While this is essentially a compilation DVD, the eight shorts that appear on this disc - taken almost entirely from the Mickey Mouse Works TV show, most of which were re-screened on House of Mouse. Some of the linking segments, with Mickey as host, are retained from the House of Mouse show. These shorts are also intercut with children from around the world telling jokes. Seemingly filmed in Disneyland Paris, these vignettes really only serve as filler, as it is the shorts themselves that will be of most interest to viewers. They are:

• Hickory Dickory Mickey (from House of Mouse): This is an excellent short that really showcases the 'new' Mickey, while paying tribute to the old. Goofy asks Mickey to take him to the airport the next morning, reminding him of the favour he owes him (with a brilliant 'flashback' to the old days, with a parody of Disney's 1920s animation). In a situation we can all relate to, Mickey is kept awake by a ticking alarm clock, despite every attempt to be rid of it. Classic stuff.

• Mickey Tries to Cook (from Mickey Mouse Works): When Mickey thinks that Minnie is falling for a guy that can cook, Mickey tries his hand at the culinary arts. Naturally, it all ends in disaster. Notable for the appearance of Jose Carioca, who will be a familiar face to those who have seen the package features of the 1940s, such as Saludos Amigos.

• Organ Donors (from Mickey Mouse Works): Mickey, Donald and Goofy run an organ delivery service. Unfortunately for the deranged toy maker who wants an organ, it is the musical variety that the gang supplies. The usual hijinks ensue as the toy maker is determined to get his internal organs by any means necessary. A little bit darker than some Disney toons, but not as dark as the comparable Runaway Brain.

• Mickey's Airplane Kit (from Mickey Mouse Works): Trying to impress Minnie on a date, Mickey decides to build her an airplane instead of the usual bunch of flowers. Of course, Mickey fails to read the instructions and hilarity ensues. Reminiscent of the very first Mickey and Minnie short, the 1928 Plane Crazy.

• Pluto Gets the Paper: Street Cleaner (from Mickey Mouse Works): This was part of a series of very short Pluto cartoons that would see him go out to fetch the paper, but wind up in a convoluted mess. This one has Pluto being wrung through the inner workings of a street cleaner.

• Mickey's New Car (from Mickey Mouse Works): Fed up with his old car breaking down, Mickey buys a new car with every technological feature imaginable. Unfortunately, all the new technology proves a little too much for Mickey, who starts to yearn for his old car. This is a really fun short, and the anti-technology/simple life sentiment - which is also seen in other Mouse Works shorts such as Mickey's Mechanical House - seems to parallel the traditional animation/3D animation debate going on behind the scenes at Disney.

• Pluto Gets the Paper: Bubble Gum (from Mickey Mouse Works): This one has the same set-up as the previous 'Pluto Gets the Paper' short, except this time Pluto finds himself in a very sticky situation. There were six of these altogether, so hopefully we will see the others in some format soon.

• Mickey's Big Break (from Mickey Mouse Works): Mickey and Donald in drag! After accidentally breaking a photo of Minnie and Daisy, Mickey and Donald resolve to replace the photo - by dressing as their girlfriends and having Goofy take the picture. Sounds like a recipe for success! A very self-aware, tongue-in-cheek short that successfully bridges the gap between the original Mickey Mouse shorts, and these newer ones.

• Mickey's Mix-Up (from Mickey Mouse Works): After buying a new fax machine, Mickey sends a nasty fax to his foe, Mortimer, and a love-fax to Minnie. However, when Mortimer gets the love-fax, Mickey believes that Minnie got the nasty one and resolves to get it back before she reads it. Ends brilliantly with an animated Roy Disney (brother of Walt and voiced by himself) receiving the nasty fax.

Traditionalists may not like the idea of 'new' Mickey Mouse shorts. After all, the character has been around since 1928, and has been in some of the most groundbreaking animation in the history of the format. After all, the Steamboat Willie short was one of the first uses of sound in cinema, and Mickey's appearance in the 'Sorcerer’s Apprentice' sequence in Fantasia will be never be forgotten. These shorts not only carry on that tradition, but break from it in a way many didn't think Disney was capable of. Their feature films, such as Lilo and Stitch, have shown a Disney willing to break away from the concept of 'traditional family values' that they peddled for years, and these shorts have a self-awareness to them that makes them fun viewing for both the younger and older generations of Mickey fans.

As they were only screened on television back in 1999, you would expect these to look pretty good, and they certainly do. The colours are vivid and sharp, with no traces of colour bleed that sometimes pervade these animated releases. Black levels are solid, and the multitudes of colours on display here are dealt with brilliantly.

There is a little bit of motion blur, which is more the fault of the animation than the DVD (this was made-for-TV animation, not your more expensive theatrical stuff, after all). The edges of some of the characters look a little jagged, suggesting some compression issues, but this only ever really became noticeable on my computer monitor.

The other video on this disc is live action of children being interviewed for the 'joke' interludes. This video also looks incredibly crisp, with no issues worth mentioning.

 Once again, Disney have left me with very little to talk about, and any complaints would simply be nitpicking. Excellent stuff.

 Audio sync is never really an issue, given the nature of animation. However, if this were a live action film, I'd say it was spot-on. Note that the children telling jokes are often speaking in their native language, with an English-speaking child translating the jokes in a voice-over. When I first saw this, I just thought it was really bad dubbing! Spanish, French, Dutch and Portuguese tracks are also provided, but I have not reviewed those tracks.

Well, the factory wasn't really working overtime in the 'extras' department. We have two measly extras here, if you can call them that.

First up, we have some Bonus Jokes. These are just more of the linking segments (pictured above) from the main 'feature', and run a mere 55 seconds. Given that I didn't think much of them in the main programme, I was exactly thrilled to see that there were more of them, although not much more.

The only other extra is the obligatory Disney game, this time called Joke Maker. There really isn't a lot to this game. There are a series of 'set ups' along the top of the screen, and punchlines along the bottom. Your task is to match the correct set up with its corresponding punchline. These games are always annoying for us adult viewers, as it is frustrating to think that there were so many other features that could have used this space. For kids, I can't imagine that they would be terribly exciting either. In the age of blisteringly fast game consoles, these are hardly going to interest kids beyond one or two play-throughs.