He’s Baaaaak! Mickey Returning To TV

After a 40-year break, Mickey Mouse is going back to work in television.

“MouseWorks,” a weekly half-hour series debuting in January 1999, will feature the first regularly produced new TV footage of the Disney cartoon icon since the original 1955-59 run of “The Mickey Mouse Club.”

Mickey will be joined by pals Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Daisy in the new series, the Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday.

Each episode will feature a mixture of shorter “gag” cartoons and longer “story” cartoons up to 12 minutes in length. Although all original, some themes and elements from older cartoons may be used.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to make this as good as it can possibly be,” said Barry Blumberg, senior vice president of Walt Disney Television Animation.