"Once Upon an Apple" is the 19th episode of The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse.
Mickey’s quest to make everyone smile hits a snag when he meets a Wicked Witch bent on delivering poison apples to the fairest in the land.
- Banana Peel: The Witch accidentally slips on the peel of her poisonous banana when she tries to poison Mickey with a watermelon.
- The Cameo: Mr Toad, Cinderella, Horace Horsecollar and the Cheshire Cat appear on the intro montage as people who Mickey helped.
- Disney Creatures of the Farce: When the Wicked Witch becomes the fairest thanks to Mickey, she is attended by sewer rats, skunks and a mangy rabid dog as she rides away on a hideous braying donkey.
- Exact Words: At the end of the short, the Wicked Witch manages to become the fairest of them all... of her own creepy kingdom.
- Failure Montage: The Wicked Witch tries to eliminate Mickey Mouse for interfering with her plan to murder Snow White (as well as replacing Snow White as the new fairest in the land), with every attempt backfiring on her.
- The Wicked Witch tries to push Mickey off a bridge, but he unknowingly dodges her (while painting the railing) and she falls down.
- She plays a game of bobbing for grenade apples with him. Mickey grabs a pineapple while the Wicked Witch grabs one of the grenade apples, which explodes in her face.
- She throws an axe at him but he ducks down while watering some flowers. The axe instead hits the tree in front of Mickey and it gets chopped down, falling onto the Evil Queen.
- Last, but not least, the Wicked Witch chases Mickey on scooters, with her wielding a spiked flail. Mickey stops at a soup kitchen, while the Wicked Witch continues down the road. As she turns around, she gets hit by a streetcar.
- The Hero Dies: Mickey's heart explodes to overload of happiness after helping the Wicked Witch, killing him.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: The Witch always falls under her traps designed to kill Snow White and Mickey.
- Karmic Butt-Monkey: This is what the Witch becomes in this short when dealing with Mickey.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: The music dies down as Mickey shows the Evil Queen as "the fairest in the land" (wearing a replica of Snow White's dress and shoes but still retaining her hag face and the hood part of her cloak) to a crowd, who reel in disgust.
- Mythology Gag: A variation of the Mickey Mouse March is sung by the Magic Mirror on the wall, before being interrupted by the witch.
- Road Runner vs. Coyote: The gag of the episode is the Wicked Witch constantly falling victim to her own poisoned apples, or other fruits, in her attempts to use them on her targets. At first she's trying to take out Snow White, which get botched by Mickey, causing her to switch targets to him so she can finally succeed, then focusing solely on him in earnest when the Mirror deems him the new fairest in the land. All the while, Mickey remains blissfully oblivious to her intentions, only inadvertently disrupting her efforts in an attempt to make her happy.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Naturally, the Wicked Witch attempts to poison Snow White and Mickey with her famous poisoned apples, but she also attempts this by poisoning a banana and a watermelon.
- Unknown Rival: Mickey seems unaware that the evil witch is trying to kill Snow White or him.
- Villainous Breakdown: The Witch breaks down after failing every attempt to kill Mickey.
