‘Mouse Heaven’: the strange film Kenneth Anger made about his friend’s Mickey Mouse collection
Even in the constantly transgressive world of underground experimental cinema, American auteur Kenneth Anger was too radical for many. Known for his pioneering contributions to cinematic surrealism and Queer cinema, Anger developed a specific kind of film art that could truly be called magical – infused with the powerful symbolism of the occult. Ranging from Martin Scorsese to John Waters, Anger’s influence casts a long shadow over the landscape of modern cinema.
While many cinephiles are familiar with Anger’s well-known works like Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Anger’s extensive filmography is full of fascinating works that deserve serious analysis. Among them, the short that probably contains the most caustic humour is his 2004 film based on the Disney universe. Titled Mouse Heaven, it’s one of the strangest films you’ll ever see featuring the iconic character of Mickey Mouse.
It’s a film that Anger didn’t even want to make. At the time, Anger’s patron was Paul Getty, who had a special passion for the cartoon mouse. He gave Anger $100,000 to make a film about Mickey Mouse, but the experimental director ended up spending all the funds on himself. Bizarrely, Getty reportedly offered around $35,000 to Anger a couple of decades later to finish the project. Ironically, he passed away in April of 2003.
Mouse Heaven isn’t the loving tribute Getty expected at all. Instead, it’s a scathing attack on the unfettered consumerism pushed by Disney that took the company farther and farther away from its roots. Anger used his friend’s Disney memorabilia collection for the film, taking the beloved symbols of the cartoon mouse and morphing them into something that evoked a sense of evil. As a result, there’s an anarchic form of sexualisation that Mickey Mouse undergoes in Mouse Heaven.
During a conversation with Interview Magazine, Anger opened up about Walt Disney. He said: “He was a grabber of power, but he also had some very admirable qualities. So it was a mixture. I suppose we’re all mixtures. But in his case, it was a bit of like a Jekyll-and-Hyde thing. I loved some of his early films, but then he sort of got distracted by Disneyland. He always wanted to make some sort of place like Disneyland, and there was a rumour that he planned to take over Catalina Island. But it was owned by the Wrigley chewing gum family, and they wouldn’t do a deal with him.”
In addition, Anger’s subtextual commentary in Mouse Heaven creates an interface through which audiences inevitably associate the relentless symbolism of Mickey Mouse with the dangerous images used by fascist organisations – especially the Nazi party. Anger once famously said: “Cultural critics say that the two most famous and popular images of the 20th century are the face of Mickey Mouse and the swastika.”
Mouse Heaven is a lament for the Mickey Mouse that Disney killed, the one who revolutionised animation in many ways. While reflecting on the evolution of Mickey Mouse, Anger mused: “He’s no longer the mischievous, sadistic mouse that he was in the beginning. He used to do nasty little tricks like twist the udders of cows and things like that. And that’s the only mouse I’m interested in, I mean this kind of demon’ fetish’ figure.”
Watch the film below.
