Pap the
Disney Gamer's Highlights:
Farewell to Snow White's
Scary Adventures Week: Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs:
The Fighting Game (Mickey
Mouse in Runaway Brain)
With each
passing day, gaming is
becoming a very common
activity for everyone to
enjoy with friends, family
or just by themselves. In
fiction, gaming is often
used as a device for two
characters to bond and let
their interactions develop
them in the narrative, while
in other pieces of fiction
it is used to present the
character as someone that
has no ambition in life and
would rather spend his/her
time playing a game over
doing something substantial.
Today's Gamer Tuesday
article is going to be an
unique one as rather than
taking a look at a game that
was released in the market,
we are going to be
highlighting a game that
only exists in a fictional
universe that was used to
convey an element of the
character. I am of course
talking about Disney's
Runaway Brain starring
Mickey Mouse!

Runaway
Brain, first released in
theaters in 1995 during the
theatrical run of A Kid
in King Arthur's Court,
is easily one of the darkest
shorts Mickey has ever
starred in, and one that
presented him in the most
unflattering way. Throughout
the decades, Mickey Mouse
has been presented as a
lover, a mischievous little
guy, a fighter and a hero to
all. Runaway Brain
does away with all of that
and instead he is presented
as the no-good slacker
boyfriend, a very common
character archetype made
popular in the 90s, that
causes a lot of trouble for
himself and Minnie Mouse.

This is
where the concept of video
games as a narrative device
steps in. When we first see
Mickey, he is clearly
obsessing over his game,
yelling loudly while his dog
Pluto cheers him on. His
eyes have a clear black ring
around them, indicating that
Mickey has been playing for
a very long time. Surely
enough, Mickey Mouse is
portraying the negative
image of a gamer, a very
bold move on Disney's
behalf, considering Mickey's
status as cartoon icon and
corporate mascot.

Now, just
what game is Mickey
obsessing over so much? Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs:
The Fighting Game! If that
sounds outrageous, trust me,
the creators of Runaway
Brain truly went there
for the sake of a joke. This
is easily one of my favorite
gags in the short, simply
because it says SO MUCH in
so little time that it might
be easy to miss its
references. First off, this
Snow White fighting game is
a parody of two very popular
fighting games from the 90s:
Capcom's Street Fighter II
and Midway's Mortal Kombat
series. The Snow White
fighting game seems to be
referencing Mortal Kombat
more than Street Fighter, a
really bold choice as Mortal
Kombat is one of the most
violent fighting games on
the market, and its release
in the 90s inspired many a
controversy, including the
creation of the ESRB ratings
board.

Now onto the
small details of this brief
segment. Mickey Mouse is
playing as Dopey. In the
bottom of the screen there
are seven character slots,
one for each of the dwarfs
(Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Dopey,
Sneezy, Happy and Bashful).
Only Dopey's slot, however,
has his portrait. The rest
of the slots have tombstones
with RIP (Rest in Peace)
written on them. This
indicates that Mickey has
lost six times prior to the
match he is currently
playing, and Dopey is his
last character standing.

Dopey is
fighting off against the Old
Hag version of the Evil
Queen in a dungeon-like
setting. When we first see
the game in action, Dopey is
performing a kick attack on
her. The way he attacks her
seems to be inspired by Lui
Kang's (Mortal Kombat)
infamous bicycle attack. As
Minnie Mouse enters the
scene and steps in front of
the TV, the Old Hag is
launching apples at Dopey,
referencing how fighting
game characters have a
missile attack of sort (such
as Street Fighter's Ryu's
signature move, the fireball
known as the Hadouken).
Mickey's
game ends when the Old Hag
hits Dopey with an apple due
to Mickey being distracted
by Minnie's anger. Finally,
the game controller Mickey
is using seems to resemble
the design of the Sega
Genesis controller. The
scene runs for exactly 40
seconds, ending when Minnie
disconnects the game in
order to gain Mickey's
attention. Yet, in those 40
seconds we got an
unflattering portrayal of
Disney's most beloved
creation, a moment of plot
development that leads to
the short's main conflict
and a fairly accurate
portrayal of a typical
fighting game from the 90s.

What makes
this scene stand out is the
choice of Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs as a fighting
game. That truly does the
scene for me and for a lot
of people. The film is to
this day seen as one of
Disney's finest films, the
first film that launched an
entire legacy of films,
shorts, TV shows, theme park
attractions (its attraction
at the Magic Kingdom will be
closing down for good this
week) and many more. This
short, though, isn't afraid
of poking fun at Snow
White's legacy at the Walt
Disney Company, creating a
Mortal Kombat parody using
the film's likeness for a
far stronger impact on the
audience.
To take an
initiative from Albert
Gutierrez's Saturday
Matinee column, here are
the places you may find the
short. As explained at the
start of this article,
Runaway Brain was
originally released in front
of A Kid's in King
Arthur's Court. Later,
it was attached to 1997's
George of the Jungle. In
the United Kingdom, the
short played before Lilo
and Stitch in 2002.
During the 90s it was never
featured on any home video
release. Runaway Brain would
finally be available on home
video through the release of
Walt Disney Treasures:
Mickey Mouse in Living
Color, Vol.2.
Unfortunately, that set has
been out of print for years
and it is hard to find.

Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs, on
the other hand, can be found
on almost every media outlet
out there. Even if all
versions of the movie have
been sent to the fabled
Disney Vault (including its
recent 2009 Blu-Ray), it is
a movie that is quite easy
to find, and has aired on
television several times.
Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs: The
Fighting Game... doesn't
exist. Though, wouldn't it
be great if Disney was gutsy
enough to release it as a
full game? I would certainly
pay to play it...