerry" fame. And while the finished version of this musical number still wound up being a wow ... To hear Michael tell this story, whenever these two legendary entertainers got together to talk about Hollywood history, Gene would always eventually wind up moaning about how Roy O. Disney had ruined his chance to work with Mickey Mouse. Which is why he had to settle for the second best cartoon mouse instead.



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Now jump ahead to September of 1986. Which is when "Captain EO" had just opened at Disneyland Park. Which -- to Michael Jackson's way of thinking, anyway -- meant that The Walt Disney Company now owed him.

And given that Michael was already been developing "Moonwalker " at this point (i.e., a "Fantasia " -like concert film that Jackson dreamed of building around some of the songs featured on his soon-to-be-released album, 1987's "Bad ") ... Well, he wasn't going to settle for second best. Michael now wanted to do what Gene Kelly hadn't been able to do 40+ years earlier. Which is why Jackson reportedly reached out to Michael Eisner and personally pitched Disney's then-CEO about Michael & Mickey possibly teaming up to do a dance routine together for this yet-to-be-shot motion picture.

Now as I understand it, it was Jackson himself who hired a former Disney artist to put together the storyboards that were used for this pitch. Which starts out with the King of Pop telling the kids he's babysitting that it is now time to go to bed.



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And as Jackson is herding this boy & girl into their bedroom, Michael notices that these kids have left some of their toys behind on the floor.



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But as Michael bends over and picks up that Mickey Mouse doll, the King of Pop's magical touch then somehow brings this plush toy to life.



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At first, Michael & Mickey just dance & interact inside of that kids playroom.



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But then with a wave of that magical paintbrush which so often appears in Disney productions ...



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... Mickey & Michael find themselves dancing through a surreal animated landscape that borrows a number of ideas & key creative concepts from the Benny Goodman sequence in Disney's 1946, "Make Mine Music ."



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The borrowing from other earlier Disney animated films continues as Mickey -- just as he did in the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequence in "Fantasia" -- lose control of the magic that powers this fantasy world. And as giant dinosaur-like musical notes threaten to eat the world's most famous mouse, it's up to the King of Pop to rescue this rodent.



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Before things get totally out of control, Mickey & Michael finally manage to make their way back to the relative safety of that kids playroom which they started out in ...



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... where Mickey now decides that he's had more than enough music & magic for one night. And as the Mouse climbs up onto the dresser ...



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... and as Michael clicks off the lights in the playroom ...



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... the camera swings back to the dresser, revealing that Mickey is now once again just a plush plaything.



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Isn't that a cute -- if somewhat slight -- concept to build a late 1980s-era music video around? Michael Jackson certainly thought so. And even though he and Disney's lawyers reportedly repeatedly tried to find a way to make this live action / animated musical extravaganza actually happen, in the end, they just couldn't get the financials to line up.

Long story short: Given that Michael had made "Captain EO" for the Disney Parks, Jackson -- being the shrewd businessman that he was -- felt that Eisner should now give him a sweetheart deal. Make him only pay pennies on the dollar for the rights to use Mickey Mouse in this proposed music video.



Mickey Mouse bows down before the King of Pop during a

1980s-era visit to WDW's Magic Kingdom. Copyright

Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Whereas Michael Eisner ... While he recognized what a huge deal it would be from a promotional point of view for both the Company & its most famous character to have Mickey Mouse & Michael Jackson appear together in a music video, he still wasn't willing to sell Disney's corporate symbol short. And when Jackson wasn't able to get Eisner to budge on the proposed budget for the project ... Well, that's when Michael suddenly found himself in Gene Kelly country. That if he still really wanted "Moonwalker" to have an animated sequence in it, Jackson was now going to have to creatively compromise. Which is why the proposed Mickey-and-Michael musical number got ditched in favor of a new Will Vinton-produced Claymatian sequence built around Jackson's "Speed Demon" song.



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So was Jackson angry with Eisner specifically and The Walt Disney Company in general for not allowing him to use Mickey Mouse in this proposed music video? Well, as you watch the "Speed Demon" sequence in "Moonwalker" today, it's hard not to look those two huge, obnoxious & grossly overweight Disney fans with their Mickey Mouse ears who are prominently featured in this portion of that motion picture ...



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... without thinking that these two Claymation characters have to be some sort of crude attempt at payback.

Anyway, this 22.5-by-30-inch board (which is covered with 12 drawings that are each 5.5 by 6.5 inches) are now all that remains of that proposed Mickey & Michael team-up. And given how many Mickey Mouse & Michael Jackson fans there are out there ... Well, I'd have to say that -- when this animation art auction is all over on Wednesday afternoon -- I will be very surprised if this piece of pop culture history doesn't wind up going for a multiple of the amount than the people at Profiles in History currently suggest that it will. Which is a relatively lowball bid of $600 - $800.

So what did you folks think of the artwork for this proposed Mickey & Michael music video? If this project had actually been completed, would you have been that much more likely to see "Moonwalker" when it was released to theaters back in 1989 and/or have purchased this Michael Jackson movie when it then became available on VHS?



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Your thoughts?