Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Outdoors on DVD Review

Today fans of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse will be able to pick up the newest DVD release featuring the popular Playhouse Disney show.  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Outdoors contains four previously aired episodes starring Mickey and his pals Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto plus a brand new one "Mickey's Fish Story". 

I have always enjoyed watching the show with my daughter. I like how it encourages participation by asking the viewers questions and that it infuses the storyline with learning opportunities. For example in "Mickey's Campout" the characters count how many tents and friends there are. Then they have to figure out how the six of them can share three tents. The answer, two friends to a tent, encourages higher level thinking and beginning division concepts. To help the viewer visualize the problem, the items being counted or discussed are often highlighted by being outlined with a white line. Then the characters usually sum up the solution in a statement, a nice technique any classroom teacher will recognize.

Each of the five included episodes in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Outdoors is themed around outdoor fun like camping, fishing, exploring, and heading to the jungle.  They follow the familiar pattern of the show, beginning with Micky walking along the path to the Clubhouse and ending with all the characters doing the Hot Dog dance. In between, the characters are presented with some sort of problem that they must solve by working together. They often resort to unusual and creative solutions using the Mousekatools they have access to by summoning the Mousekadoer, a Mickey head shaped computer by calling "Oh Toodles!" Here is a little bit more about each:

All-New, Never-Before-Seen Bonus Episode:

• Mickey’s Fish Story - Daisy wants to find a fishy-friend for her goldfish Goldy – and we help her find other goldfish in the Jungle where we’re aided by the mysterious conga drummin’ Jungle-Pete! Boom-boom-bap-boom!

Episodes From “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” TV Show:

• Mickey’s Camp Out - Today Mickey and his friends are going to earn Clubhouse “Camp Out Badges” by completing two tasks - setting up camp and fishing for Gummy Fish. Everyone’s planning to camp with a “Tent Buddy”, but Donald decides to camp by himself – and he soon learns that camping with friends is much more fun than camping by yourself.

• Mickey and Minnie’s Jungle Safari - Minnie is determined to snap a photo of the rare Hula Hibiscus that only blooms once a year. So the sensational gang go off on a jungle safari and explore new territory to find this legendary flower.

• Daisy in the Sky - On Balloon Day, Daisy grabs a large batch of balloons and gets literally carried away along with Minnie and Pluto, who couldn’t hold her down. Mickey, Donald and Goofy kick into high gear to save their friends: they use a Giant Candy Cane (to rescue Pluto), a Party Horn (to warn animals out of the way), a Piggy Bank (to weigh down one side of an elevator so that Mickey can reach the top of the lighthouse), and a Toy Hammer (to fix the Ferris wheel).

• Daisy’s Grasshopper - Daisy has a new pet grasshopper named Wilbur, but the playful hoppin’ fella hops away – and we help all our Clubhouse friends hop after him and find him before the end of the day. Boing-boing!


Included with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Outdoors on DVD + Digital Copy is a Mickey Mote, a red Mickey head shaped remote control, that your child can use with it to "Watch and Play".  This enables him or her to interact with the characters by being able to indicate the answers to questions posed throughout the episodes.  The Mickey Mote will work with this DVD along with any Disney preschool DVD that has Discovery Mode.  There are two levels of play so children will continue to be challenged as they grow.

Unfortunately for us, we couldn't get ours to work; my husband is pretty techie so I am wondering if it might have broken during transit.  I think it's a great idea, I like how there are only four buttons making it easy for young kids to use it.  On the plus side, you don't have to have a Mickey Mote to use it, a regular DVD remote will work.  ER had no problem using ours to play along and she was pretty excited to use the "Big People" remote, something she normally isn't allowed to touch.  She's almost five, and ready for something with all those buttons but I can see how the Mickey Mote, with fewer buttons that make it less likely the wrong one will be hit by accident, is preferrable.

As regular viewers of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, we already knew we'd love this DVD.  Things that really make this one a hit with us are the overall theme of this collection, being outdoors is always something to encourage, and the fun situations that will appeal to both male and female preschool aged Disney fans.  Plus it was great that something we'd never seen before was included.  We also loved how the DVD gives us something extra and makes the viewing unique, by adding the ability to interact with it.

You can purchase Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Great Outdoors starting today.  Suggested Retail Price: Mickey Mote Play Set includes DVD + Digital Copy + Mickey Mote = $29.99 U.S. / $35.99 Canada.  The 2-Disc Combo Pack includes DVD + Digital Copy = $19.99 U.S. / $24.99



Disclosure: A complimentary copy of this product was provided along with PR materials used in this post.  All opinions and experiences related are personal and unbiased.