In 1972, Walt Disney Productions was afraid that kids were forgetting the Disney characters and the classic cartoons. With the Walt Disney World Resort opening the year before, it would be disastrous if the world had lost its affinity for all things Disney. So they set out to get the characters back in the public's eye.
To do this, they turned to Disney Legend Ward Kimball to produce a show that could present the Disney cartoons in a fresh, hip format. Ward Kimball came up with a Laugh-In style show called The Mouse Factory.
Featuring revolving guest stars such as Harry Morgan, Jo Ann Worley, Annette Funicello and Charles Nelson Reilly, the show was set at the Walt Disney Studios- a mouse factory- the show began with the various guest stars and Disney characters punching in for work. Morals and lessons were taught using Disney classic shorts. The guests would introduce the lessons and shorts with comedic routines filling in the rest of the time.
The show never caught on with audiences and was canceled in 1974. The show's reruns aired on The Disney Channel in the late 1980's but has not been seen since.
